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As for Jesse Helms, one does not speak ill of the dead, so no obituary flat out called him a racist--"conservative" was the non-controversial, and accurate, formulation for the opponent of gay rights and the United Nations, supporter of fetal rights and school prayer. Yet ABC anchor Charles Gibson (embargoed link) and Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' Face the Nation, and NBC's Martin Savidge all three reran his trademark campaign ad against African-American rival Harvey Gantt in 1990: "You needed that job and you were the best qualified but they went ahead and gave it to a minority because of a racial quota." NBC's Savidge reminded us that Helms first came to prominence in North Carolina by opposing an NBC Nightly News anchor during the Civil Rights era. He called David Brinkley "that turncoat southerner."
