Monday, February 02, 2009

So long to Jim Long, happy warrior

Former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, who died of a stroke Monday just weeks after leaving public office, was a bridge to an earlier time in North Carolina politics symbolized by straw boaters, mail-order galluses, chewing tobacco and a shrewd eye for the finer points of pit-cooked barbecue, deep-fried hushpuppies and fiery spirits that came in Mason jars.

He was a political descendant of such mainstays of N.C. politics as the late Commissioner of Agriculture Jim Graham and the late Secretary of State Thad Eure. Like Graham and Eure, Long was something of a character. Always ready with a quip or a wisecrack, the portly Long stood out in a crowd because of his bright red ties and the ready smile on his face. He loved a good argument and would willingly argue either side just for the conversational exercise. He was, as Hubert Humphrey liked to describe himself, a "happy warrior." Eure liked to call himself the "Oldest rat in the Democrat barn" and after he died, Long adopted the same slogan.

Long was one of the first politicians I covered when I began my newspapering career in Alamance County in the late 1960s. Long's father, George, and grandfather had been in the legislature, and he was heading that way too, serving from 1971 to 1975. He succeeded former Insurance Commissioner John Ingram in 1985 and often opposed insurance rate hikes while commissioner.

Long has an unusual distinction in N.C. politics. Not many office holders are able to name their successors and see them get elected, but last year Long waited until practically the last minute to announce he would not run again -- and to help a key aide, former state Rep. Wayne Goodwin, win the Democratic nomination and succeed him in office.

These past few weeks have not been good for public figures from Alamance. Former Gov. Bob Scott of Hawfields died, and so did N.C. State Coach Kay Yow. Well, she wasn't from Alamance, having grown up right next door in Guilford County's Gibsonville, close to the county line, but Yow coached several years at then-Elon College, now Elon University, and she had strong ties to Alamance. And now Jim Long has died. These colorful North Carolinians enlivened politics, sports, culture and public life for decades, and we are all the richer for their achievements.

9 comments:

PJ said...

Most people who buy insurance don't realize that it was Jim Long who kept the companies feet to the fire allowing NC to have one of the lowest auto insurance rates in the country. I heard him joke many times that the only states that have lower rates are the Dakotas, Wyoming, and "states where you have to have to call ahead and arrange a wreck." Most people don't realize that he played a key role in highway safety and encouraged former Governor Jim Hunt to adopt the "Click It or Ticket" campaign because it would save lives and impact insurance rates with the emphasis on saving lives. That campaign spread to all 50 states. He also championed the NC Safe Kids Campaign, a national childhood injury prevention initiative that has chapters or coalitions in over 50 NC counties. For him, it was about saving the lives of our "most previous resource." His efforts saved countless lives. No one can know which lives were saved, but the data are clear when one looks at the statistics. I had the pleasure of knowing Jim for over 35 years and working for him 9 of those years. I will miss him.

Paul Jones, Director,NC Safe Kids, 1995-2001

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Anonymous said...

My father was a die hard Republican in Sampson County, as was my grandfather. Neither of them had any use for anything or anybody coming out of Raleigh. My great great aunt was in a nursing home in South Carolina. She had bought YEARS before an insurance that guaranteed to pay all medical benefits for life, no matter how much they were, no matter how long she lived. She maintained the policy for decades. Well, of course, when she went into the nursing home the insurance company refused to pay. My father called the North Carolina Dept. of Insurance to find out how to get in touch with the South Carolina Insurance commissioner, if there was such a person. In the course of the conversation, he explains the situation to the voice on the phone, reminding this person that it was a South Carolina resident. "Never mind that" said the voice. "This company does business in North Carolina. Some Tar Heel may have bought one of these policies." My father gives the voice all the information, and hangs up. Two weeks or ten day later, (the more my father told this story, the shorter the time got), the owner of the nursing home calls him. He has a representative from the insurance company in his office, ready to make arrangements to pay every bill my great great aunt ever had or ever will have for the rest of her life, "because the Insurance Commissioner of N.C. said if they didn't, their license to sell insurance in N.C. would be terminated within 72 hours ", and would my father please call the Insurance Commissioner and tell him everything was ok. My father was absolutely speechless. He did in fact call the Insurance Commissioner, who turned out to actually have been the voice on the phone. And my father, who never voted for a Democrat in his entire life, always voted after that for just one Democrat.

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