News-Record.com

We almost always learn something new in these sessions.

Jones, a Democrat, would not back off of his support for embattled House Speaker Jim Black, even though Black is tied to so many ethical scandals it's hard to keep track.

District Attorney Doug Henderson, who beat a former member of his staff, Julia Hejazi, in the Democratic primary, said he had no reservations about firing her when she refused to resign. And if he had it to do again, Henderson said, he'd fire her again.

Mel Watt, the incumbent 12th District congressman and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he pushed hard for the Caucus not to frame the Hurricane Katrina disaster as a race issue. "It was a class issue," he said.

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, the Democratic incumbent in the 13th District, said he'd probably consent to a debate with his audacious Republican challenger, Vernon Robinson, "but I'm not interested in being a prop for one of his publicity stunts."

We prefer to interview opposing candidates together, a practice some of them don't like. BJ Barnes and Berkley Blanks simply don't like each other.

Barnes, the Republican incumbent, and Blanks, his Democratic rival, can manage to be disagreeable with one another even when they agree. For instance, both acknowledged the pressing need for a new Guilford County Jail. But Blanks wasted little time in blaming the problem on Barnes, whom he described as so "polarizing politically" that he has not effectively rallied the commissioners' support for the project.
On the question of equipping deputies in middle schools with Tasers, Barnes held firm on his view that stun guns are standard equipment for all deputies. But Blanks, who has previously said he opposes Tasers in schools, argued that stun guns would have been accepted by the school board if Barnes had simply introduced them "more diplomatically."

So, we asked, did Blanks favor stun guns or not? From his long and winding answer, we're still not sure, even after reviewing the tape.
As for Barnes, he then veered into accusing some of his critics on the Taser issue of "demagoguery" and stating that he probably wouldn't have consulted the school board first on Tasers if he could do it again. "I didn't tell them when we switched from a .40-caliber to a .45," he said.

As for some of the unexpected gifts from the candidates, one of Ada Fisher's most memorable trinkets may not square very well with her outspoken views on foreign trade. "The U.S. government should be obligated to buy American products first," she wrote in her News & Record questionnaire. "It's sad when the black berets of our troops come from Holland and their socks from Asian nations, while our mills close."

But if you read the fine print on her faux-syringe-pen handouts, the good doctor may not be following her own prescription.

It says: "Made in China."