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 The real issue in this election
by Tom Campbell
April 23, 2008
This election will rank among the strangest our state has seen. The campaign started normally enough. The two Democrats running for governor had been doing so for more than a year; likewise most of the Republicans had been on the trail for months.
However, voters have experienced growing confusion as the campaign unfolded. There wasn’t (and isn’t) enough real difference between the two Democrats running for governor or president. Sex and/or race aren’t enough. The confusion was compounded when the national Democratic presidential nomination remained unresolved and North Carolina became absorbed in the debate for its resolution, deflecting attention from state issues.
We have seen growing indications North Carolinians are concerned this state is headed in the wrong direction and want to see a leader emerge who recognizes this fact and has solutions for changing “business as usual” in government. Barack Obama’s emergence on the national stage may be due to his race, but we suspect it is largely because he gets it. He understands the overwhelming desire to change our course. Republican Pat McCrory immediately vaulted into the lead among three candidates who had been at it much longer because he also gets it. His ads focus on leadership and change.
North Carolinians recognize the problems current leaders are not facing. They are disgusted by a school system that accepts that one-third of all ninth graders will drop out, isn’t being accountable for failing our students and has adamantly refused to reform itself. They see a transportation system that is both ‘broke and broken.’ Traffic congestion, scandals, and DOT’s inability to fix problems demonstrate both incompetence and arrogance. Citizens know our state’s mental health reforms are a disaster and our leaders have done too little to fix problems. Raging obesity, increasing teen pregnancies, clogged emergency rooms, and uninsured children and families scream at failures in health care. Citizens are dumfounded when officials continue to issue building permits at the drop of a hat while telling residents they can’t water their lawns, wash their cars or replace their garbage disposal. There is added worry about illegal immigration and the obvious breakdown in our criminal justice system.
Most importantly, we have watched as our economy slowed, moving into recession, much as we faced at the turn of the century. People fear more job losses, outrageous gas prices at the pump and the loss of their homes.
It’s no wonder voters are confused when the candidates’ TV ads focus on tax relief for seniors and free community college tuition. Where did they come from? These issues don’t resonate with the real world worries voters recognize. When candidates won’t debate, focus on personalities rather than issues and show little differentiation between themselves it is easier to understand why so many remain undecided with less than two weeks remaining in the campaign.
In one of my favorite movies, The American President, Lewis Rothschild (Michael J. Fox) says to an embattled President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), “They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.”
North Carolinians are desperate for leadership. This is the real issue in this election. |
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