Know your wackos: Fred Smith (R) Clayton

UPDATE: It was an oversight on my part not to say there's a solid alternative to Senator Flintstone in NC-12. Her name is Sherry Altman, and you can see what a real progressive looks like right here.

Despite the fact that the 2006 elections are still two months away, NC Senator Fred Smith of Clayton is shifting his beady eyes toward the Governor's mansion - trying to position himself as the go-to guy for North Carolina neocons in 2008. If you go to his website, you'll see he does a damn good job holding his own on the lunatic fringe.

With an ego the size of five gigantic billboards between Clayton and Goldsboro, Fred Smith is a run-of-the-mill developer with all the delusions of grandeur you'd expect from a guy who builds extravagant houses in golf course communities. (His business could use some tech help, though, his website doesn't handle Firefox.)

Spend some time reading about Fred's positions on issues and you'll get that sinking feeling that comes from any close encounter with the Dark Side. It's recycled garbage lifted straight from the Karl Rove 'divide and conquer' playbook, and not much else. Consider, for example, this enlightened discussion of the environment, an issue Fred conflates with "roads."

Our citizens spend more time stuck in traffic than ever before – and the congestion just keeps getting worse. Wasting time sitting in traffic makes it harder to find family time, harder for businesses to operate efficiently, and pollutes the environment. North Carolina needs new thinking on environmental and transportation issues. We also need straight talk and clear vision on the problem of growth that outpaces infrastructure. The Liberal Democrats aren’t addressing this issue because they have presided over the deterioration of our current roads and the slow pace of new construction.

There you go, tree-huggers. The one thing Fred Smith has to say about the environment? Build more roads. Although I guess that's not surprising coming from a guy who makes a living building more roads so rich people can get to his fancy new houses. Which brings us to our first conclusion about this aspiring candidate: Governor Fred Smith would be a disaster for North Carolina's environment.

UPDATE: I wonder why a guy who's the CEO of this company would want to the state to pave more roads?

Next Fred sets his sites on destroying education:

Unfortunately, the current Liberal Democrats have almost accepted the fact that our schools are failing. ::
Charter schools are reforming education with a fresh innovative approach to teaching. Foremost, charter schools are public schools. They meet the needs not met by existing public school systems and I strongly support them. Many charter schools, freed of bureaucratic regulations imposed by the state, have been successful at raising test scores and improving student performance. When applied correctly, this non-selective, tuition free alternative creates an achievement-oriented culture that drives performance.

It looks like Fred is getting his talking points from the government-haters at the John Locke Foundation, who despite compelling evidence of failure, continue to beat the drum for more and more charter schools. Mr. Smith appears to be just another ideologue, pushing for whatever suits his political agenda whether it actually works or not. Which leads to our second conclusion: Governor Fred Smith would be a disaster for public education.


If you can believe it, Mr. Smith's position on issues goes straight down hill from there:

He's a defender of marriage, as long as you're not gay.

He thinks the solution to crime is to build more prisons.

He lies about North Carolina taxes making our state uncompetitive in the face of clear evidence that's not true.

He promotes the failed policy of abstinence-only sex education.

He wants to control borders but says nothing about the businesses that hire illegal workers.

And he thinks North Carolina should take its cue on policy the state George Bush wrecked before he turned his attention to ruining the whole damned country.

So in addition to being a potential disaster for public education and the environment, it's clear that Mr. Smith is just another government hating ideologue who wants to impose his own personal brand of morality on millions of North Carolinians. He wants to marginalize gays and demonize immigrants - and his favorite tactic these days appears to be blaming "liberal Democrats" for making North Carolina such a horrible place, while laughing all the way to the bank.

Unless something dramatic happens, the Republican candidate for governor will find himself going toe-to-toe with either Bev Perdue or Roy Moore. Either one of them will kick his butt all the way back to Clayton.

So in honor of this likely candidate and what he wants to do to North Carolina, I hereby dub Fred Smith "Senator Flintsone." Yabba-dabba-freakin-doo.