North Carolina: Politics Ain't Beanbag

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Although George Bush and Pat Robertson have declared a truce in the G.O.P. presidential campaign, Republicans in North Carolina's Fourth Congressional District apparently did not get the word. A gathering in sleepy Franklin County to pick three delegates to the national convention wound up as the Battle of Louisburg. Fists flailed, noses bled, bodies flew off the stage.

Trouble started when the Bush forces refused to seat some Robertson delegates. "Fraud!" yelled Robertson Leader Richard Hines, triggering a rush toward the podium. As bodies tumbled from the stage, Sheriff Arthur Johnson, a Democrat, restored calm by confronting the factions with a personal point of order: "If there's any trouble, I will fill my jail up."