ncdp

I spent most of Saturday afternoon sitting on a little chair in a conference room of the Marriott Hotel in Greensboro. It was beautiful afternoon, especially for January, but I didn't mind as I was in that conference room to do the business of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I thought there was to be a meeting of the State Executive Committee; for the most part I was mistaken.

I want to thank Governor Perdue for her service to our state. I'm not really sure how to feel about her not running, so I won't discuss all the thoughts swirling in my head. I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude to her for trying her best to make North Carolina the state I love a better place for everyone.

I’m sorry to be a nag, but time is running short. We need you to join in the fight for the heart and soul of our state. We need you to step up and join the campaign of 100 Great Women Running for North Carolina. We need you to declare yourself to be a candidate who will work for women and families.

The best way to figure out what Pat McCrory stands for is to look at the company he keeps as he continues running and running and running for governor. Be careful watching this video. It'll turn your stomach.

You don't have to spend much time reading online comments about political news stories to understand a fundamental difference between the far left and the far right in North Carolina politics.

Had a long discussion with my older son yesterday, who is fast becoming an expert on political campaign processes and procedures. As has happened often in our discussions, the topic moved quickly into the realm of money in politics; the effects, the ethics, and the long-term ramifications to our system of governing. When he questioned my position that large (yet legal) campaign contributions violated the 1st Amendment rights of scores of citizens, my answer was something I've mentioned here before:

For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.

Jason Jenkins sets his sights on Jim Crawford's seat:

Jason Jenkins of Creedmoor announced on his Facebook page that he was running for the House District 2 race, challenging incumbent Rep. Jim Crawford, D-Granville. Crawford was one of five Democrats who voted for the budget in May and voted to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of the budget in June.

Hopefully Jason will stop by BlueNC (hint, hint) and give us a run-down on his positions. In lieu of that, I'm still ready to jump on his wagon...

Via e-mail:

This effort by the GOP is nothing more than a Trojan horse designed to turn back the clock on decades of progress and excellence in North Carolina’s public education system. I have no doubt that the ultimate goal for the Republicans is to overturn the Leandro case, de-fund our schools and completely dismantle public education in North Carolina.