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Entries for October 2011
Gary Pearce posted on October 10, 2011 14:08
Dr. Randall Williams’ brief political career is liable to end in today’s election. Which I regret, because he could give Raleigh politics a refreshing – and recurring - regimen of: “What’s with that?”
Then there’s the odd, full-page ad in The N&O today. What’s with that?
You missed it? Too bad, because I couldn’t find it on his website.
Let me try to do it justice. It’s several hundred words long – filling an entire page along with a photo of Williams just before a pre-dawn run around downtown Raleigh.
The run is a literary device, if you will, for Dr. Williams’ musings about the City of Raleigh, in which he praises Mayor Meeker, Thomas Crowder (odd choices for a Republican), both of his opponents (“Nancy” and “Billie”), William Christmas, Dorothea Dix, community leaders, overseas volunteers, oak trees, educators, a railroad switchman, Millbrook High athletic supporters, athletic directors, Josephus Daniels, Steve Jobs, his (Dr. Williams’, that is) Latin teacher, firefighters and police officers.
Plus, he quotes Pericles, Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King.
You don’t get a lot of this in politics nowadays.
If he falls short today, we must find some public office for Dr. Williams. The good doctor would inject politics with a healthy dose of quirkiness.
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Carter Wrenn posted on October 10, 2011 12:48
It didn’t work out too well when Congress went into the home loan business a couple of years ago – so it seems odd the Raleigh City Council wants to do the same thing.
However, just about everyone in town seems to think passing a bond to borrow millions so the Council can make home loans is a good idea.
Mayor Charlie Meeker praised the plan and former Mayor Smedes York called it an example of the best ‘forward thinking’ since integration. Another gentleman, listing all the benefits of the Council’s plan in the newspaper, said it will create jobs, reduce crime, end traffic jams, help students learn and provide a blessing to the elderly and disabled.
Of course, there’re a couple of other fine reasons for the plan if you’re a City Councilman: Loaning money to people who might be unable to get a loan otherwise is a sure way to make friends who may remember your kindness and vote for you. And if you happen to have a contributor who’s in the home building business, well, being able to make home loans – while you’re on the city council – has an obvious virtue.
The city borrowing millions so it can go into the home loan business is so popular even Dr. Randall Williams, the Republican candidate supported by former Republican Mayors Tom Fetzer and Paul Coble, says he’s foursquare for it – even though the city is already a billion dollars in debt.
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Carter Wrenn posted on October 10, 2011 12:46
The other borrowing the Raleigh City Council has put on the ballot is a Transportation Bond. Which sounds like the Council wants to borrow money to repair potholes and build new streets. Except the newspaper reported three-fourths of the money isn’t for roads.
Almost everyone it seems is for this bond too. And if anything its supporters are more excited than the advocates of the Council’s home loan financing bonds.
The Transportation Bond, its supporters say, is going to make Raleigh the ‘Number One Best City in America’ by paying for miles of greenways and bike paths (which are essential to Raleigh being a ‘Bike Friendly Community’ which is essential to Raleigh attracting a brilliant “creative class of young professionals”).
The bond supporters also say the plan will pay for more sidewalks which are essential parts of any first class city’s transportation system – just like newer benches and shelters at bus stops.
Best of all, they say, as soon as the bond passes the City Council can take $3 million of its newly borrowed money and ‘leverage’ it to get $20 million in state and federal matching funds to renovate an old warehouse downtown into a sparkling new train station for $23 million.
This is a great country: The state’s broke, Washington’s broke, Raleigh’s a billion dollars in debt and the City Council can borrow $3 million and get its hands on $20 million in state and federal money to build a train station.
Of course, there’s a bit of politics at work here too: Spending money on greenways and bike paths is another sure way to make friends who will hopefully remember you on Election Day – and renovating a warehouse downtown is almost sure to be helpful when it comes to raising campaign contributions from downtown developers.
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Gary Pearce posted on October 08, 2011 09:05
How bad can the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages be if it’s too much for Renee Ellmers?
According to Under the Dome, the congresswoman’s spokesman “confirmed that she planned to vote against the constitutional ban that was adopted by the legislature in September because it is too broadly drawn.”
It would ban civil unions, he said.
Which raises a question: If the amendment bans civil unions, what else does it do that we haven’t thought about?
What about North Carolina-based companies that provide benefits for same-sex partners? Will they be unconstitutional? Can somebody sue to stop them?
How many jobs will that cost?
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Gary Pearce posted on October 07, 2011 09:09
Julie Rose at WFAE public radio in Charlotte tagged Pat McCrory’s announcement-that-he-will-have-an-announcement-later: “Nothing excites donors or attracts free publicity like a good tease.”
She also pointed out that McCrory announced he’s delaying his “big announcement” because "campaigns have become too long and too costly."
This from a man who has been running since he lost three years ago. And has raised more than $1 million.
She further quotes McCrory:"Elections are barely over before candidates are off and running again."
Well, he would know.
But Rose points out practical advantages of delaying an announcement:
“He can keep on voicing robo-calls for the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity….McCrory can also keep doing his regular gig as a pundit on local TV and travelling the state as a guest speaker for nonprofit groups that may not want to appear as if they're endorsing him.”
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Gary Pearce posted on October 06, 2011 15:22
A TAPster asks: Is the Occupy Wall Street protest “a moment or a movement?”
Is it a new political wave that, as the Tea Party shaped the 2010 election, will shape the 2012 election?
The Tea Party took off two years ago – ironically, sparked by a CNBC reporter’s rant on Wall Street – as a protest against Big Government.
This took off as a protest on Wall Street against Big Business. It’s been joined in North Carolina by Facebook-fueled college students – a key part of Obama’s base in 2008.
The White House is taking note. They’re taking shots at higher bank fees.
(Wait ‘til bank customers get a load of the new fees. They may be in the streets, too.)
President Obama said consumers are being “mistreated” by Bank of America. Ironic, points out Jim Morrill in the Charlotte Observer, when next year Obama will accept renomination in Bank of America Stadium.
Obama has never been a full-throated populist. Some Democrats fault him for not being more like FDR, as one said: “Putting his heel on the throats of Wall Street and the Republicans and never letting up.”
But Morgan Jackson, a political consultant in Raleigh, told Morrill:
"Obama is finding his voice and getting to a place where he's framing discussion of the economy. I fully (expect) him to get more populist in his message, and I think it will resonate with folks during these hard economic times."
With his poll ratings lower than the economic outlook, anti-corporate populism may appeal to the President’s reelection strategists.
America may not be in an economic depression, but Americans sure are in an emotional depression. The classic political solution is to give them a villain.
For the Tea Party, that was Big Government. Now it may be Big Business’ turn.
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Gary Pearce posted on October 06, 2011 07:01
I have an apology from The New Yorker – and a correction (online, at least).
The reporter, Jane Mayer, called me to apologize. She said she was “totally mortified” that her Art Pope story identified me as former executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party. My biographical information apparently got mixed us with somebody else’s, and then “our fact-checker got sick!”
No harm done, Jane.
The reaction to her story has been interesting. Mark Binker called it “derivative, in that it doesn't provide a lot of new information.” John Hood with the John Locke Foundation called it a “hit piece.”
Well, there was some new information – like the opening anecdote about Ed Gillespie and REDMAP. But Mayer gave credit, and she did have some new information.
I can see how Hood felt she unfairly demonized his patron. (See my blog “Stop Whining.”) Politics is the clash of ideas, and I told Mayer in my interview that I admire Pope for putting his money where his mind is and fighting for his beliefs. I disagree with him, but I see nothing evil in what he has done – so long as he doesn’t break the law.
The best thing Mayer did was tell us what Pope is like – and let him talk. Which gave us these insights into his thinking and his personality:
“Pope believes that wealth is the just reward for talent and hard work, and that all Americans have a fair chance at success.”
“Pope grew up on Raleigh’s most elegant street, Glenwood Avenue, in a large house next to a country club. While his older brother preferred playing golf, Pope was politically minded, and in high school he volunteered as a driver for a state Republican candidate. He read academic papers on free-market economics, and credits a summer program run by the Cato Institute, to which he has since given money, for immersing him in the writings of conservative icons such as Friedrich August Hayek and Ayn Rand. His favorite novelist was the science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein, whose book ‘The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress’ popularized an acronym that has become a rallying cry for young libertarians: ‘TANSTAAFL,’ which stands for ‘There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch’.
“His father, whom a family acquaintance describes as ‘domineering,’ became known as a particularly outspoken trustee at U.N.C.-Chapel Hill, which he believed had been taken over by radical scholars. Pope graduated from Duke Law School in 1981, and after a few years went to work as a general counsel in his father’s company. ‘I am not an heir,’ Pope insisted, explaining that his father demanded that he and his siblings buy equity stakes in the family business.”
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Gary Pearce posted on October 05, 2011 11:31
Jilted by Chris Christie, the Republican search for Ronald Reagan Redux goes on.
You know things are bad when Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich are rising in the polls.
Already, Michelle Bachman and Rick Perry have soared – and then plummeted. But they distinguished themselves by performing a feat no one thought possible: making Sarah Palin look smart.
And much-despised Mitt Romney just keeps plodding ahead.
You know what the problem is? These candidates just aren’t very good.
Put ideology aside. (As if.) Compare the Republican flock to the 2008 Democratic candidates – in terms of experience, intelligence and gravitas. The Democrats had Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and John Edwards. Well…never mind. The Republicans have all those listed above, plus Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum.
So this is it, America. Here are your choices. I bet Obama will start looking a lot better soon.
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Gary Pearce posted on October 04, 2011 14:34
The New Yorker article about Art Pope takes me back to the 1980s. Then, my fellow Democrats were whining about the money, power and evil influence of Jesse Helms’ Congressional Club. Now, they’re whining about the money, power and evil influence of Art Pope.
Stop whining. Get to work. Find our Art Pope.
Here’s a sampling of some fine whines from the article:
“The attacks just went on and on.”
“It’s getting to the point where, in politics, money is the most important thing.”
“The tone of this campaign was much uglier, and much more personal, than anything I’ve seen.” (Hello. Remember 1984?)
“For an individual to have so much power is frightening. The government of North Carolina is for sale.”
“It wasn’t an education; it was an onslaught. What he’s doing is buying elections.”
“Art Pope set out to buy power, and it’s working.”
“We’re just seeing the beginning of it all. Corporate money is taking over.”
But how much money are we talking about? The article cites an Institute for Southern Studies analysis of 22 legislative races that Pope targeted, of which Republicans won 18: “The total amount that Pope, his family, and groups backed by him spent on the twenty-two races was $2.2 million….”
That’s it? $2.2 million?
Do you mean to tell me Democrats can’t raise $2.2 million to protect democracy in North Carolina?
In fact, we’ve raised far more than that before – to win governor’s races and legislative races for years.
The best comment came from Mac McCorkle, a long-time Democratic consultant here: “The Democrats have become flabby and undisciplined. On our side, we really don’t have anyone like Art Pope. It’s a real problem.”
After getting our brains beat in during the 1980s, Democrats got serious about raising money and spending it wisely. As a result, we won elections through the 1990s and the last decade.
Once again, it’s time to stop whining and start winning.
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Gary Pearce posted on October 04, 2011 07:13
A TAPster who works in private-sector economic development – and is no admirer of the Governor – says yes:
“The land was assembled for this purpose and is in a catalog of sites available to prospective industries. The company chooses preferred sites, not the Gov.
“The AP totally screwed up. Private investors assembled that tract for this purpose. The state was actually fortunate that such a site existed -- one of the big issues in industrial recruiting is the lack of previously assembled large tracts.”
The story has two pieces of bread (1) The company looking at the site may get state incentives (2) the land is owned by “a state lawmaker and a group of Democratic political donors with ties” to the Governor.
But there’s no sandwich. Nothing holding the two pieces of bread together. No evidence the Governor did anything to favor the donors.
All that’s there is an insinuation of wrongdoing. And a political opportunity that Republicans probably can’t resist.
As a result, North Carolina may lose the jobs.
Nice job, folks.
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