Gov. Easley: The exit interviews (audio)
I spent some time earlier this week interviewing Gov. Mike Easley, who will wrap up his second term in office next month. Although one never says never, Easley sounded pretty certain that he would not return to elected office.
I'll have a Q+A in the paper sometime over the weekend, but here are some audio clips of the more interesting bits of the conversation.
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Early in his career, Easley prosecuted a bunch of local corruption cases. Then he started prosecuting folks in drug-running organizations, who in turn started threatening to kill him.
"They're all getting paroled at the same time I am," Easley said. "I hope they're not as poor sports as when they got convicted for trying to kill me."
Click here for the full segment.
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Since he had prosecuted so many corruption cases early on in his career, I asked him if he weas surprised by the likes of former Speaker Jim Black, former Rep. Thomas Wright and others who went to jail during his term.
"I was surprised at the level at which it occurred," he said.
Click here for the full segment.
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A question has been rattling around in my head for Easley since the primaries: Why, with about a week to go before the May vote and every poll in the field showing Barack Obama was going to take North Carolina, did he back Hillary Clinton?
The short answer: He made a promise early on, even before the Iowa caucuses. The same promise, by the way, is what kept him from campaigning for former Sen. John Edwards in Iowa, as he had done in 2004.
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One of Easley's big policy pushes has been to help kids get college credit while in high school. He says that idea was pushed over the edge by an encounter with Unilin, a flooring company that was expanding in Davidson County.
Click here for the full segment.
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So has the lottery lived up to his expectations? Easley said yes - it's money he's glad is in the treasury.
Click here for the full segment.
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What's next? He doesn't know, but it won't be full-time legal work: Click here for the full segment.
Easley talked about trying to get away by himself during the early part of his run and why he doesn't like deer hunting but does like shooting birds: Click here for the full segment.
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I asked Easley about efforts to fix the mental health system: Click here for the full segment.
And he said the state still might not have the systems in place to right the ship. I asked him how much of this or any problem could be laid on his desk: Click here for the full segment.
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Offered without comment: Easley talked about his relationship with the media, particularly the Raleigh and Charlotte papers: Click here for the full segment.
Comments (1)
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Thanks for these interviews. As I said over at my place, I especially liked the comment about keeping his side of the window clean ... while throwing dirt at the other side.
Another commenter was taken aback by his "let's get on with the executions" comment ... as thought that might have anything to do with the probation mess.
Sounds like something George Bush would say.
Posted on December 27, 2008 10:06 AM