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North Carolina - Democrats
Carter Wrenn posted on December 05, 2012 09:38
Well, Governor Perdue’s stepped in another mess. She’s announced she’s going to sidestep the normal nominating process (she set up) to pick a new Supreme Court Judge before Pat McCrory takes office.
Perdue explained how her plan made sense, saying, I can’t imagine that the person I select will be anything but the finest jurist in North Carolina, or that anybody will have any problem with it.
Uh-huh.
She added, I’m going to make the appointment on paper, in my mind, and I’m going to pick up the phone and call them [the nominating committee]…
So, here’s the Governor’s plan: The nominating committee doesn’t have time to vet a candidate so she’s going to pick someone on paper, in her mind then run it by the committee (that didn’t have time to vet a candidate) to be sure the finest jurist in North Carolina doesn’t have any flaws.
It was more temptation than Senate Leader Phil Berger could resist. He pointed out, well, politely, that there was a flaw in the Governor’s logic.
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Carter Wrenn posted on December 04, 2012 14:35
For Republicans it was like old times – just when they were getting into a funk because they won’t have Governor Perdue fumbling through press conferences anymore, instead of riding quietly in the sunset the Governor held one last press conference. And it was like manna from heaven. Senator Phil Berger (meta-phorically) let out a whoop of joy.
The Governor announced she wants the Council of State to approve a deal she’s made to turn the Dix Hospital property (300 acres worth $58 million) over to the City of Raleigh so it can turn the state mental hospital into a tourist theme park – before Pat McCrory takes office.
McCrory, of course, immediately said, Hold on.
Senator Berger was more candid. Without beating around the bush he said the Governor’s proposal was out of bounds.
Then Perdue fumbled again. She explained giving away 300 acres in downtown Raleigh was a great deal because it was only going to cost $90 million dollars to move the state health department from Dix to a new site near the Research Triangle Park. Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and Attorney General Roy Cooper both immediately agreed with Perdue.
One amazed Republican legislator offered an alternative. He said, We’re about to raise unemployment taxes on every business in North Carolina – so why not just sell the 300 acres and use the $58 million to make a down payment on the $2.5 billion we owe Washington for unemployment claims?
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Gary Pearce posted on December 04, 2012 10:22
Maybe I should be more forgiving when it comes to naming a building for Jesse Helms. Maybe I should let the past go, let bygones be bygones and let go of old grudges.
No way.
Helms was a racist. He was a gay-baiter. He was a hater. On television and in the Senate, he bullied people who were weak and easy political prey.
Over the years – and from getting to know Carter – I’ve come to see that people who worked for him and supported him weren’t necessarily that way. Many of them, especially those who were young at the time, were just committed conservatives.
And it’s not that he said nasty things about Jim Hunt. We said nasty things about him. And those attacks pale beside what you see in politics today.
But Helms made a practice – and a career – of appealing to the worst in us.
That legacy doesn’t deserve this honor.
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Gary Pearce posted on December 03, 2012 10:12
Eric Mansfield is emerging as a leading challenger to David Parker for state Democratic chair.
The one-term state Senator from Fayetteville – and unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in this year’s primary – is sounding out Democrats about seeking the post.
Mansfield’s boosters see him as a fresh face who can energize the Obama coalition, unite the party’s factions and be a strong spokesman against the Republicans.
One supporter wrote: “He is a physician, Veteran (formally served in the Army as a physician), a successful business owner and is an ordained Baptist Minister.”
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Gary Pearce posted on November 28, 2012 09:47
Was Governor-elect McCrory for Governor Perdue’s Dix plan before he was against it? A well-wired TAPster says yes.
The source – whom I’ve always found to be reliable and knowledgeable – said Governor Perdue ran her plan by McCrory and Art Pope before announcing it. She thought she had their support.
But Senator Berger and Speaker Tillis squashed the idea. So yesterday Governor-elect McCrory came out against it.
If true, this suggests that the real power in Raleigh will rest in the Legislative Building next year, not the Governor’s Office.
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Carter Wrenn posted on November 27, 2012 14:03
Tom sues Dick. Dick spends $2 million to elect Harry judge. Harry wins. And rules in Dick’s favor in the lawsuit. Sound rotten? Try this:
The Democrats sue the Republicans to stop redistricting (and name Republican House and Senate leaders Thom Tillis and Phil Berger as defendants). The Republicans raise $2 million to elect Paul Newby. Newby wins. And will cast the deciding vote (on the Supreme Court) in the Democrats’ lawsuit.
The Democrats cry foul. Which sounds sensible. But there’s a catch: They did the same thing. The Democrats raised money to elect their own judge – Sam Ervin. Who lost.
So, now, Democrats are saying, Look at the rotten thing Republicans did.
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Gary Pearce posted on November 26, 2012 07:49
I’m always flattered to be quoted in Under the Dome, but this time I’m flummoxed. Dome took note of only three of the four rising Democratic stars I spotlighted last week (See “New Democratic Leaders” below). Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was left out.
Paranoid Charlotteans will not doubt take this as a sign that the paper believes one former Charlotte Mayor as Governor is enough.
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Gary Pearce posted on November 21, 2012 13:34
The party needs a new leadership pipeline for Governor. For decades, it was the Sanford-Hunt tribe. Then it was the Senate’s Basnight-Rand clan, which produced Easley, Perdue and Dalton. It was a good run, but has run dry.
The party has talent in the legislature. But do the rising stars have the requisite political skills – especially the money-raising ability of their predecessors?
One criticism of the new breed is that business doesn’t like them – and has gone over to the Republicans. But there is a lot of money in this state – and a lot of new businesses and new entrepreneurial, business people. Along with trolling for cash in the same old spots, especially among business people concerned about education, there are new fishing holes to be found. Plus the world of Internet fundraising that the Obama campaign pioneered.
Some of the names being mentioned:
Josh Stein: Rose to Minority Whip after just two years in the Senate. Focuses on education, infrastructure and innovation. Has vision and proven, practical political skills. He raised more than $400,000 this cycle, more than any other Democrat in the legislature.
Deborah Ross: An effective advocate in the legislature for the past decade. Hard-working, smart and tough. Will be an important leader in the House with the vacuum created by Joe Hackney's departure
Anthony Foxx: Mayor of NC's largest city, which is no longer a curse. Put on a great convention; delivered when the spotlight was on.
Eric Mansfield: Great resume – doctor, minister and soldier. In just one term, impressed Democrats and Republicans alike. Ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor, and some people now talk about him for new party chair.
It’s easy now to pooh-pooh them as candidates for Governor in 2016 or 2020. But it once was easy to dismiss the presidential hopes of a first-term African-American Senator with a funny name.
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Carter Wrenn posted on November 20, 2012 09:56
Pat McCrory’s just captured the biggest tarbaby in North Carolina.
State government has never been a paragon of efficiency but after twelve years of Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue and pay-to-play politics it’s become an unusually broad and deep quagmire.
The state’s Medicaid claims processing contract is an example: Years ago when Mike Easley was governor his administration decided to put the contract – the biggest contract in state government – out to ‘bid.’ After mountains of lobbying it was awarded to the ACS corporation and then, almost immediately, one of the contract awarders (a former legislator and under secretary in the Easley administration) left the government to work for the company that won that contract.
Two years later the new data processing system was such a mess the state cancelled the contract, paid ACS millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to go away, and started all over.
This time the former legislator and under secretary changed hats and went to work as a lobbyist for another firm and, on the eve of Governor Perdue’s inauguration, his new client was awarded the $287 million contract. And a few days later, Governor Perdue appointed him Secretary of the department that awarded the contract.
Three years passed and, for the second time, the new data processing system was the cyber equivalent of a hole in the ground, years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. The Secretary-lobbyist-legislator solved the problem by extending his former client’s contract and agreeing to pay another $200 million dollars of taxpayers’ money.
That’s one example of what Pat McCrory is about to inherit. There’re dozens more. And Pat McCrory ought to throw them over the side. And get rid of the tarbabies. Otherwise, in four years, they’ll be his tarbabies.
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Gary Pearce posted on November 16, 2012 09:38
The decision about Obamacare highlights the tension that will mark North Carolina’s politics the next four years.
The tension stems from an election that saw the nation go in one direction (largely Democratic) and North Carolina in another (almost all Republican).
When political partisans win an election, they tend to believe that an era of enlightenment has dawned in which their ideas, their ideology and their party will always reign supreme.
That usually lasts until the next election.
It’s happening this time. Nationally, Democrats proclaim that demography is destiny and they are destined to rule as the Grand Old Party of Angry Old White Men declines into irrelevance. In North Carolina, Republicans proclaim that the state is headed in the same direction as South Carolina, Georgia, etc.
As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast.
This election was close nationally. And North Carolina is about the most closely divided state in the nation. It was Romney’s closest win – and Obama’s closest loss – in the country. The divide isn’t going away.
This presents a challenge to Governor-elect McCrory. So it was interesting that his response to Governor Perdue’s insurance-exchange decision was more muted than Senator Berger’s.
Berger runs a 70-30 Senate. McCrory will govern a 50-50 state. Republicans’ money and maps may protect their legislative majority for a while. But McCrory has to face the voters in four years.
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