Can McCrory bring a different approach to governing?

Published November 7, 2014

Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, November 6, 2014.

Fresh from watching his Republican Party emerge victorious in Tuesday's state and national elections, Gov. Pat McCrory sounded like a seasoned coach warning his players against letting the win go to their heads. In urging them during an interview with WRAL in Raleigh not to "spike the ball" and to "govern with humility," he resembled the popular mayor who led Charlotte as a pragmatic moderate.

And he's right. The winner-take-all mentality has soured large blocs of the American public on their government.

It is the reason that Congress' approval ratings continue to dwell in the cellar and why few people really believe President Obama – whose low ratings are still better than those of Congress – when he says he will work with the new bicameral majority. That same divide has played out in North Carolina in a different way. Here, Republicans have a governor of the same party, but a significant and vocal minority has fought back against policies they see as benefiting only business and those who are well off already.

It is clear that McCrory wants to be seen as a leader who can transcend that divide and bring both sides together in pursuit of a common vision. Whether his words will ultimately translate into a different approach to governing in North Carolina depends greatly on whether legislative leaders are willing to be inclusive or exclusive.

In that regard, McCrory has some challenges ahead. His approval ratings aren't skyrocketing. According to an October WRAL poll, his approval rating is at 36 percent, higher than the General Assembly's 23 percent rating. He has not always agreed with fellow partisans on legislative issues, and the General Assembly has a veto-proof majority.

But if he uses his office and the bully pulpit to court Democrats as well as like-minded Republicans, he may succeed in creating an atmosphere that promotes cooperation in at least some critical policy areas.

In his WRAL interview, he spoke of leading "a conversation" among people with very different views of how North Carolina should be governed instead of a dialogue marked by protest signs and shouting.

But the protest signs and the Moral Monday movement the governor alluded to arose because many North Carolinians felt – and still feel – that the majority not only doesn't speak to them, but doesn't care if many are left behind. Dismantling or downsizing of policies that helped North Carolina and its people prosper, grow and jealously guard its environmental resources created a strong impression that this mission has been about undoing everything a Democratic-led government had ever done rather than improving the lot of all North Carolinians.

Democrats and groups that feel disenfranchised also must be willing to have conversations that don't begin and end with a demand, but with ideas that recognize the need to seek balance. In almost every situation, there is more than one way to achieve the end goal – which, as McCrory implied, should be about much more than winning.

If any segment of the population is cast aside, North Carolina and the nation lose.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20141106/ARTICLES/141109829/1108/editorial?template=printart

November 7, 2014 at 10:48 am
Richard Bunce says:

Losing an election or three makes you feel disenfranchised... get off your couch and go vote...

November 8, 2014 at 9:08 am
Paul Brumley says:

We do know that he is a politician don't we, and the kind of mess the trains are causing Charlotte, as well as other messes that were forced on the people of Charlotte. And still we do not demand accountability in the political system, what a cruel joke.