Some political pros believe that nothing in a campaign consumes more time and energy and produces less value than the announcement. But Roy Cooper showed Monday how a well-designed and well-executed announcement can launch a campaign on the right trajectory.

Not least of all, Cooper got several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of free TV time by delivering his speech at 6 pm sharp.

His message, delivery and backdrop all were sharp. Cooper had a crisp and clear critique of Governor McCrory: that his priorities help a few people at the top but hurt everybody else – and hurt education. He showed Democrats the right way to tap into the deep river of anger and anxiety over economic inequality.

Oddly, McCrory picked the same day to brag about DMV.

DMV?

Apparently, he wants to make it easier to renew your drivers’ license and harder to vote.

By the way, why did the N&O put McCrory/DMV on the front page of the print edition, instead of Cooper’s announcement? Maybe the editors figured that, with Elevator Queen Cherie Berry leading the news again, they didn’t want the only other front-page story to also bash Republicans.

And why did the NC GOP go with that lame “Back to the Future” attack on Cooper? Maybe we’d like to go back to when North Carolina led the South in job creation and education.

Maybe Cooper should steal a note from Donald Trump. His slogan could be: “Make North Carolina Great Again.”