Dan Besse announces for Lt. Governor

Although it has been "known" in Winston-Salem circles since October, Dan Besse, city council member, has made his bid for Lt. Governor official.

His web site actually has fairly detailed information (but someone needs to help clean up the fonts).

He introduces himself this way:

I believe that North Carolina needs and deserves leadership committed to the ideals of economic and educational opportunity for all, and conservation of the clean air, water, and land on which we all depend.

I have pursued these aims through over two decades of professional work and public service--as a public interest attorney for poor families; as an effective state-level advocate for clean air and water and public health; and as an elected local and regional leader.

I am not a part of his campaign, but as someone who ran for office in Forsyth County this fall, I can share my perspective below the fold.

Dan has been at nearly every event, luncheon, and function locally even before he was running for higher office. He is one of those guys who always shows up.

He was elected via shoe leather, hand written notes, a home computer database, and postage to all he contacted. My first significant help from Dan came at the Progressive Dems candidate training about a year ago. Dan taught door to door. And much more.

Read the website details of his experience in life and in office and you will see that "city council member" really sells him short.

Dan is a true progressive yet has been very effective in this relatively conservative state and county resolving competing economic, environmental and justice concerns. The energy and the environment is his biggest issue, but as somone who ran for school board, this gets me fired up:

The lessons of Brown v. Board are still true today: a system segregated by race, ethnicity, and economic class inherently generates inequality. That inequality appears in the resources made available to those schools. Concentrations of parents and families with less resources, and less opportunity to provide volunteer time, result in reduced opportunity for students in those schools. Too often, schools in those circumstances continue to fall ever farther behind. We must work to break this cycle of neglect.

Dan's biggest obstacle may be the ever pernicious "electibility" meme. But if he can get to enough doors, websites, and e-mail inboxes to get the small army of fellow doorknockers he needs, we could have someone truly effective and progressive in state government.

I know this might sound like a sycophnatic ad of some sort. You'll just have to trust me; it's not. Dan has no idea I am writing this and I have not said more than "hey" to him in quite some time. Nor have I ever promised to help his campaign.

It's just that when you actually know someone, have seen them in action and they are all they claim to be publicly, it's worth putting in a good word.

Now, if one of ya'll who knows computers can help him with his fonts . . .