News-Record.com

From Sunday's story on education in the governor's race:

Should every high school student strive to go to college?

That seemingly academic question lies at the heart of what may be the fiercest education policy dispute between gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

"There's no data on that on either side," said Robert Serow, a professor of educational leadership at N.C. State. "It's really an ethical issue or a moral issue, or some would see it as a matter of common sense."

Whether a matter of ethics or common sense, it is a question that not only has immense implications for the state's $21.4 billion budget and your children, but also for the kind of economy the state will try to foster.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Hear from the candidates themselves:

• **McCrory talks education during the N+R editorial board interview. (McCrory talks a fair bit about "vouchers" for college students, which I would characterize as "scholarships" and not really the same thing.) He's a bit loquacious so I included a second clip here, where he talks about "academic elitism."

• **Perdue chats about education via phone.

• **Libertarian candidate Mike Munger chats about education via phone.

Now, some more linkage:

• * My handy clip-and-save graphic. It includes stances on various education issues. (This is a draft so a couple grammatical things have been fixed in the print version.)
• * My Governor's capsules.
• * AEI's Charles Murray makes his case for less college here and here
• * The more college argument from The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
• * Perdue's education policy page.
• * McCrory's education policy page.
• * Munger's page that talks about school choice.

I'm in the process of pondering a story on education policy in the North Carolina governor's race. In particular, there is a divide on the value and necessity of higher education.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, has written and spoken about the need to encourage all students to aim for college education. From her education policy statement:

"Through her College Promise initiative, North Carolina will provide an ironclad contract to students that a lack of family income will not be a barrier to their earning a college degree or gaining the advanced skills needed for success in the 21st century economy. In exchange, students will have to stay in school and stay out of trouble, graduate from high school and earn the necessary grades to gain acceptance into college, and give back to their community."

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican, has criticized the push to put everyone in college. In debates and stump speeches he has called for a "back to basics" kind of approach that emphasizes vocational education, particularly at the community college level. From his education policy statement:

I will work with the private sector to increase the availability of, and enrollment in, vocational schools. These schools traditionally provide a useful education that will easily allow a graduate to readily find a good job in his/her selected field.

I've been talking to local sources about these two positions and finding that both have a basis in reality. There are folks who say they can't find people like welders and others in technical fields. And you can find people who argue that because people who earn a BA own more over the course of their careers.

Interestingly, I have also been told this is part of a burgeoning national debate. And interestingly enough, there are a couple books out recently that aren't exactly proxies for these arguments, but certainly speak to them.

On the need for more education end of things is "The Race Between Education and Technology" by Harvard Professors Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz.

I can't find excerpts of the book online, but you can get the gist here.

AEI's Charles Murray (yes, the Bell Curve author) weighs in on the college ain't so grand for everyone side. Book details here.

So where should we be going? More vo-tech? A 4-year-degree from everyone? Are the two views necessarily mutually exclusive?

Cross-posted from Capital Beat.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Stem cells: during session and the campaign

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue has brought the somewhat volatile topic of stem cell research into the gubernatorial campaign, both through a policy statement on the topic and a recent ad:

When asked about the ad last night, McCrory said, "I've never heard her bring up this subject in her eight years as Lt. Governor."

However, the topic has come up.

Greensboro Rep. Earl Jones, a Democrat, ran this bill, which was a tamer version of earlier proposals. The latest draft of the bill, which passed the House but died in the Senate, would only have lead to research guidelines for stem cell research. Earlier proposals would have put state funding in to embryonic stem cell research.

State funding is now something that Perdue says she favors.

More background on that legislative discussion here, here, here and here.

I asked Jones about the issue coming up in the campaign and said that Perdue was supportive when the bill crossed over from the House to the Senate.

"She called me directly," Jones said. "Perdue was very supportive, she was the first person in the Senate to call me."

Jones, rightly, said his bill got bogged down by the political debate surrounding embryonic stem cells. In particular, some people who oppose abortion tend to oppose embryonic stem cell research and bring intense and vocal pressure to bear.

You can find more on the topic from the National Academy of Sciences and the Boston Globe, which has a whole page dedicated to the topic. (It's a bit out of date now, but worth a read anyway.) Also, the topic seems to be bubbling up in the presidential campaign.

For coverage from the print edition, click here.

Thoughts from around the horn:

Dome.
Tavern.
Pearce.
Blue.
Hood.

My own thought was that McCrory probably came off better to the home viewer and that his answers were more in plain English and when he attacked, he did so by painting himself as the aggrieved party. Perdue probably got points when she let her hair down a bit, particularly with the hair-do comment.

Neither candidate offered a direct answer on third-party advertising. But no one can complain they can't find the differences between the two. Still, would have liked to have seen Libertarian Mike Munger in that mix, even if it just forced McCrory and Perdue to more sharply define what they were talking about.

WRAL's two moderator format wasn't working for me either: let the candidates compete with one another, not the egos in the anchor chairs.

Your thoughts welcome in the comments link. And if you missed the debate, click here to see it.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who are running for governor, will be debating tonight at 7 p.m. in Raleigh. According to the station's web site, you'll be able to see a live simulcast on WFMY in Greensboro.

Not invited: Libertarian candidate Mike Munger.

Update: I've been tweeting some of this.

So, there are these three cats who want to be governor. I spoke with them for this story on Saturday.

In an online exclusive (translation: we ran out of space in the @#$%#$ paper) here’s a chart comparing their policy positions on various topics.

Later in the week, I’m told we’re planning to get some video of Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory up. Both candidates interviewed (separately) with our editorial board in the N&R studios at the home office.

What does a candidate for governor do between meetings and campaign appearances?

If you’re Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, see a movie. (McCrory is a Republican running against Democrat Bev Perdue.)

McCrory met with the News & Record’s editorial board on Monday and before things got rolling allowed as how he had taken a break on a trip through the city Sunday. He and a campaign worker stopped to see Topic Thunder.

“It was wild. It was wild. We had a two hour break between meetings and instead of sitting around making phone calls, I said, ‘You know what? Let’s get our mind off it and go see a good comedy,” McCrory said.

I haven’t been out to the movies much lately, so I’ll leave it to you as whether the Ben Stiller film qualifies as a “good comedy.”

A look at where some of the candidates on the Guilford County ballot are in the next few days:

TODAY
U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan
10:30 a.m.: News conference on crime and gang violence. Several Charlotte officials plan to endorse her. Mecklenburg County Historical Courthouse, 700 E. Trade St., Charlotte.
1:45 p.m.: Addresses a meeting of the N.C. Correctional Association. N.C. Cooperative Extension, Randolph County Center, 112 West Walker Ave., Asheboro.

Gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory
11 a.m.: Speaks at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners annual conference. New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, Colonial Capital Ballroom A, 203 South Front St., New Bern.

Gubernatorial candidate Bev Perdue
4 p.m.: Speaks at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners annual conference. New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, Colonial Capital Ballroom A, 203 South Front St., New Bern.

U.S. House District Rep. Brad Miller
12:30 p.m.: Gives keynote speech at the Kiwanis Club Luncheon. Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Road, Raleigh.

SATURDAY
U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan
11:30 a.m.: Attending an open house at her campaign headquarters, 700 N. Eugene St., Greensboro.
2 p.m.: Participates in a crime and gangs round-table. N.C. Central University, Whiting Justice Building, Room 324, Corner of Nelson and Lincoln Street, Durham.

SUNDAY
Gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory
2 p.m.: Attends Alamance County Republican Party Headquarters grand opening, 16 Northeast Court Square, Graham.
6 p.m.: Speaks to the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club, Starmount Forest Country Club, One Sam Snead Dr., Greensboro.

UPDATE: Adds Hagan's open house on Saturday and McCrory's events Sunday; removes Thursday's events.

As the AP reports, state Treasurer Richard Moore has endorsed Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue in the race for governor by way of an e-mail. Here's the text:

Dear Friend,

As you know, Bev Perdue and I had a tough, spirited primary campaign. And while the outcome was not what we had hoped for, one thing is clear: the differences between Bev Perdue and me pale in comparison to our differences with Pat McCrory.

Our country and our state are at a crossroads. This November’s election will have a dramatic impact on how we meet the many challenges facing us. So many of the issues that Bev and I both believe in – economic opportunity for all North Carolina families...world-class public schools…health care for every child in our state...and securing our energy future – are at stake in this election.

That's why we all need to work together, as a unified Democratic Party, to elect Bev Perdue as our next governor. She'll continue to stand up for North Carolina's families and to make sure they have a voice in Raleigh.

Join me in supporting Bev Perdue. Visit www.BevPerdue.com to contribute, sign up for her campaign's email list, and find out more about Bev's vision for North Carolina's future.

Sincerely,

Richard Moore

P.S. Keep up with the latest news about Bev's campaign – log on today to www.BevPerdue.com to join the campaign's email list.

That "tough, spirited primary campaign" was one filled with some pretty nasty accusations hurled at one another. And this e-mail makes it feel like there's still some hang-over there. After all, the Republican candidates all got together in person to embrace their standard-bearer, Mayor Pat McCrory.

There's no photo op and handshake here. Given that lack of political kabuki, it would seem to me there is no love loss.

Me, I'm in the newspaper business. Yeah, I'm a political junkie but I don't pretend to offer campaigns advice because it'd be worth the price they'd pay: nothing.

That said, Republican Pat McCrory, a candidate for govern, put out a news release with this line in it today:

Today the McCrory for Governor campaign reissued its call for Beverly Perdue to join Pat McCrory in a series of joint issue forums across North Carolina. While McCrory has committed to 10 debates including three with a statewide audience, Perdue has agreed to just three regional debates and two regional forums.

Hey, you know who else dedicated a big chunk of his campaign to bashing Perdue for not debating?

Richard Moore.

You know, the guy who lost to Perdue in this year's primary.

Just making an observation. Maybe McCory's pitch will have better appeal. Read on after the jump for his full release.

I'll be trucking on down to the coast Saturday to write about the U.S. Senate and Gubernatorial debates hosted by the Bar Association . If you don't want to settle for my pithy prose or hacky multi-media efforts, you can catch them for yourself on Saturday courtesy of
News 14, which Time Warner subscribers get. From the channel's release:

Raleigh, NC (June 16, 2008) – News 14 Carolina, Time Warner Cable’s 24-hour local news network, will televise the first debates between the major candidates for Governor and U.S. Senate.

The first joint appearance of the two major party candidates for both offices is June 21st at the meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association in Atlantic Beach. Beverly Purdue, Pat McCrory, Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan will respond to questions from a media panel in two separate 45 minute forums.

News 14 Carolina will record both forums and televise them Sunday, June 22nd. The Gubernatorial forum will air at 11 am. The U.S. Senate forum will air at 1 pm.

Both forums will then be available on-demand to Time Warner Cable digital subscribers on Carolina on Demand. Carolina on Demand is a free, exclusive service of Time Warner Cable on channel 1234. It features news, sports and entertainment programming produced in and about North and South Carolina.

News 14 Carolina is sharing its coverage of the forums with UNC-TV. This will make them available to non-cable subscribers across North Carolina. “Time Warner Cable is dedicated to providing all citizens of our state with the information they need to make informed choices at the polls,” says News 14 Carolina VP & General Manager, Alan Mason. “We are pleased UNC-TV will telecast our coverage of this important event on its digital service across North Carolina.”

About News 14 Carolina:

News 14 Carolina is an exclusive service of Time Warner Cable. News 14 Carolina is available to all 1.3 million Time Warner Cable subscribers in the Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville and Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem television markets. News 14 Carolina will expand to the Wilmington, Morehead City and Jacksonville area on August 18.

About Time Warner Cable:
Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., with technologically advanced, well-clustered systems located mainly in five geographic areas — New York state (including New York City), the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California (including Los Angeles) and Texas. As of December 31, 2007, Time Warner Cable served approximately 14.6 million customers who subscribed to one or more of its video, high-speed data and voice services.

Related to yesterday's post on whether Libertarians would be included in upcoming debates: I spoke with the Libertarian candidate for governor, Mike Munger, today by phone. He was kind enough to let me record the conversation to share with y'all:

• * Munger says debate organizers shouldn't substitute their own judgment for that of the voters.

• * There is reason to believe, Munger said, that 2008 will be a relatively good year for Libertarians. At least, he said, it will be easier for them to keep they ballot access.

• * But Munger cautions that Libertarians need to take advantage of their opportunity. "Let's be honest. I think a lot of people have the perception that Libertarians aren't serious about trying to win office and that some of the issues that Libertarians emphasis are not really mainstream politics," Munger said. "I think that's exaggerated but it's not completely untrue. So some of the burden on us is to be able to conduct campaigns responsibly, in a way that's directed toward issues people care about."

The newspaper version of all this should run on Monday.

Doug points to the Libertarian candidate for governor, Mike Munger, sounding off about being excluded from a series of upcoming gubernatorial debates. Dome also has coverage. (Also: BlueNC.)

Munger writes in his post:

It’s not the media; you can’t blame them. Having me in the debate is MUCH more interesting, and would improve ratings. You can count on the media actually preferring that I be included.

But I’m not. Because the Dems and Repubs don’t want even a whiff of competition to affect their cozy cartel.

Well, I'm not going to say "blame the media," but Munger might not be able to blame the Republican and Democratic competitors in the race. I asked both campaigns via e-mail if they had an opinion on Munger entering the debates.

Amy Auth, the newly minted spokesperson for Republican Pat McCrory, said: "Pat doesn't host debates -- he attends them. It is up to the folks planning the debates to decide who to invite."

David Kochman, spokesman for Democrat Bev Perdue, wrote, "We'll leave that decision up to the hosts. We're committed to the debates and will let them decide how to handle that."

So, both campaigns are on the record as saying it's up to the hosts to decide who to invite.

The first forum coming up is the N.C. Bar Association, a week from Saturday.

Russell Rawlings, a spokesman for the association, said that his group had not invited the Libertarian candidate nor did it plan to. The Bar Association has always focused its election-year forums on the Republican and Democratic candidates, he said.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor, is due to be in town for a meet and greet slash fundraiser on June 10. Linda Carlisle, who has recently stepped off the lottery commission, will host at her home up on Rambling Road. They're looking for $150 a pop to get in the door.

Before last week's election, there was a good deal of speculation about what the drop-off would be. How many more people who would vote in the presidential contest versus other races lower on the ballot, particularly in the Democratic primary?

After looking at some data from the State Board of Elections and the Guilford County BOE it's fair to say that there was some serious drop-off, although I found the ballot spots where it happened a bit surprising.

At both the county and state level, the presidential contest definitely was the draw. But at both the state and county levels, the race for governor was the second-biggest draw on the Democratic ballot. That was followed by the U.S. Senate race. Statewide, the drop-off from President to governor was 5 percent, versus U.S. Senate 15.5 percent.

In Guilford County, nearly 4,000 fewer people voted for U.S. Senate versus for Governor. That's despite the leading candidates in the senate race (Greensboro state Sen. Kay Hagan and Greensboro-native Jim Neal) having ties to Guilford County and the race appearing on the ballot ahead of the race for governor.

This bum-fuzzles me. I would think that the choice of who Democrats want to take on Sen. Dole would be pretty darned important to them. I'm not sure how to interpret this, although I'm betting if I talked to Dole's folks they'd say it's a sign that some Democrats are happy with the incumbent.

The only alternative I have at my fingertips involves advertising: Richard Moore and Bev Perdue were on the air a lot. Hagan was the only one of the U.S. Senate candidates on television and in nowhere near the rotation that Bev Perdue and Richard Moore were.

Among the partisan statewide races, the biggest dropoff on the Democratic side was between President and Labor Commissioner. Statewide, 376,425 - or 24 percent - fewer people voted for the state official responsible for inspecting elevators and amusement rides and enforcing workplace safety rules. Phhhhppttt...who needs to keep nails out of their skulls anyway.

In Guilford County, a lot of people went to considerable trouble to under-vote the down ballot races. You can tell because a total of 127,589 people voted in the Republican and Democratic presidential races. Then 122,000-plus voted in all the sales tax and bond referenda.

But only a total of 105,345 Democrats and Republicans voted for Lt. Governor, the #2 elected official in the state.

To roughly extrapolate, that means about 17,000 punched a button for president, and then leafed through several pages, leaving races like Lt. Gov. blank, before getting to the bonds.

What does this all mean? Several things, I think, some obvious:

• * Not all races caught the voting public's imagination equally.
• * All politics is local and the referenda are about as local as it gets.
• * Folks probably aren't sure what the people who hold the council of state offices do, much less the differences between the candidates.
• * There's probably an argument in here for eliminating some council of state offices, if one wanted to have it.

Your thoughts welcome at the comment link below.

How did voters choose between candidates for governor like Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore? Did they comb through policy positions or read about their voting records?

Maybe some did. Others, just listened to ol' Sheriff Andy. From Lex Alexander who was out and about covering the gubernatorial primary yesterday:

Joseph L. Perkins Jr. voted for Bev Perdue for governor at Greensboro's First Lutheran Church.

"Andy Griffith felt she was right, and I don't think he'd recommend anyone who wasn't right," he said.

Griffith did a television commercial endorsing Perdue:

Greensboro Rep. Alma Adams backed Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue in her Democratic primary run for governor against State Treasurer Richard Moore. Moore ran a hard campaign, and came out with a bunch of attacks on Perdue, including some that suggested she was less than committed to civil rights.

Adams stopped to chat as she passed through the Old Guilford County Courthouse Tuesday on her way to Raleigh and Perdue's victory celebration. When asked what Moore should do now, Adams had this to say:

"He needs to go hide. For all the dirt that he did, he needs to go hide deep down under a rock. He ought to be ashamed."

I was at the Hillary Clinton stop in High Point earlier today.

There were some incredibly enthusiastic supporters there -- including the owner of what I'm calling the Hillarymobile, a Toyota sedan with Arizona plates covered in tributes to Hillary:

Some advance man should be handed his walking papers for putting her at the train depot downtown, where trains rolled by a few times making it difficult to hear what she was saying. She was tough though, incorporating the trains into her speech (click to listen to streaming audio of the speech, with intro by Gov. Mike Easley and his son Michael) at several points and talking over them when she needed to.

Clinton even cracked wise about North Carolina barbecue...

Because I'd heard the basic stump speech a half-dozen times now and she did much of it on today's morning shows, I noticed something else that was the least bit different and strange...

Candidates for president and governor will be in Greensboro-High Point-Triad area Sunday and Monday. Some of the doings:

On Sunday:

• * Kal Pen (Kumar from the Harold and Kumar films) will be at Elon Universities McKinnon Hall in Elon at 12 p.m.

• * Former President Clinton is due in Reidsville at Reidsville High School at 9:15 p.m.

On Monday:

• * Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican campaigning for governor, will hold a rally at the Jamestown Public Library at 7 p.m. You'll remember, that's where McCrory started his campaign.

• * Lawyer Bill Graham flies into PTI Airport for a presser at 1:15 p.m.

• * Treasurer Richard Moore, a Democratic candidate for governor, will bring his campaign to Stamey's on Coliseum Boulevard. Major penalty points if he doesn't have the cobbler.

• * Sen. Hillary Clinton, campaigning for president, is scheduled for a Monday, 11:30 a.m. Get Out the Vote event at the Depot in High Point.

Gov. Mike Easley officially endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton in her presidential campaign on Tuesday. Today, the campaign unveiled a new ad for Clinton featuring North Carolina's governor.

You know, going from "I hope I don't have to" get involved in the primary to putting your personal political weight behind a candidate is pretty big swing. At any rate, Easley should help Clinton capture those moderate, business-friendly Democrats that have done well by him through his four statewide elections.

Also, the Clinton campaign announced their candidate would be back in North Carolina both Friday and Saturday, so it seems like she's going to be making a real push to take the state.

Responding to our call for multimedia, Melissa Westmoreland sends us both a blog post and video.

Westmoreland found herself at the final debate among the Republican candidates for governor last night - what is this, like 112 total? - but without her choice in the election on stage. From her blog entry on the event:

Now, common sense should tell you that with a race as close as this one, McCrory would not CHOOSE to miss the last debate, especially with his opponents attacking him every chance they get. No, you see, Pat McCrory has a JOB. He is mayor of Charlotte, and he has city council meetings to attend. Early on in this race, McCrory made it known that he would not be missing city council meetings, because when he does, the Democrats control the meetings. He stood by that promise last night.

[snip]

The debate opened with an actual question, but rather than answer it right off the bat, Fred Smith took the opportunity to address the crowd and scold Mayor McCrory for not attending. I have the spectacle on tape, and I'll be uploading it tomorrow so you can all see what it looks like when the pot calls the kettle black.
In all honesty, I don't entirely remember what Smith said because it was completely dwarfed by Bob Orr's comment. When it came time to answer the question, Orr again chose not to address the issue and instead told the crowd that McCrory "needs to decide whether he wants to be a mayor or run for governor."

Seriously?

So let me get this straight – for starters, you absolutely have to be independently wealthy to run for governor. That's what I'm going to take from that comment, because Orr obviously wants his gubernatorial candidates to be jobless.

Melissa is also posting some video on her own YouTube channel like this one:

So, what's stopping you? Send along your campaign pictures, video, audio and thoughts to mbinker@news-record.com and/or gwitt@news-record.com.

From today's paper: a look at the Democratic primary for governor. Previously: the Republicans.

Here's more on the the tv ad by the GOP. You know the one. It'll begin airing Monday.

The bad news, you're behind in the polls and fundraising in the U.S. Senate race. The good news: you have the money for a heck of a party. Our editorial page has made an endorsement in the race.

Coming this week: Presidential candidates are back in town. Hillary Clinton will be at a fundraiser in Greensboro Monday. and Barack Obama will be in Winston-Salem Tuesday.

Even more than usual has been said about the state GOP ad slamming Sen. Obama, Bev Perdue and Richard Moore in connection with the Rev. Wright, especially since our friends in the national media have chosen to weigh in.

Just this morning, I got to listen to NPR's Juan Williams not only mispronounce Linda Daves' name a dozen times (karmic payback for Daves refusing to use proper grammar when talking about the "Democrat" party) but kind of miss the point on the ad itself.

Here's my 5-cent analysis, free to our Internet readers:

• * Whether you think the ad makes tactical sense or not (I don't) or is fair (since when have elections been about fair) it is hugely popular with the Republican base. I've been getting e-mails all morning about the thing from folks who think this is just what the party ought to be doing.

• * Memo to the national media: It's not all about the presidential campaign. Understand that there is a large segment of North Carolina Republicans who believe the worst thing you can say about a state candidate is that they've endorsed Barack Obama. I know, I know, you want it all to be about the presidential race. But Tar Heels have been doing hard-ball election tactics while no one watched for years. We just have a national stage to play on now.

• * There are two and only two rational reasons for launching such an ad: the NC GOP thinks it will get some campaign donations rolling on or they've made a strategic decision that they'd rather have Sen. Clinton at the top of the ticket this fall.

  Since it dings both Moore and Perdue there's no real potential impact in that primary and it's too soon in the election cycle to make an impact in the fall General Election campaign.

  Being a cynic, I think the money explanation is the more rational. (Republicans I talked to do not seem to be of one mind about who it would be easier to run against.) This is getting huge press play, comments on blogs from around the country. This is akin to Vernon Robinson's flame-throwing ads in the 2006 race against Brad Miller: the didn't help him win but they brought in some bucks.

• * The people who ought to be really aggrieved are the down-ticked candidates, like those running for the state House and Senate who might look for some help from their party this fall.

  The party already has a reputations - at least 'round Guilford County - of kind of letting legislative candidates fend for themselves. If they spend their money on stuff like this but let candidates who might be in striking distance of flipping a seat from the Democrats founder for want of money in November, some folks will be rightfully angry.

• * Daves laid out a pretty robust case for winning votes against Perdue and Moore. I'm not saying I agree with everything in the release, just that the arguments are rhetorically strong and I could see them swaying unaffiliated voters and conservative democrats.

  So what does it say that despite being able to point to corruption in government, ineffectiveness in state agencies (yes, division of mental health, we're looking at you) and nearly 130 years of unbroken Democratic control of the levers of power in Raleigh, the Republican party feels the best thing they can put out is an ad linking to candidates for governor to a presidential candidate who is linked to a controversial preacher?

  To me, it smacks of a lack of confidence of your ability to win on the issues.

So the North Carolina GOP has put an ad on the air criticizing Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore for endorsing Barack Obama.

I'm struggling with the tactical reasoning behind that decision. On the one hand, they party gets to ding Obama with the Rev. Wright flap again. And those voting in the Republican primary will probably see an endorsement of Obama as a bad thing.

But:

• * Moore and Perdue endorsed Obama for a reason and it wasn't to appeal to Republican primary voters. I somehow doubt this really hurts either of them right now and might actually help both in that it spreads the word that they've endorsed.
• * The general election is seven months away. Why not save your powder until you have one target to run against? In two weeks, either Perdue or Moore will almost certainly be the nominee and you'll have plenty of time to wail on them.
• * Since the Wright flap has not seemed to slow down Obama much here in the state, is it going to slow down two of his endorsers?

Here's the ad.

My 5-cent snark: If you're going to use Rev. Wright's comments, don't be so freaking squeamish and bleep the word "damn." That's like wearing a dinner jacket to a knife fight: it's overly formal and doesn't disguise your intentions to stick something sharp in your opponent.

I may have more on this later. GOP folks embargoed the ad release and I'm probably going to be a presser on the thing as this entry pops onto the internets.

Update: Linda Daves, chairman of the NC GOP, says the ad will start running Monday during the evening news. When asked if the ad was race baiting, she said: "The accusation of race baiting is one of the oldest used tools to drive a wedge between the people of North Carolina. It's a great way to divert the debate from the actual issues that on the table. So I simply don't buy into that."

N.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Caroline Valand differed in her opinion, calling the ad an example of "the same old southern strategy" and calling on Republican nominees for governor and president to renounce the ad.

"They're buying into old southern race politics," she said.

Update: It seems Sen. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee doesn't much like the ad either. Here's an e-mail sent by his campaign:

Dear Chairman Daves,

From the beginning of this election, I have been committed to running a respectful campaign based upon an honest debate about the great issues confronting America today. I expect all state parties to do so as well. The television advertisement you are planning to air degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats. In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.

This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign. We need to run a campaign that is worthy of the people we seek to serve. There is no doubt that we will draw sharp contrasts with the Democrats on fundamental issues critical to the future course of our country. But we need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people.

Once again, it is imperative that you withdraw this offensive advertisement.

John McCain

Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue debated in Raleigh Tuesday night. Although it was held at WRAL and carried on at least one Charlotte TV station, I don't think it was broadcast in the Triad.

Here's my story, summarizing the highlights. After all the back-and-forth over where to debate, who was ducking whom, which station would conduct it, etc... the debate was well worth it, highlighting the differences between the two candidates.

If you've got an hour and want to watch the whole thing, WRAL has video up here.

With the presidential contenders not throwing down in North Carolina, might the Democrats who want to be the state's chief executive get their debate on? Yes, I think. From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The two leading Democratic candidates for governor are ready to debate, but not in the same location.

State Treasurer Richard Moore said Monday that he remains committed to a televised debate at the WRAL television studios on Tuesday in Raleigh. But Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue accepted an invitation to meet in Durham at the WTVD studios.

During a news conference, Moore said Perdue should accept the WRAL invitation because it offers a larger audience. He pointed out that Perdue said a few weeks ago she would debate anytime and anywhere.

Perdue's campaign didn't immediately respond. But late last week it called on Moore to accept the WTVD debate.

Both candidates remain scheduled to participate in a forum Thursday night on public television.

That story was quickly followed by the following release from the Perdue camp:

Bev Perdue today released the following statement regarding debates:

"Richard Moore has said that he would debate anytime, anywhere, but it's become clear that he does not intend to live up to those words.

"While I deeply appreciate WTVD's efforts and generosity, it is clear that for a debate to occur I will have to be the candidate who takes the first step forward.

"North Carolina's families want to know what I will do as Governor to make North Carolina a better place to live, and I look forward to discussing that in a debate tomorrow night at WRAL."

More to come, I think.

The four leading candidates for governor will debate tonight at The Civitas Institute's annual Conservative Leadership Conference. Word is that this will be the most free-wheeling of the debate opportunities, allowing candidates to directly challenge one another.

From today's paper: A quick and dirty look at the four front-runners.

Gov. Mike Easley was kind enough to sit and chat a spell earlier this week. Among other things, I asked him whether he's make a choice in the presidential election - he has not - and what he thought of the back-and-forth in the Democratic primary to replace him. I asked Easley if he has been tempted to step into the battle between Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore.

"I've said some things. It doesn't work. They're going to do what they're going to do, " he said.

Click here to listen to a segment of that chat.

And then there was this question: are you done running for office? Click here for that answer.

More is coming, including a Q+A in the paper this weekend.

Treasurer Richard Moore's gubernatorial campaign is crying foul on this flier, which is a hit-piece by NCAE - the state educator's group - aimed squarely at Moore.

Perdue said last week she was forgoing all negative campaign tactics and asking her backers to do the same.

A spokeswoman for the Moore campaign likened the tactic to the independent "Swiftboat" ads that supporters of President Bush aimed at Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 election.

To be fair, it does look like a break with the spirit of the no negativity rule.

Update: Sheri Strickland, VP for NCAE, said that the piece went out before Perdue came forward with her wishes for a strictly positive campaign. The group, she said, has scrapped two similarly-themed fliers, she said.

Want to meet Bev Perdue and ask her about all those negative ads in the Democratic primary for governor? From the campaign:

Dear Friends,

The response to yesterday’s announcement about our positive campaign has been overwhelming. I have heard from hundreds of voters across the state who are excited that I have decided to stop the negative advertising and will be running a positive campaign focused on the issues that matter to North Carolina’s families.

In that spirit, I will hit the road this weekend to meet with voters across North Carolina. Below is a list of the gatherings I will be attending this weekend in Greenville, Lumberton, Raleigh – and now Greensboro! Guilford County Commissioner Kay Cashion has generously opened her home for an afternoon gathering in Greensboro on Sunday. I would be delighted if you could join us.

Our momentum continues to build every day and I look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Info on the Greensboro shindig is as follows:

Greensboro, Sunday 4/13
The home of County Commissioner Kay Cashion
103 N. West Greenway Street, in Greensboro
2:00 until 3:30 pm
Complimentary Refreshments Served
Julie Lapham – (336) 379-1000 or at jlapham@juno.com

I just sent this to our online folks:

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue says has taken down television ads and website material attacking her opponent in the Democratic primary for governor and will refrain from so-called negative campaigning until the May 6 vote.

Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore are the two leading Democrats in the contest and both have aired a series of attack ads over the past two months. Perdue said that numerous complaints from family, friends and supporters prompted her to take the attacks off the air.

"I've been thinking about this for two weeks," Perdue told reporters this morning after showing a new commercial that begins airing today in which she announces her decision to voters.

"It's been hard for me to look some people in the face," she said.

The winner of the May 6 primary will go on to face the winner of the Republican contest and the nominee chosen by the state Libertarian Party.

No response yet from the Moore campaign.

Update: “When a candidate does this it’s because they’re losing,” said Jay Reiff, Moore’s campaign manager. When asked if there were plans to pull Moore’s negative ads, Reiff said, “We’re going to continue to make the case as to why Richard Moore is the best choice for governor.”

Update: Here's Perdue's ad, which she said began airing today at 10 a.m.

Independent producer Jim Longworth sends word that a special episode of Triad Today is coming up. Five of the six candidates for governor will be on the Friday March 28 show, 6:30 a.m. on ABC 45. It re-airs Sunday, March 30 at 10 p.m. on MY48. You'll also be able to catch a live stream on the triadtoday.com website during the month of April.

Richard Moore is the only major party candidate who didn't sit for one of the segments.

PPP reports that Bev Perdue has a 27 point lead over Richard Moore in the Democratic Primary for governor.

Meanwhile, the same polling firm tells us Pat McCrory and Fred Smith lead the field of Republican contenders.

What all does this tell us? Without any big shifts in the political landscape:

• * McCrory and Smith seem to be heading to a runoff in the Republican primary. Neither seems positioned to get the 40 percent needed to avoid a run off and neither seems likely to forgo the option. Bill Graham is the closest of the remaining contenders, but doesn't seem to be gaining ground. Still, he's within striking distance and has money to make a move.

• * Moore needs to get on the stick. A 27 point deficit is surmountable, but only if there's time. There's less than two months before the primary.

• * Those trailing in either primary for governor, no matter the party, have limited time to make their moves. Presidential primary results from earlier this week point to a Democratic race that will still be somewhat in play by the time it hits North Carolina.

  That means the national campaigns will be spending money here (sucking up available television time) and getting more free media (sucking up available media attention) and politicking here (sucking up available voter attention). You need all three things to make a move in a campaign.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat.

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I've stayed away from writing about the back-and-forth between Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov Bev Perdue in their race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Part of that has to do with the fact I'm little more fascinated (and my paper has local interest) in the Senate primary, and part of it is the constant back-and-forth is less than illuminating at times.

But, let's jump into the fray today. (More after the jump.)

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue was in town today giving a big check to the Guilford County Health Department. She'll stick around tonight for an event at J. Douglas Galyon Depot tonight.

I mention this because she is getting the kind of free media that a candidate just has to love from our website right now (big front page picture of her talking with senior) even as she's running for office and planning a political event nearby. (I bet she makes it on a couple news casts tonight as well). Such are the perks of running as an office holder.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has hired Jack Hawke, a long-time Republican operative, as his chief strategist. Hawke used to run the Civitas Institute until a couple weeks ago. As well, he is a former Republican Party Chairman and has run for office himself. From the McCrory release:

"I'm hawkish on Hawke because of Jack's experience and winning record." said McCrory.

Hawke's first order of business: ensure the campaign no longer uses bad puns in their press releases.

Debates stories from:

• * News & Record.
• * The N+O.
• * Winston-Salem Journal.
• * The AP. (This WRAL site also has some video, but you can listen to the full audio here.

For those who missed the health care debate on UNC-TV Thursday:

• * Click here to listen to the Republican side.
• * Click here to listen to the Democratic side.

I may have some more thoughts - including this exchange on mental health by the Republicans - but you can also find some good coverage:

• * From dome, who noted one of my smart aleck remarks.

• * The barkeep has also weighed in.

Plus, there will be coverage galore in the morning papers, I'm sure.

During Thursday's debate among Republican candidates for governor, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said something curious.

"Mental health is one of those areas where I think the best way to do it is the trend that's been occurring in the last several years where we're transferring some of that responsibility and decision making down to the local level where it's closest to the customer and I think there has been some good trends in that area during the past two or three years including in Mecklenburg County," McCrory said.

That "trend" is what's known more broadly as mental health reform.

I don't know if McCrory is the only politician in the state who thinks that mental health reform is working, but he was the only politician at the debate who does. (For background you can read my stuff or just Google.)

The responses came quickly from McCrory's opponents. First at bat was former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr.

"Mental health reform may have worked in Charlotte but I can assure you it has not worked around North Carolina. Mental health reform has been an absolute disaster in this state," Orr said.

Then state Sen. Fred Smith: "The mental health system in state is in crisis."

Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham: "I'm glad the state has finally come to the conclusion they need to fix the problem they created in the first place...Mental health is a disaster and broken."

Now, Orr, Smith and Graham aren't exactly a namby-pamby crew. So if they're saying a social service safety net is broken, it's probably pretty stressed.

Click here to listen to the whole exchange. McCrory is up first.

Following up from an earlier story and posts, two Republican candidates for governor have offered up detailed health care proposals. That's in advance of tonight's tonight's health care debate on UNC-TV.

Bill Graham held a news conference in downtown Raleigh today to give his pitch, which focuses on creating community risk pools. Essentially, Graham wants to let churches, civic clubs, employers, etc... band together to form insurance pools that will make the purchase of insurance cheaper.

There's no online link yet (although the color booklet is very nice) but I'll post one when I get it. Update: Here's the link. (PDF)

Bob Orr made his pitch by way of an e-mail announcement that linked to his plan. As is typical for Orr, his thoughts are detailed and multi-faceted. The highlights that I've picked out so far include increasing the number of doctors and nurses available to treat those in need by working to train more medical professionals, emphasizing preventative care and decreasing the cost of insurance be reducing coverage mandates.

Coverage mandates are things that an insurer has to cover if they sell you a policy in North Carolina. The most recent addition to that list - mental health care.

Democrats Bev Perdue and Richard Moore have already offered their plans while Republicans Fred Smith and Pat McCrory seem to have some broad brushstrokes in place.

You can catch tonight's debate at 8 p.m. if you have UNC's digital channel, or at 10 p.m. on the regular broadcast.

Click here for Sunday's story on health care and the candidate's for governor.

Previously:

Readers views on health care.

Republican candidate's positions on health care.

Democratic candidate's positions.

Your thoughts are welcome at the comments link below.

A few months back, Lt. Gov. Perdue accused State Treasure Richard Moore of using state resources, namely computers and internet, for his campaign for governor. At around the same time, Moore accused the Perdue of the same. Both Moore and Perdue are democrats and both want to be the one to replace Gov. Mike Easley. Who's going to win this little spat? I'll give you a hint: it's not a Democrat.

Click here for the history of this particular tit-for-tat.

So both campaigns call on the state auditor, Republican Les Merritt, to settle this political squabble about political squabbling. (State Democrats, by the way, have accused Merritt of his own political surfing at work.)

Merritt has come back today with reports on both Moore's and Perdue's activities. The conclusions:

UNC TV will air a debate among the candidates for governor - Republicans and Democrats - Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10 p.m. For more, info on the UNC debates click here.

This is one of three UNC is doing and this next one will concern healthcare and health policy. The candidates all have their own ideas for what needs to be done in the healthcare arena. (Click here for links to the Democrats' proposals. And click here for links to the Republicans'.)

I was interested in what you readers thought ought to be on their agenda. Earlier this week, we sent out a message via our Reader Advisory Network asking what the candidates should be tackling.

To get the discussion started here, I thought I'd share some of those comments.

The best way to "fix" health care, in my opinion, is to make medical care providers compete: disclose prices of procedures so that people can shop around. As it is, health care providers simply send us a bill and expect us to pay it no matter how outrageous. We also need to have more people buying their own health insurance, instead of relying on employer health insurance. Rather than having employers paying for health insurance, give employees the amount that would be paid on their behalf and let them shop around to buy the plan that best fits their needs (why should a single male pay for maternity care as part of his employer's "one size fits all" health plan). - Paul Daniels

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The State needs a universal healthcare plan that could cover all uninsured persons in the state. I propose lumping all uninisured persons into a giant group and having the insurance companies bid on it. Low bid with the most coverage gets the business. Those who can pay the premium can pay it. These would be small business owners or employees of companies who do not now offer health plans. The company could contribut if it so chose. The State could and should help fund those who cannot pay themselves due to lack of sufficient income. - Charles Hook

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Any firefighter would tell you it is less costly and certainly less risky to prevent fires than to extinguish them once ablaze. Likewise, any sensible healthcare policy would include strategies and provisions dedicated to prevention and early detection of disease. Practical policy prescriptions would include subsidized or free pre-natal care and well-baby visits, free if not mandatory screening for common cancers, and other preventative measures for the uninsured. The key is to reduce the number of times uninsured people use emergency rooms as doctors' offices. - Robert Goldberg

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In response to your question, the next Gov should define what is meant by "quality health care." Once done, it should be made affordable to all citizens. How? Begin with health care savings accounts....pre-tax savings accounts invested in approved accounts, or allow a portion of 401k's to go towards health expenses tax free. - Stephen Jones

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I think behavioral health is getting too big a slice of the pie, while our elderly keep getting their services tightened.Many young people on public assistance have learned to play the game: working just enough to qualify for housing and child care assistance but not working enough to get off assistance. The middle class has to shoulder too much of the tax burden.soon now the camel's back will break. - Sandy Thomas

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I think one of the critical issues with health care is the fact that some seniors on a limited fixed income just don't have the money to purchase prescription drugs that are necessary for the health and safety. The cost of priscription drugs for seniors should be a number one priority for all of the future governors. - Paul E Sams

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I think than all the talk about heath Care is just a mask for bigger government, either in increasing taxes or gain more control over people's lives.
You are to young to remember the days when almost NO ONE had health insurance. Health insurance became a perk for those being sought after to join a company, now it has morphed into a right. This is socialist creep that has taken away our liberties and changed capitalism into a thoughtful memory of the past. - Marcus Kindley

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If someone saw the movie "Sicko" and they did not leave the theatre ticked off about the state of health care in this country, then that individual is either an executive with a health care company or they are in a coma. Everyone should be covered, period, no exceptions. For those that say that they do not want "Canadian" health care, I have family members with relatives in Canada. I do not hear horror stories from my Canadian relatives about problems with their health care system. If you have an emergency, you get treated. If it's not an emergency, you take your place in line, but you don't have to spend hours in an emergency room for a runny nose because you do not have health insurance. We have the greatest country in the world, but if you are poor, you cannot go to see a doctor? - Jim Galler

Now it's your turn. Just click on the comment link below to join the conversation. In the mean time, I'll be working on rounding up links to all the candidate's various health care proposals.

Where as Republican candidate Fred Smith brings 'cue and slaw on the campaign stump, former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr brings is due to bring his own brand of cerebral campaigning to bear locally this week:

Retired North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a 2008 Republican gubernatorial candidate, will visit with students, faculty and staff at Elon University School of Law from 5:30-7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31. The event will take place in room 207 of the law school, located at 201 North Greene Street in downtown Greensboro. Orr¹s visit is sponsored by Elon Law Republicans.

Orr was appointed to the N.C. Court of Appeals in 1986 and served until his election to the N.C. Supreme Court in 1994. He was reelected in 2002 and retired in 2004 to lead the newly formed N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law.

Each of the four Republicans running for governor have offered up their own health care proposals. Here are summaries and links to their online versions:

Bill Graham

The Salisburry lawyer writes on his web site:

WE must develop a market-based, consumer-driven reform plan that makes health insurance more affordable. As governor, I would institute a community risk pool for all uninsured North Carolinians. By doing so, WE can spread the risk among a large population and be able to offer affordable private health plans to our citizens, much like a large company would do for its employees. Similar pools already exist in other states on a smaller level. WE can do this for the uninsured citizens of North Carolina. As governor, I can broker affordable and accessible health care plans with private insurers who do business in our state by leveraging the combined bargaining power of our citizens and state government.

Pat McCrory

McCrory, the Charlotte mayor who just entered the race in January, does not mention health care on the issues page of his web site, but in a statement to WRAL in advance of an earlier debate, McCrory did write that he would liketo "ensure that every North Carolina resident has easy access to quality, affordable health care."

Bob Orr

The former Supreme Court justice writes on his web site: "We must work in concert with the private sector and our world class academic institutions to implement policies that maximize North Carolina's competitive advantages in providing quality care and driving growth and innovation in the medical field. Over the next two decades, we must revitalize our health care system, expand preventive care, and adopt a market-based approach to health insurance."

Fred Smith

The state senator writes on his web site that there are five things the state ought to do, including: "Use Health Savings Accounts to make healthcare consumer-driven. HSAs allow for more flexibility, individual control, tax savings, and future medical savings. Businesses are also using them with increasing effectiveness to cut costs," and "Reform medical liability laws. North Carolina's leading doctors should help shape those laws - not trial lawyers - so that good doctors can quit practicing defensive medicine."

Two of the three Democrats running for governor have offered up their own health care proposals. Here are summaries and links to their online versions:

Richard Moore

Treasurer Richard Moore makes three broad proposals on health care by way of his web site: establishing a high risk pool to help cover the uninsured, offer health insurance to every child in the state and make health insurance more affordable for small businesses.

More on his plans for covering children can be found in this PDF.

Moore has also offered a plan to reduce preventable medical errors. In essence, he would stop state payments to hospitals for the treatment associated with preventable medical errors. In other words, if the hospital screws up, it has to pay the cost of getting the patient better.

Bev Perdue

Perdue, the sitting lieutenant governor, says on her web site that her goal is "to make North Carolina the healthiest state in America. While progress has been made, much more remains to be done - particularly in making insurance more affordable and accessible to North Carolina's families and small businesses."

Her detailed plan includes universal coverage for children, helping small businesses buy health insurance for their employees and increasing the amount of preventive care available. (Click here for a PDF.)

Dennis Nielsen

Nielsen is a long-shot candidate for governor. His website does not mention health or healthcare.

In this story for Monday's paper, the front-running candidates who are in the Republican or Democratic for governor offer up what they would do to combat the drought.

Now it's your turn. Did any of the candidates slake your thirst for an answer? Or did you want to hear more from those who would lead the state?

I'm writing a story for this weekends papers (tentatively scheduled for Saturday but these things change) about how the leading candidates would deal with the state's current water shortage and what they would do to plan for the future.

(Update: I told you these things change. The water story is now slated for Sunday. Update2: And they change again. The story is now slated for Monday.)

Why am I writing this story? Other than it's a pretty timely topic - despite the snow and rain that's been falling this week - it's a question that was on the mind of Vivian Robinson of Jamestown. She wrote:

I would like to hear what all the candidates have to say on our exceptional drought problem and what they would do to help in the future.

Ask a question, get an answer. Pretty sweet, no?

Well, if you have a question for one of the candidates for governor, drop me a line by way of the comments link below or e-mail me at mark.binker@news-record.com. No, I can't promise I'll turn every question I get into a story, but I'll try to get to all the serious-mind policy queries I can.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory made his campaign official today after a month of doing his best Hamlet imitation: To be, or not to be, a Republican candidate for governor.

Alas, poor Yorik, his opening lines got stepped on by a passing train rolling through Jamestown.

"We knew the train was coming sooner or later," McCrory said.

Same could be said of all the speculation surrounding his campaign for the past two months.

I've been talking to various Republican officials for a story in tomorrow's paper. Most are convinced that a run-off is now inevitable, since the four front-running candidates now in the race are credible and will be slicing up the same 1 million or so voter pie. No one candidate, at this point, looks capable of pulling off 40 percent of the vote in the first go around which means a June 24 second primary would be in store.

From the Democratic primary for governor, here are the first two ads out of the box.

Perdue's first ad:

Click here for more the text of Perdue's ad.

Moore's first ad:

Click here for more on Moore's ad.

Republican candidate for governor Bill Graham put out a call for a fetal homicide law in North Carolina today. (Click here for the news release.) The call was inspired, he said, largely by the case of a pregnant marine who went missing recently and was eventually found dead. The family of woman killed in another high profile case has called for such a law. Background from NCSL here.

One reason that people object to fetal homicide laws is that they fear it is a gateway to making abortion illegal. The logic goes that if you can be punished for killing an unborn child by killing the mother, that's not such a large leap from any situation in which a fetus is killed.

Graham says there can be "medical exceptions" drafted into the legislation that would avoid that debate.

North Carolina law says that if someone knowingly harms a pregnant woman in the commission of a crime and that leads to a stillbirth or miscarriage, the perpetrator can be prosecuted under a higher felony level - essentially the person can be punished more severely. But it is only an element of the same crime, not a separate charge.

Graham was already scheduled to stop by my office this morning so this was pretty much the first thing I asked him about. I have two bits of video for you. In part one, I asked him about the law and suggested he might get some push-back on it because of the abortion angle:

This was the answer to a follow up question I asked about fetal homicide laws being gateways to outright abortion bans:

So far, Graham's campaign has focused on economic issues: lowering taxes, building roads, lowering the high school dropout rate (yes, that's an economic issue). This is his first foray into the social policy arena and may win him some attention from more conservative Republicans who want to hear about that basket of issues in addition to taxes.

State Treasurer and Democratic candidate for governor Richard Moore is going to put a 2 minute ad on during the Sunday morning political chat shows. His campaign gave reporters a preview although not a copy today. Here's the text:

I'm Richard Moore. Soon we'll be choosing a new governor, and I want you to know why I'm running and how I'll manage our state.

As state treasurer, I've been directly accountable to more than 700,000 public employees — teachers, police officers, you name it. They know what kind of results I've delivered, protecting their retirement and building one of the nation's strongest pension funds and making real reforms that allowed our state to invest millions more in education and health care. As governor, I will bring this same accountability to all of state government.

Look, we all agree what the big issues are: health care, schools, and creating good jobs. The big difference will be how our next governor approaches those challenges. The answer is not just spending more money and making more promises. It's about making better decisions, addressing our challenges head on and delivering results.

My top education priority will be to cut the High School dropout rate in half by teaching real job skills and holding our schools accountable. We will build schools faster and smarter with my school construction plan, saving millions to invest in quality teachers and reduced class size.

We will make sure every single child in North Carolina has health insurance, no excuses. We will improve the quality of health care by reducing waste and medical errors.

And we will build roads where they're needed, not where political insiders want them. It's time to end the slush funds and stop making transportation decisions behind closed doors based on special interests.

State government ought to spend less time studying problems and more time solving them. We need to stop pointing fingers and start pointing North Carolina in a new direction.

To do that, requires a governor willing to make tough decisions, a governor willing to take a different approach. Starting day 1, that's what I'll do.

Two minutes is a loooooong time for a campaign ad, which is why you're only going to see this one air Sunday morning. Reduxed 30-second versions will begin airing Monday.

Moore's campaign said they will spend about $200,000 a week on ads.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Moore's chief rival for the Democratic nomination, is scheduled to go on the air Monday but her campaign has refused to preview or release copies of the ad.

If you belive in polls PPP says McCrory is ahead among GOP contenders for governor. However, there is a big caveat for McCrory:

What's interesting about McCrory's rise is that he still hasn't gained any support outside his base. His increase is attributable to rising support in the Charlotte area. Last month his standing in his home region was 44%. Now it's up to 57%. He's received an amazing amount of media coverage locally as he's contemplated the campaign and that attention is improving his numbers.

The Charlotte paper says Mayor Pat McCrory is coming to Jamestown on Tuesday.

Scott Mooneyham says it's awful late for McCrory to be getting in the game.

I don't disagree with Mooneyham entirely, but I think the dynamics of a four way race give McCrory a fallback position. With four credible candidates in the race, they would all probably be playing first to make a run-off election. Avoiding a runoff off would be a bonus.

In North Carolina, you have to win 40 percent of the primary vote to avoid a primary election runoff. If McCrory steps into the race, that's a hard number for any of the candidates to get to.

Between name recognition and a geographic base, McCrory should have enough votes for a top-two finish. At that point the Democratic nominee will almost certainly be chosen. So Republican voters will then get to choose which of their remaining candidates match up best with whoever the Democrats have. My guess is that's an election where McCrory would excel. The question for him is whether he could win over the hard-core Republicans who are more likely to vote in such an affair.

Click here for the print version of my debate story.

Audio of Republicans here and Democrats here.

The fun and games for the Democrats didn't stop when the debate was over. Perdue and Moore kept right on swinging, rhetorically speaking, although they did shake hands.

• * Perdue was asked after the debate whether she thought her jab about the Parton theater was fair. "Yeah, I think it's fair. We're in a race for whose going to lead this state next time, and the people of NC want to know the facts about what's going on and what decisions are being made."

• * Richard Moore took issue with Public Policy Polling's latest survey that showed Perdue opening up a double-digit lead in the primary.

  "That polling outfit, I really don't think you guys should even be carrying it. A good poll does not use a computer," Moore said. He also noted that PPP's former chief pollster now works for the Perdue campaign.

• * "I just think it's very unfortunate that the Lt. Gov. doesn't want to debate me on the largest tv station in North Carolina...I'm a little frustrated she doesn't want to participate in the Democratic process," Moore said.
  Perdue was asked about this.
  "I am debating myself to death right now ... I'm tickled to death to do this one," Perdue said. She noted there were other forums, including two more by WUNC and one with the NAACP coming up.

Of note on the Republican side:

• * The GOP candidates stuck mainly to policy and to the questions they were asked. I don't know if this is some sort of commitment to civility play or whether they hadn't figured out how to go on the attack with only 90 seconds per question.

• * Sen. Fred Smith's hair was not so much the preternatural shade of black that we scruffy media types had grown accustom to. This is completely superficial, but the more natural grey-brown he sported Thursday night suited him.

• * All three GOP candidates said taxes were too high, roads were too congested and water was too scarce. And all said they would lower taxes and pave more roads. None of the three was so clear on what to do about the water thing, except that growth needs to be controlled.

Finally, the next UNC-TV debate is on Feb. 7 and will focus on health care. If you might want to watch with larger group and give your thoughts afterward, drop me a line at mark.binker@news-record.com.

Yes, there was some substance to the Democratic side of the UNC-TV debate Thursday night. As it turns out, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore agree on many key issues.

What people will be talking about are the barbs that Perdue and Moore were lobbing at one another. This debate got a little rough and tumble.

Now, here's the thing. Not a lot of these barbs are new. The two Democrats' campaign teams have been slinging this stuff for months now.

What happened Thursday night is that Perdue and Moore took ownership of all the mud that's been slung. No longer is it just a faceless press release or a campaign operative making the accusations, it's the candidates themselves. If there was any doubt, they own all of this lock, stock and barrel now.

Because of the debate format, the initial punch and reaction aren't side-by-side in the tape. What I've done is taken the relevant smack and come back and put them next to each other on the audio. (I'm think you'll be able to tell which is Perdue and which is Moore:

• * In this clip, Perdue criticizes Moore for his involvement, or lack thereof in the Randy Parton Theater deal in Roanoke Rapids. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here.

• * In this clip, Perdue introduces her college promises plan. Moore then jumps on that, saying the tuition affordability plan only offsets tuition increases Perdue helped create. Perdue responds that Moore is ill informed.

• *In this clip, Perdue suggests Moore has more in common with Wall Street players than North Carolinians. Moore comes back to remind Perdue she's not the Democrat born and raised in North Carolina.

Most of you will read this post the morning after the debate among gubernatorial candidates. There will certainly be lots of accounts out there.

First off, UNC-TV did well by us scruffy media types hosting the thing, providing wireless access in the building and all that. So thanks to them.

This post will cover the GOP candidates, who went first Thursday night.

The Republicans - former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham, and state Sen. Fred Smith - recycled a lot of their material from prior debates. I think there were a few new wrinkles here and there, but the bulk of what came up in their portion of the program I'd heard before.

I did find one part of the debate pretty interesting. The candidates were asked about immigration policy. Smith and Graham were pretty hard-line. Each gave a nod to the whole "nations of immigrants" concept, but their answers had more to do with law and order.

Orr also said that immigration laws needed to be enforced. But he was the only one to say that a lot of our state's businesses were using illegal labor and that their needs had to be taken into account.

Quotes and audio:

• * Smith: "We're a nation that needs to protect our borders... We've got a governor and president of the community college system that's picking and choosing which laws they want to enforce." Click here to listen to his full remarks.

• * Graham: "We have hundreds of thousands of illegals in our state. It's putting pressure on hospitals, it's putting pressure on schools, it's putting pressure on our infrastructure. We are a nation of laws and when people come to America they come here and expect we obey the rule of law...we have to insist they obey the rules."
  Click here to listen to his full remarks.

• * Orr: "The reality is that many of our large farmers, both in the east and tree farmers, Christmas tree farmers in the west, construction industries are using illegal immigrants in their workforce ... We've got to work on improving those programs that provide for legal immigrants to come to the United States to work."
  Click here to listen to his full remarks.

In response to all the buzz that filing a little paperwork can get you, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's campaign put out this statement tonight:

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, in compliance with State Board of Election Law, has filed organizational papers which allows him to raise funds and explore the opportunity for a possible run for North Carolina Governor.

This is only the first step in the process for statewide office as required by law.

Pat McCrory will announce his intentions within the next week.

The Mayor is currently attending a meeting of the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition, a group of Mayors from throughout the state. This is an organization which McCrory established and organized six years ago.

They are discussing finding viable solutions to transportation congestion, gang-related crime, the environment and other issues important to towns and cities across North Carolina.

McCrory will return back in Charlotte late Thursday afternoon.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat:

The Charlotte Observer was the first to report that Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory had filed the paperwork needed to raise and spend money for a run for governor.

Filing such paperwork doesn't commit one to a campaign or even get one's name on the ballot. But it is a leading indicator - people don't generally file campaign finance paperwork just for fun.

Previously.

State Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue played their latest game of "Good idea / Bad idea" today.

No, not this game:

But it's sort of similar. In the Tar Heel Politics version, one candidate for governor comes out with a policy proposal saying it's a "good idea" and another candidate for governor explains why they think it's a "bad idea," usually with some personal thrown in for good measure.

In today's version, Moore sends out the following "good idea":

RALEIGH - State Treasurer Richard Moore, candidate for governor, today announced a three-step process for reforming North Carolina’s Department of Transportation.

Moore's plan calls for DOT to establish metrics that measure the need for and effectiveness of new road projects, the elimination of legislative transportation slush funds that have little oversight and a ban on political fundraising by DOT board members.

"Effectively addressing our transportation needs starts with removing politics from our transportation decisions," said Moore. "We need to focus on building roads where they are needed - not where political insiders want them."

A recent report from McKinsey Consulting found the Department of Transportation is overly political and bureaucratic, which leads to stagnation and inefficiency. North Carolina faces massive transportation needs, with estimates reaching a $122 billion price tag over the next 25 years.

Okay, now you know what's coming. A few hours later, Perdue's campaign sent out the "bad idea" portion of our program:

"Bev Perdue believes we should look at comprehensive campaign finance reform. That should include restrictions on contributions from those affiliated with DOT as well as restrictions on contributions from the state's investment advisors," said Bev Perdue spokesman David Kochman.

"Given his $1.4 million in contributions from Wall Street and now the Randy Parton Theatre, Richard Moore trying to lead the parade on campaign finance reform is like Paris Hilton trying to lead the parade on good taste," added Kochman.

Also worth noting is that Richard Moore has accepted at least $24,000 from current DOT board members and their families (News & Observer, 8/19/07)

You catch that bit about investment advisors? Yeah, that's a reference to Moore getting somewhere north of $700,000 in campaign contributions from those who manage the state pension funds or their relatives. (Moore has repeatedly said campaign donations do not affect what investment firms the state uses.)

If you only paid attention to the back-biting, you might miss the fact that these two crazy kids actually agree on something: that the state ought to be doing something to restrict the flow of campaign donations from a politically powerful state board that decides whether you have eight lanes of asphalt or a dirt road coming through your town.

Perhaps this will be some fodder for Thursday's debate.

I've been trying to run down whether there was anything more firm to be said about Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's rumored entry into the Republican primary for governor. I had the shortest of conversations with his (mayor) campaign manager, Victoria Smith, which began with "We're not going to making any comments" and ended with "I really can't comment, just stay tuned."

UNC-TV this week hosts the first of three forums with the candidates for govenror they will air. Time is 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Both Democrats and Republicans will be featured.

Click here for more info.

Cross-posted at Capital Beat.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has been flirting with a run for governor for a good couple months now. The Meck Deck, Charlotte blog of the John Locke Foundation, picked up a hot tip and e-mailed it out (complete with Drudge-report siren) to us scruffy media types:

Interesting rumor du jour is that Mayor Pat McCrory will have a press conference next week in Jamestown, NC.

Why Jamestown - near High Point - of all places? McCrory went to Ragsdale High in Jamestown, where he kicked off his political career by being student body president. Kinda sounds like a set-piece to announce a run for governor, does it not?

Read the whole post here.

Another good reason for McCrory to launch in Jamestown: gets that Charlotte patina off him. From what long-time Republicans tells me, the GOP base is a bit skeptical of the big city mayor coming out to the territories telling folks who it ought to be done. Announcing in Jamestown would play up his connection to the Triad as well as show that he's more than just about Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte paper reports McCrory is ramping up his Facebook presence. (Facedook page.) Charlotte also writes that McCrory has been sopping up local support for his run.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat:

I just got this e-mail from political consulting firm Fetzer Stephens:

"As of the first of this year, Fetzer Stephens is no longer engaged with the Graham for Governor Committee. We have appreciated the opportunity to work with the Graham Campaign and we wish them well in 2008."

The firm is one of the big dogs in North Carolina Republican circles, working for the likes of Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr. So what gives?

"There's no sour relationship," said campaign spokesman Aaron Lay. Fetzer Stephens was part of Graham's "Stop the Gas Tax" push last year, and had been managing much of the campaign as a lead consultant up through the New Year.

Graham's new campaign manager, Marty Ryall came on board this week. Other consultants include Strategic Perceptions.

Update: Just in from the Graham campaign:

January 4, 2008 - SALISBURY, NC - Marty Ryall, Campaign Manager for Bill Graham for Governor, issued the following statement today. "Through a cordial and mutual agreement we are no longer working with Fetzer Stephens. We appreciate the work Tom and Mark have done for the campaign and we wish them all the best in the future."

Boys and girls, the politicians are getting all creative in the run-up to Christmas. We take you now to the Democratic primary for governor, where Bev Perdue and Richard Moore are battling it out.

First there was this YouTube video from Perdue, claiming Moore was responsible for the Randy Parton mess.

Then Moore campaign comes back with a little poem:

When on my computer there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.

Away to Youtube to watch a video in Flash,

An attack ad at Christmas seemed awfully rash.

Baseless vitriol filling the monitor's glow

Gave the lustre of Jesse Helms to objects below

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a Perdue contributor, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a stupid old letter, so grouchy and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be a trick.

Full poem here.

Actual response here.