Bev and the Scandal Makers
2010-04-02 - by
Back on Election Night in the euphoria of just being elected North Carolina’s first woman Governor Beverly Perdue told reporters a new day was dawning in state government and the one thing she wasn’t going to tolerate was even a ‘whiff’ of corruption.
Since then the Governor has had a tough year.
She and her party have staggered through the Mary Easley Scandal, the Mike Easley Scandal, the Ruffin Poole Scandal, the No-Bid Contracts Scandal, the Tony Rand Scandal and the Bev Perdue Airplane flights and refunded contributions Scandals.
The ‘whiff’ of corruption has gotten so bad even Republicans are asking, Why doesn’t she just clean it up – and put a stop to the whole thing?
After all the one paying the price – politically – for all these Democrat foibles is Bev Perdue – so why go from the head of the party of corruption to the purifier of it?
The answer, I suspect, is the Governor’s being pulled two ways.
On one side there’s the “smell” settling over her administration which threatens her political future.
And on the other side are the insiders and long standing traditions in her own party which add up to one uncomfortable fact: Over the last twenty years the Democratic Party has built its financial house on the bedrock of ‘pay to play.’ And with phenomenal success.
For instance, it’s no coincidence Perdue raised twice as much money as Pat McCrory. And it’s been over a decade since House and Senate Republicans even got within hailing distance of Democrats when it comes to raising money to fund their candidates.
To get right down to brass tacks Governor Perdue is caught between a rock and a hard place: Turning into a corruption fighter would be wildly popular – but it would also mean dismantling the financial base of her own party.
Or look at it another way: Rank and file voters – including or, maybe, especially Democrats – would love to see Governor Perdue clean up corruption but to the insiders and power brokers in her own party ‘pay to play’ is a way of life. It’s how they do business. And they’ve become so accustomed to swapping favors for campaign cash they’ve long since stopped seeing anything wrong with it. Nor, apparently, did Mike Easley. And one suspects, at heart, perhaps neither does Beverly Perdue – because, after all, through a dozen scandals not one head has rolled in the government for unethical conduct. The people testifying before Grand Juries may look like villains to you and me but to Governor Perdue and Senator Basnight and Senator Joe Hackney these folks are long time contributors and friends who’ve helped them fund campaigns to elect Democratic candidates and, so, if Ruffin Poole slipped and strayed it’s a shame but he’s still one of the faithful who stood with Mike and Bev through their political wars.
Plus it would only be natural, looking at the cold hard facts, for the Governor to have qualms about risking giving up all that money.
And looking at what’s happened to other politicians who’ve simply ignored the ‘pay to play’ scandals history seems to be on the Governor’s side.
After all, these scandals have been going on nine years – since Meg Scott Phipps went to jail for shaking down carney operators – and the whole time Democrats have swept every statewide election for Governor and State House and State Senate, which sure seems to say if the price Democrats pay for outraising Republicans two to one is a ‘whiff’ of scandal, then Democrats taking the money and dodging the scandals on Election Day as best they can is a winning formula.
Which brings us to a Republican problem. Republicans have not hammered home the case that these are Democratic scandals, so, instead, voters have decided these are political scandals – that the corruption they’re seeing in North Carolina’s elected officials doesn’t emanate from Democratic politics but is indigenous to all politicians. They’re all corrupt. Democrats and Republicans.
Instead of Democrats bearing the brand for corruption, as far as the public is concerned both parties bear it which leaves Republicans with the worst of both worlds – they don’t get the money from ‘pay to play’ but do get to share the blame.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
Bev and the Scandal Makers
2010-04-02/
Back on Election Night in the euphoria of just being elected North Carolina’s first woman Governor Beverly Perdue told reporters a new day was dawning in state government and the one thing she wasn’t going to tolerate was even a ‘whiff’ of corruption.
Since then the Governor has had a tough year.
She and her party have staggered through the Mary Easley Scandal, the Mike Easley Scandal, the Ruffin Poole Scandal, the No-Bid Contracts Scandal, the Tony Rand Scandal and the Bev Perdue Airplane flights and refunded contributions Scandals.
The ‘whiff’ of corruption has gotten so bad even Republicans are asking, Why doesn’t she just clean it up – and put a stop to the whole thing?
After all the one paying the price – politically – for all these Democrat foibles is Bev Perdue – so why go from the head of the party of corruption to the purifier of it?
The answer, I suspect, is the Governor’s being pulled two ways.
On one side there’s the “smell” settling over her administration which threatens her political future.
And on the other side are the insiders and long standing traditions in her own party which add up to one uncomfortable fact: Over the last twenty years the Democratic Party has built its financial house on the bedrock of ‘pay to play.’ And with phenomenal success.
For instance, it’s no coincidence Perdue raised twice as much money as Pat McCrory. And it’s been over a decade since House and Senate Republicans even got within hailing distance of Democrats when it comes to raising money to fund their candidates.
To get right down to brass tacks Governor Perdue is caught between a rock and a hard place: Turning into a corruption fighter would be wildly popular – but it would also mean dismantling the financial base of her own party.
Or look at it another way: Rank and file voters – including or, maybe, especially Democrats – would love to see Governor Perdue clean up corruption but to the insiders and power brokers in her own party ‘pay to play’ is a way of life. It’s how they do business. And they’ve become so accustomed to swapping favors for campaign cash they’ve long since stopped seeing anything wrong with it. Nor, apparently, did Mike Easley. And one suspects, at heart, perhaps neither does Beverly Perdue – because, after all, through a dozen scandals not one head has rolled in the government for unethical conduct. The people testifying before Grand Juries may look like villains to you and me but to Governor Perdue and Senator Basnight and Senator Joe Hackney these folks are long time contributors and friends who’ve helped them fund campaigns to elect Democratic candidates and, so, if Ruffin Poole slipped and strayed it’s a shame but he’s still one of the faithful who stood with Mike and Bev through their political wars.
Plus it would only be natural, looking at the cold hard facts, for the Governor to have qualms about risking giving up all that money.
And looking at what’s happened to other politicians who’ve simply ignored the ‘pay to play’ scandals history seems to be on the Governor’s side.
After all, these scandals have been going on nine years – since Meg Scott Phipps went to jail for shaking down carney operators – and the whole time Democrats have swept every statewide election for Governor and State House and State Senate, which sure seems to say if the price Democrats pay for outraising Republicans two to one is a ‘whiff’ of scandal, then Democrats taking the money and dodging the scandals on Election Day as best they can is a winning formula.
Which brings us to a Republican problem. Republicans have not hammered home the case that these are Democratic scandals, so, instead, voters have decided these are political scandals – that the corruption they’re seeing in North Carolina’s elected officials doesn’t emanate from Democratic politics but is indigenous to all politicians. They’re all corrupt. Democrats and Republicans.
Instead of Democrats bearing the brand for corruption, as far as the public is concerned both parties bear it which leaves Republicans with the worst of both worlds – they don’t get the money from ‘pay to play’ but do get to share the blame.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats