Hunt's critics miss the mark on mayoral pick
Published November 16, 2017
Editorial by Wilson Daily Times, November 14, 2017.
Former Gov. Jim Hunt’s endorsement of an independent candidate over a Democrat in the Raleigh mayoral race has ruffled some feathers among the party faithful.
Hunt backed unaffiliated incumbent Nancy McFarlane in her re-election bid. The mayor received 31,514 votes to Democrat Charles Francis’ 23,013 in the Nov. 7 municipal election.
The McFarlane endorsement has irked the N.C. Democratic Party’s African-American caucus, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported. Francis is African-American, and several sources tell the newspaper that “the black community feels slighted.”
A petition circulating among caucus members calls for the state party to remove Hunt’s name from the Sanford-Hunt-Frye fundraiser, which also honors former Gov. Terry Sanford and Justice Henry Frye, the first black N.C. Supreme Court chief justice.
The squabble shows that Republicans aren’t the only ones ramping up partisanship in the Tar Heel State. Municipal races like the contest for Raleigh mayor are officially nonpartisan. While political parties routinely support their members in such contests, party affiliations aren’t listed on the ballot.
Hunt wasn’t the only prominent Democrat to give McFarlane his blessing. Attorney General Josh Stein and no less a legislative figure than House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, also endorsed the incumbent mayor, according to the N&O.
The Wilson County farmer, lawyer and longest-serving governor in our state’s history said nothing negative about Francis. Hunt merely praised McFarlane for her accomplishments in office and said that one good term deserves another.
We don’t endorse candidates for public office, but we’ve always said that citizens should vote for the person, not the party. We can hardly fault Governor Hunt for backing an independent in a nonpartisan race. But that’s not how some of his fellow Democrats feel.
Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley, D-Wake, told the News & Observer her constituents are concerned.
“They’re telling me ‘I will no longer blindly give a vote to a Democrat anymore.’ And that hurts us a lot,” the paper quotes Holley as saying.
We’d hope Democratic leaders would prefer sincere, enthusiastic support for their candidates rather than party loyalists “blindly” voting a straight ticket out of obligation.
The implication that an African-American candidate deserves support because of his race alone also rubs us the wrong way. We abhor identity politics on the right and left alike. If failing to support Francis is anti-black, wouldn’t denying McFarlane a vote be anti-woman?
Seems like a no-win situation to us. Better to choose candidates for what they say and do, not the involuntary characteristics they inherited at birth.
Perhaps Hunt, who is progressive but also pragmatic, simply read the tea leaves right. McFarlane won by a comfortable 8,500-vote margin, and it’s unlikely an endorsement would have shifted the outcome in Francis’ favor.
If Democrats remove Hunt’s name from the Sanford-Hunt-Frye fundraiser, they will be cutting off their nose to spite their face. The Education Governor stands as a titan among Tar Heels and a proud and loyal ambassador for the North Carolina Democratic Party.
If you want people to come see your show, why darken a third of the lightbulbs in your own marquee?
It is no great surprise to anyone that Republicans endorse Republicans and Democrats endorse Democrats. That’s the way the game is played. But municipal elections aren’t supposed to be partisan slugfests, much less sources of so much infighting and disunity.
If party labels mattered less and ideas mattered more, public policy and discourse in our great state would be in far better shape than they are today.
November 16, 2017 at 7:41 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Let's finish this statement in a different, more appropriate way: "If party labels mattered less and ideas mattered more" the demoncrat party would not exist. Cuz first they have to have an idea. A new idea would be nice but seems impossible for demons; the majority of us would accept just an idea. Not just local demons but national zealots as well. Tax more. Spend more. Tax the rich more. Give more to 'the poor' or whatever group is favored today. Call your opponents a racist. If racist doesn't stick, label your opponent anti-gay. If that doesn't work, label them a misogynist. If that doesn't work, simply say they are rich and don't pay taxes. But whatever you do, always rely on identity politics. Separate people into groups and pit the groups against each other in an attempt to splinter the opposition vote. And as a last resort, lie about your opponent (unless you are a Clinton, then it's your first approach to everything).
Wouldn't it be nice if I could type something nice about some lib somewhere? But for anyone that pays attention to libs around the nation, you too realize there's not much to praise them about. For decades, libs & women have been whining about equality. But when it comes down to it, those ideas apply only to OTHERS, not to the libs whining about it. Women's Empowerment? But not for lib women who want to make movies or tv shows?! No place is as liberal, left-wing-zealot, as Hollywood. Where's the majority of womanizing coming from? Besides Bill's condo that is. Hollywood women about Hollywood men! Give me a break! When you take the plank out of your eye, then I'll listen to you whine about the speck in my eye. Except, is it possible for libs to NOT whine? Probably as hard as coming up with an IDEA! See, nothing good to say about the lot of them!
