Beverly Perdue

Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue spoke in Charlotte this week. She was delightful. I was certainly impressed.

I'm steamed and you should be too. Pat McCrory's letter to raise PAC money - a close up view of political sausage making if there ever was one - is being mostly ignored. By the media, and by conservatives who say they value small-d democracy. In case you haven't seen it ...

The Republican Governors Association wasted no time setting up an Independent Expenditure Committee called the RGA NC 2008 PAC to receive and spend unlimited amounts of money from individuals to run ads for Pat McCrory in the wake of court rulings and subsequent recent changes to North Carolina election law. A Statement of Organization was filed 5/19/08 and the PAC already has $387,380 on hand from out of state donors ready to spend in support of McCrory

Corporate funds are prohibited for independent expenditures but, according to IRS records, the Republican Governors Association 527 Political Committee received $135,000 from North Carolina corporations in the first half of 2008.

What is it about Republicans? Do they really think they can tell whatever lies they want and no one will notice? That sure seems to be the case with Pat McCrory, whose promise to "change the culture" in Raleigh looks more like a cheap campaign slogan than any real commitment to democracy. Not only is McCrory raking in the dough from corporate interests outside the state, he's also playing the same old games he's always played, even as he pretends to be oh-so concerned about the influence of special interests.

Click on the letter shown here, read it all the way through (be prepared to retch), and then consider the statement below from McCrory's campaign manager - via the Charlotte Observer:

Thank you, Treasurer Moore.

Via email.

Dear Friend,

As you know, Bev Perdue and I had a tough, spirited primary campaign. And while the outcome was not what we had hoped for, one thing is clear: the differences between Bev Perdue and me pale in comparison to our differences with Pat McCrory.

Our country and our state are at a crossroads. This November's election will have a dramatic impact on how we meet the many challenges facing us. So many of the issues that Bev and I both believe in – economic opportunity for all North Carolina families ... world-class public schools…health care for every child in our state ... and securing our energy future – are at stake in this election.

Isn’t it enough that voters had to endure one “Law and Order” candidate, Republican Fred Thompson?

Patrick McCrory, NC Republican candidate for Governor, opened up Saturday’s Gubernatioral debate by repeatedly asking why North Carolina can’t be more like the teevee shows, “CSI” and “Law Order.” Lauding teevee shows for providing “DNA test results in minutes,” McCrory complained that North Carolina District Attorneys can’t afford to shop at Neiman Marcus:

“On Law and Order, the District Attorneys are dressed like they shop at Neiman Marcus.”

Law & Order Rerun Candidate Republican Patrick McCrory

While I'm sure Perdue's people have excellent poll numbers explaining why they want to bring up vouchers, I'm a little baffled as to why they'd want to come out and attack on it so quickly. It just looks very contrived and allows McCrory a chance to emphasize the change-the-tone theme.
If the general election strategy is to attack rather than inspire, this race could tighten very, very quickly.

The machines of the Democratic and Republican Parties in North Carolina are trying to run roughshod over their third party competition. According to WRAL news, the NC gubernatorial candidates will hold five debates. Problem is, they're leaving out one of the candidates, Libertarian Mike Munger.

I can see McCrory not wanting to have Munger in the hunt. Mike is likely to siphon off a lot of free-thinking types who are disgusted with the Republican Party. Perdue, on the other hand, should welcome Munger's participation.

In a speech at the state Republican convention in Greensboro today, the gubernatorial nominee received one of the loudest ovations as he called himself "a change agent" in his race against Democratic nominee Beverly Perdue, Jim Morrill reports.

Change agent. Hmmmm. Let us count the ways.

Help me out, BlueNC, font of information that you are.

I'm looking to expand my most recent blog post.

I know that Richard Moore "believe[s] that there is Biblical evil that lives among us, and for some crimes you give up the right to be here on Earth with the rest of us," (source) and that Beverly Perdue "support[s] capital punishment as an option, but...also favor[s] the current moratorium [then] in place while constitutional issues are being studied." (source)

How do your (least) favorite candidates feel about the death penalty?