Former Senator Jesse A. Helms, Jr., died today after a "period of declining health," according to a spokesman. He was 86.

He was born on October 18, 1921. He served in the US Senate from 1972-2003, after which he retired. During his Senate career, he was an outspoken, controversial figure. His name is synonymous with "Old South"-style politics.

The New York Times had this reaction, from former Senator Bob Dole:

"He was a conservative icon," Bob Dole, the former senator and Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview on CNN. "He was a good, decent human being."

But Mr. Dole, known for his wry sense of humor, acknowledged that Mr. Helms was not universally admired on Capitol Hill. "If there was a liberal meeting going on and someone announced that Jesse Helms was coming, the place would have cleared out in 20 seconds," he joked. He added that although he disagreed with Mr. Helms on civil rights, he did not consider the senator to be a bigot. "Was Jesse Helms a racist? I never spotted that in him," Mr. Dole said. "Jesse had black staff members. I could never quite figure it out."

MSNBC had this:

Republican advertising consultant and Jon Lovitz lookalike Alex Castellanos, famous for the heinous but effective Jesse Helms "Hands" ad, has high hopes...for Barack Obama. He tells New York magazine's John Heilemann all kinds of encouraging nuggets, but I'll start with the summation:

J.H.: Care to give candid odds on McCain pulling this thing off?

A.C.: Advantage Obama, 60-40. But I've been in campaigns that have won with a lot worse odds than that.

Not exactly the Vince Lombardi of consultants, is he? Like the time William Wallace told his azure-visaged comrades, "They may take our lives...but I've seen armies survive slaughters before, let's see what happens..."

To be fair, his job isn't to be a cheerleader, but should he be showing the GOP nominee's belly like this in public? Is he working an angle, lowering expectations for McCain? Is he just in love with the sound of his own voice?

Castellano had some other, similarly interesting points to make. On the "Dream Ticket":

The obvious answer: She is the anti-Obama. She sound-cancels his message, like a set of Bose headphones.

After the jump, the video from that "Hands" ad, a few more of these pearls, and brief commentary.