Obama wins early
Wednesday's lead editorial.
Weeks of anticipation ended abruptly Tuesday evening when television news networks declared North Carolina early for Barack Obama.
So early, in fact, that many voters were still waiting in lines at polling places well after the official closing time of 7:30. CNN, for one, didn’t wait.
An early call for the Illinois senator was appropriate. Obama’s campaign urged supporters to vote early, and many thousands did over the past two weeks. By the time polls showed Hillary Clinton catching up, it probably was too late. Obama’s win was practically in the books.
Until Tuesday, Clinton based her claim to the Democratic nomination on the strength of her success in large states. But she couldn’t hold form in the last Top Ten state on the primary schedule. Despite trailing in Indiana, Obama took a possibly decisive step ahead with his convincing win here.
The team of Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton worked hard, making appearances almost everywhere in North Carolina, but Obama drew larger and more enthusiastic crowds and, more importantly, got out the vote.
The question now is whether he could wrest this reliably red state from the Republicans in November. It’s far too early to make that call, but he won so many more votes than did John McCain (in a noncompetitive GOP primary) that anything seems possible.
Schools rate a high priority
Anita Bachmann and other leaders of the school bonds campaign cheered as positive numbers continued to roll in at the Old Guilford County Courthouse Tuesday night.
Several commissioners fretted about the taxes needed to pay for them.
“This is an automatic property tax increase,” Chairman Kirk Perkins said. “But the people have spoken.”
Bachmann led a force of more than 200 volunteers who drummed up support throughout the county for a record $457 million for schools. Their efforts were driven by passion for their cause, said Bachmann, a regional vice president for UnitedHealthcare.
Despite hard economic times, voters answered responsibly, owning up to obvious needs for new and better school facilities. The result wasn’t a landslide, but it sends a clear message that schools remain a high priority — even at the price of higher taxes.
GTCC again prevails
Guilford County voters have never turned down a GTCC bond request. They kept the streak alive Tuesday by overwhelmingly approving a $79.5 million referendum that will fund projects vital to the school’s growth and the Triad’s economic future.
It means school officials can move ahead with their plans to build a $50.5 million campus near PTI Airport specializing in aviation and logistics, and to improve existing campuses.
A rapidly changing Triad economy underscores the urgency to retrain laid-off workers and provide classes for those entering the work force. GTCC excels on both counts.
The school, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, now can forge ahead with its continuing commitment to have trained workers ready when potential employers call.
Voters were less charitable when it came to the $20.2 million county parks bond. Although it was the least costly item in the bond referendum, most apparently had qualms about such spending in a faltering economy.
Hagan gets back to work
Kay Hagan celebrated her victory in a familiar setting Tuesday night, but planned to get back to work today. “I’ll be on the phone raising money,” she said at the Old Guilford County Courthouse, a place where she’s watched election returns from several successful campaigns in the past.
This time the numbers gave her the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and a race against Republican Elizabeth Dole. The Greensboro resident and state senator has an uphill fight, but an impressive win against four other candidates increases her credibility and might convince national Democrats that an upset is possible. Still, it will take millions to match Dole’s likely campaign fund and overcome her other advantages.
Hagan’s primary didn’t attract much attention with so much interest in the presidential battle, but she should continue to do well as voters get to know her better. “They’re eager for a change in Washington,” she said.
And then there were twoState Treasurer Richard Moore had lots going for him in his bid for governor: a national profile as a crusader against Wall Street abuse, a sterling record as keeper of the state employee pension fund, and a head of hair that could give John Edwards a run for his money. But in the end, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue got the most votes and moves on as the Democratic nominee against the Republican nominee, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, in November.
Moore had erased much of an early Perdue lead in the pre-election polls, with a series of full-throated (some would say cutthroat) attack ads. Perdue responded by pledging to withdraw her own attack ads and to go positive until the primary.
McCrory now faces two challenges: He is a Republican in a state that tends to elect Democratic governors and he is a big-city mayor who will have to make inroads among small-town voters.
But he also has worked well across party lines as a mayor, and could attract crossover votes from Democrats.
This should be a good race between two good choices for North Carolina voters.
The house BJ builtAs Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes sees it, it was the truth that set him free.
In a result that surprised even Barnes, county voters approved the $114.6 million jail bond Tuesday that will renovate and build an addition to the overcrowded Greensboro facility.
Given the soft economy, voters’ aversion to tax increases and the traditional tendency of electorates to not like paying for jails, this was a major upset.
But Barnes had mounted a full-court press. “It’s Your Decision: Our House or Yours” billboards suggested, rightly if not subtly, that crowded jails force early release of some offenders who might not otherwise be released. “The deal-closer was that some people are not feeling safe in their homes,” Barnes said.
Barnes had noted earlier on Election Night that jail bonds rarely pass, and he seemed resigned to a similar result here. “Ninety-eight percent of jail bonds across the country fail,” he said. “I was bucking the odds to expect to be in the 2 percent (that pass).”
Lo and behold, we were.
The jail victory is good news for all of the county. But those who push alternative programs to help reduce crime, drug addiction and jail crowding still need to be heard. A new jail without those kinds of programs to help address root causes of crime inevitably would become a house of cards.