Trump’s Fate Rests on Countrypolitan Counties
MONROE, N.C.—When he was 9, Jesse Helms got his first job, sweeping floors at the Monroe Enquirer. His father was both police chief and fire chief in this Cotton Belt town, but Jesse’s career in journalism would take him far away—first to the state capitol, in Raleigh, and then to Washington, D.C., where he was a firebrand Republican dubbed “Senator No” for his skill at obstruction and resistance to change. Helms left the area as a teenager and never lived here again, but he often talked about his hometown of Monroe.
Union County remained a stronghold of traditional conservatism after Helms left. Monroe was the site of pitched battles over civil rights in the 1960s. Today the streets are sleepy, with a smattering of shops circling a soaring Victorian brick courthouse, a Confederate monument on the lawn. On a sunny morning last week, the Commodores’ “Easy” wafted from speakers around downtown, which only emphasized how empty the streets were. Elegant old homes surround the area, and beyond the town limits is farmland.
But even Senator No couldn’t keep Monroe entirely frozen in time, which may be why a portrait of President Jimmy Carter, a frequent Helms nemesis, hangs over the bar at East Frank Superette and Kitchen downtown.
“That’s a saint for you!” says Cress Barnes, whose family runs the restaurant, a funky combination bodega, café, and craft-beer bar that would be at home in any hip neighborhood in America. Barnes, a self-described socialist with a pixie cut, beanie, and chunky glasses, warmly greets everyone coming through the door. Her family moved to Monroe from Charlotte, a half hour northwest, four years ago and opened East Frank a year and a half ago. They liked their old neighborhood, a liberal bubble of pride flags and Hillary Clinton supporters, but fell in love with a historic house and decided to move out.
[Derek Thompson: American migration patterns should terrify the GOP]
“The further we came out, my kids were like, ‘Mom, we’re counting Trump signs on
