Perdue in Command?
July 2, 2009 - by
Back when Lauch Faircloth was a Democrat in Jim Hunt’s Cabinet (pre-1984), he liked to say a governor had to have “command presence.”
Governor Perdue’s poll numbers may be low because the public does not see that quality in her today.
Speaker Joe Hackney had what struck me as a might chilly reaction yesterday to what Mark Johnson described as Perdue’s “in-your-face” message to the legislature about passing a budget.
Hackney said: “We appreciate [Perdue’s] participation and encouragement.”
When Governor Hunt first took office in 1977, political scientists talked about how weak our governor was. Governors then could not run for more than one term. They had no veto power.
Hunt changed all that. By the time he left office the last time in 2001, the governor’s office was pretty strong. When the annual summer budget deadlock arrived on schedule, Hunt was always a player – involved in both the internal negotiations and the outside game of applying maximum public pressure on the legislature to get what he wanted. It worked most of the time.
Over the last eight years, the legislature got used to ignoring Mike Easley for the most part.
So Perdue inherited two problems: a weakened office and an economy in free fall.
The last couple of weeks, she has been trying to play the outside game. But her campaign to rally teachers got mixed grades even from the teachers. And at least one lobbyist thought Perdue made a mistake by failing to rally the other human-services groups.
While I know absolutely zero about the budget negotiations, there is no public sign that Perdue is a player there.
Her office sent an email yesterday that read like an updated State of the State speech. It began by talking about the economic and budget problems. It touted her steps on “accountability and transparency” (that is, I’m not Mike Easley). It said we’re “doing more with what little we have in these tough times.”
It also boasted about “appointing a CEO of public education,” put “more accountability and transparency in our state’s mental health and probation systems.” Finally, like all governors before her, “We are taking the politics out of decision-making at the Department of Transportation.”
She talked about JobsNOW initiative, something called the “12 in 6 program,” a “green energy” strategy and – that old standby – the fact that she had submitted a “balanced budget.”
But that was just throat-clearing. The money shot:
“We are now at a crossroads: We can choose to protect core education, public safety and health care services, or we can allow the economic crisis to cripple our classrooms.”
To do that, she said she will “work with legislators to finalize the budget.” Of course,
“While we must cut the fat, we must not cut to the bone.”
Her conclusion:
“The time has come for the General Assembly to step up its efforts to pass a budget quickly and with the revenue necessary to protect the classroom. Our children and our economic future depend on it.”
In other words, she is still in search of Command Presence.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
Perdue in Command?
July 2, 2009/
Back when Lauch Faircloth was a Democrat in Jim Hunt’s Cabinet (pre-1984), he liked to say a governor had to have “command presence.”
Governor Perdue’s poll numbers may be low because the public does not see that quality in her today.
Speaker Joe Hackney had what struck me as a might chilly reaction yesterday to what Mark Johnson described as Perdue’s “in-your-face” message to the legislature about passing a budget.
Hackney said: “We appreciate [Perdue’s] participation and encouragement.”
When Governor Hunt first took office in 1977, political scientists talked about how weak our governor was. Governors then could not run for more than one term. They had no veto power.
Hunt changed all that. By the time he left office the last time in 2001, the governor’s office was pretty strong. When the annual summer budget deadlock arrived on schedule, Hunt was always a player – involved in both the internal negotiations and the outside game of applying maximum public pressure on the legislature to get what he wanted. It worked most of the time.
Over the last eight years, the legislature got used to ignoring Mike Easley for the most part.
So Perdue inherited two problems: a weakened office and an economy in free fall.
The last couple of weeks, she has been trying to play the outside game. But her campaign to rally teachers got mixed grades even from the teachers. And at least one lobbyist thought Perdue made a mistake by failing to rally the other human-services groups.
While I know absolutely zero about the budget negotiations, there is no public sign that Perdue is a player there.
Her office sent an email yesterday that read like an updated State of the State speech. It began by talking about the economic and budget problems. It touted her steps on “accountability and transparency” (that is, I’m not Mike Easley). It said we’re “doing more with what little we have in these tough times.”
It also boasted about “appointing a CEO of public education,” put “more accountability and transparency in our state’s mental health and probation systems.” Finally, like all governors before her, “We are taking the politics out of decision-making at the Department of Transportation.”
She talked about JobsNOW initiative, something called the “12 in 6 program,” a “green energy” strategy and – that old standby – the fact that she had submitted a “balanced budget.”
But that was just throat-clearing. The money shot:
“We are now at a crossroads: We can choose to protect core education, public safety and health care services, or we can allow the economic crisis to cripple our classrooms.”
To do that, she said she will “work with legislators to finalize the budget.” Of course,
“While we must cut the fat, we must not cut to the bone.”
Her conclusion:
“The time has come for the General Assembly to step up its efforts to pass a budget quickly and with the revenue necessary to protect the classroom. Our children and our economic future depend on it.”
In other words, she is still in search of Command Presence.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats