GOP style cited as sticking point

Primary opponents complain that Robinson is too extreme to represent district

Vernon Robinson, the provocative former Winston-Salem city councilman who is an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, is once again an issue in Tuesday's Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District seat.

Robinson is drawing criticism from his two primary opponents, who say his reliance on hotbutton issues and his slashing style are likely to hurt Republican efforts to take the House seat held by Democrat Brad Miller of Raleigh.

The district runs from Raleigh, up along the Virginia border, and back down into Greensboro.

John Ross Hendrix, a graphic artist from Cary, and Charlie Sutherland, a Rockingham County soap manufacturer, say Robinson's brand of politics are too extreme for the district.

"Vernon, with his clownish antics, would probably be a complete embarrassment to the Republican Party," Hendrix said. "He's basically fear mongering."

Sutherland says Robinson "kind of scares me."

"His message is not very friendly," Sutherland said. "It seems to be putting people down more than needs to be."

Robinson dismisses such criticism as desperate last-minute attacks. He says his criticism of illegal immigration is within the GOP mainstream.

"I believe in securing the nation's borders and making English the official language as the centerpieces of my campaign," Robinson said. "I have a record as a mainstream conservative elected official for eight years. My opponents do not."

Controversy has often followed Robinson, one of the most recognizable figures in North Carolina Republican politics.

He has twice run unsuccessfully for state superintendent of public instruction. Robinson raised nearly $3 million, much of it by direct mail nationally, when he unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District in 2004.

Robinson, an executive with a nonprofit foundation that lobbies for education changes such as more charter schools, served eight years as a Winston-Salem alderman.

Robinson still lives in the 5th District, but members of Congress are not required to live in the district they represent.

Robinson has raised $230,000 for this campaign, which has enabled him to run radio ads. He has a strong sense of public relations, campaigning at a post office at the end of the tax filing period to emphasize his anti-tax stance and appearing with an anti-illegal immigrant crusader who was touring the country.

He has largely ignored his Republican opponents. Instead, his fire has been aimed at Miller, calling him a "loony liberal congressman."

Hendrix and Sutherland are running inexpensive campaigns that rely on personal contacts and distributing information on their Web sites.

They support the so-called FairTax bill that would repeal all corporate, individual income, payroll and other taxes and replace them with a revenue-neutral personal consumption tax. They say it would provide a fairer, less complicated tax that would stimulate economic growth.

Hendrix, 56, ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004. He said he is concerned that the U.S. Constitution is being eroded from the political left and the political right -- from efforts to pass gun control legislation to the USA Patriot Act, which he said goes too far.

As a former paratrooper with a son who has served two tours in Iraq, Hendrix said he is dissatisfied with the way the Iraqi war has been prosecuted. He said the U.S. should have gone into Iraq the way it invaded Panama in 1989 -- arresting the country's leader and then leaving.

Hendrix describes himself "as a rare voice for reason and sanity."

Sutherland, 65, the owner of Charlie's Soap, said he originally entered the race because Miller did not respond to inquiries about the FairTax. But Sutherland said he has since decided to take the race seriously.

Sutherland has twice run for the state Senate, once for county commissioner and once for register of deeds. All of his races were unsuccessful.

Sutherland said he wants to make Congress subject to the same laws as average citizens.