A contract with NC?
Conservative Greensblogger Guarino suggest North Carolina Republicans need a "Contract with North Carolina" a la the Contract with America that help Newt Gingrich and his fellow Republicans come to power on a national level in 1994.
The idea is an interesting one, amounting to a party platform for legislative candidates. Guarino writes:
Republican candidates running for the state legislature need to run as a cohesive unit around a set of principles. To do this, they need to get their own leadership house in order.A statewide party spokesman is needed who is compelling enough to get voters' attention. I would suggest that they need to borrow Newt Gingrich technique and offer the voters a "Contract with North Carolina". They need to make a number of promises, and then proceed to keep them if elected.
Yeah, that whole leadership question does seem to be something in desperate need of sorting out. (Don't just take my word for it.) Or is there a leader out there who is so compelling, possessing of so much gravitas, that both the Morgan and Blount camps would be willing to follow his or her lead?
Would the idea of a contract work? I don't know, but the point in time might be right. The original contract was, at least in part, a Republican answer to what were seen as the excesses of the Democrats legislative leadership. Might the Republicans use the current saga surrounding House Speaker Jim Black and the lottery in the same way? Send me your thoughts via the comment link below.