NC SPIN Online

Special session all but certain
When Governor Mike Easley followed through on his pledge to veto the wide boat bill the question was whether or not the legislature would come back in special session to override the veto. Lawmakers have ten days to do so and we are told they plan to come back. The big problem is that both the Democratic and Republican National conventions occur within this time frame, but even though some members will be attending the conventions lawmakers will return. Why now? Why not wait four months until the new session of the legislature? Answer: Mike Easley won’t be governor at that time.

For more discussion on this be sure to catch this week’s NC SPIN.

Who won the debate?
Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory faced off in their first televised forum Tuesday night. Each side tried to spin their performance but who really “won” the event? A sampling of media coverage doesn’t help much, although the media was kinder to Perdue. Our honest assessment is that neither was brilliant, neither made a serious flub and it was not a great debate.

Perdue was trying too hard. She was tense, obviously over-rehearsed, and did not display the friendliness and passion we’ve seen in her. I kept feeling like she was trying to sell me something, a concern underscored by her frequent comments like “That’s what I’m good at…” With all her experience in state government it is not unreasonable to expect more specifics about how she is going to fix health care, transportation, public schools. Her calling McCrory “Patrick” sounded patronizing and taunting. Like John McCain on the national ticket, Bev has to decide whether to defend the past eight years as part of the leadership of this state or be willing to criticize and tell us what went wrong and specifics of how she plans to do to fix it.

McCrory came across likeable enough, even showing genuine emotion when talking about attending funerals for fallen police officers, but he never really made the case why he should be governor. It was obvious he was trying to distance himself from Charlotte but I don’t think an Eastern Carolina tobacco farmer bought it and never will. McCrory has based his campaign on change, but didn’t make the case why and what needs changing in Raleigh. He tried to tie Perdue to the Easley administration but didn’t make it stick. Perdue deflected the connection saying she was elected separately. As stated above, McCrory should have forced her to acknowledge whether she is partly responsible for the past eight years or not. McCrory has to be careful not to beat up on a woman (that won’t play well in this state) but he does have to use her record against her and tell us why he is better. He is behind, regardless of the polls you read, and he must make a strong case in order to win.

Perdue is a Democrat in a state that has elected Democrats for Governor all but twice in more than a century. She has the contacts, she has the money, and she has a superior organization behind her. So why is this race so close?

Look for great discussion on this topic in this week’s NC SPIN.

Civitas Poll shows close races
The latest poll by the Civitas Institute indicates just how close these races are in our state:

President:
John McCain (R) 46 percent
Barack Obama (D) 40 percent
Bob Barr (L) 2 percent
Undecided 12 percent

U.S. Senate:
Elizabeth Dole (R) 47 percent
Kay Hagan (D) 38 percent
Chris Cole (L) 2 percent
Undecided 14 percent

Governor:
Beverly Perdue (D) 43 percent
Pat McCrory (R) 41 percent
Mike Munger (L) 3 percent
Undecided 13 percent

What needs the most attention from state government?
Create jobs/improve economy 32 percent
Lower health care costs 17 percent
Improve education 17 percent
Illegal immigration 13 percent
Hold down taxes 11 percent
Improve roads/highways 6 percent

Comments: These results are similar to previous polls, with the exception of the last Public Policy Polling for Governor, which showed Perdue with a larger lead. We believe that poll is an aberration.
The good news is that these races will be interesting to watch.

Rumors running rampant in southeastern part of state
What is it about the Southeastern part of the state that attracts scandal and gossip like a magnet? The rumors about Senator Julia Boseman’s problems seemed to have waned but now we’re hearing lots about another prominent legislator from the region who was reportedly involved in a scuffle with a young man that ended up involving police. This same official has also been connected to rumors about federal investigations involving obstruction of justice and possible vote tampering. We’re told that the State Board of Elections may be opening investigations of their own prior to Election Day. This could be yet another bombshell involving unethical and illegal behavior by elected state officials and cannot be good news for incumbents.

Report slams Health and Human Services
First the evaluation was supposed to be released prior to the start of the short session of the legislature. Then we understood it was to be released during the session. Finally the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee released the report on how well our state, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services, had overseen the mental health reforms passed by the legislature in 2001. Poor or no planning, no benchmarks or target goals, terrible communication, and monumental cost overruns were themes throughout the report.

The damning report comes on the heels of news a patient had been neglected for 22 hours and died at Cherry Hospital, threatening once again the loss of federal funds. Days earlier it was revealed that Broughton Hospital in Morganton had lost accreditation standards and would lose federal funds.
When will responsible leaders admit we have a major crisis on our hands and focus an “all hands on deck” triage effort to fix it? Click here to read: Legislative report