Guilford GOP to talk about Black
This notice showed up in my e-mail this afternoon:
Greensboro- August 17, 2006- The Chairman of the Guilford County Republican Party will be joined by local candidates and elected officials for a news conference on the steps of the Old Guilford Courthouse located on west Market St, across from West Market Street United Methodist Church in Greensboro at 12 noon Friday, August 18th to address the legal and political troubles of House Speaker Jim Black.
This isn’t a surprise. Republicans have been making noises for a good nine or ten months now that they would use the embattled House Speaker as a campaign issues against local Democrats. This is just making good on that promise.
Opinion columnist Doug Clark wrote about this, as have others.
I’m going back and forth in my own head on whether the Speaker’s problems will be an effective cudgel for the GOP this fall.
On the one hand, the story has been in the new for the better part of the past year and very little of the coverage approaches flattering. A reasonable voter could be put off by what is at least the perception that something not right has been going on.
On the other hand, when I tell people out in the real world that I cover Raleigh for the paper, their first questions are rarely about the Speaker. I get asked more about the minimum wage or taxes or any number of issue questions.
All that said, I’m going to be interested to hear what the local Republicans have to say Friday.