Who will lead North Carolina Democrats?

Published August 31, 2013

by Doug Clark, Greensboro News-Record, August 30, 2013.

Before I close out for a holiday weekend and direct my attention to something much more delightful than politics (my year-old granddaughter), let me leave you with an assignment.

We've had fun knocking around the Republican governor and Republican legislature.

No apologies. The crowd in power always deserves the hardest shots, and is this crowd ever in power!

But the question is, what about the Democrats? Other than protesting what the Republicans are doing, what are their ideas and proposals? How would they put North Carolina on the right track?

And, who are the Democrats who can lead their party back to power?

I'd like to entertain nominations: Which Democrat could win the governor's race in 2016?

Roy Cooper?

Kay Hagan?

Erskine Bowles?

Anthony Foxx?

Janet Cowell?

William Barber?

Dan Clodfelter?

(If you don't know who some of these people are, the Democratic Party is not in great shape.)

North Carolina Democrats are down, but surely they're not out. So who do you think they need to bring into the game?

August 31, 2013 at 11:00 am
Norm Kelly says:

Not being a good Democrat, I do not recognize all those names. Being a Libertarian, the names I do recognize have a few things in common.

They are:

good Liberals

have lefty ideas

believe in big government

believe government is the answer to any question

don't have new ideas

will retread the same old tax & spend & ignore deficits ideas

This group of Liberals will do what liberals always do. Try to convince a majority of voters that Republicans don't have any ideas to get things moving. Republicans only want to cut taxes for their rich friends/supporters. Republicans are interested in harming poor people, economically at least. Gramma's will be thrown out in the street - reduced SocSec, medical care, food, etc. Republicans are racists, proof is the voter suppression laws passed in this session - whose only goal was to prevent blacks from voting for Democrats.

What new idea or plan will Democrat voters ask for this time around? Simple answer. The same plan they have asked for in the past. Nothing new, please. We've tried new & didn't like it. The old ideas of Liberals have been tried and they were liked. They didn't work, but Democrat voters liked the ideas.

Take Mike Easley as a perfect example of old Liberal ideas that didn't work. He has so many examples it's hard to pick just 1 or 2. When the state spent too much money, Mike's plan was to steal sales tax money from counties. Mike's plan included stealing money from the E911 fund that everyone who has (privately paid for) phone service pays into every month. The money was supposed to go to the counties (sales tax case), that they had budgeted for, but the state took priority & stole the money, leaving the counties out in the cold. The money was supposed to support 911 callers from cell phone users (an ever growing number of people) in the case of the E911 fund. Mike's plan simply said SCR-W those cell phone users, if the emergency crew can't get to them, we'll blame Republicans for withholding money from the E911 fund in the general budget. After all, if some Democrat blames a Republican for a problem, Democrat voters have been conditioned to automatically believe it. (Take, for example, the fact that even after 5 years in office, BHO continues to blame Bush, and Democrats suck it down like extra sweet tea, without question!) Part of the conditioning is that the press, at every level, in print, radio, television, talking heads simply repeat the lines used by Democrats without question, so Democrat voters don't get the whole story or even get the truth in way too many cases. (WRAL is a good example when it comes to the imMoral Monday protesters, the voter suppression stories, the tax cuts for the wealthy stories.)

Can anyone present a new idea from Democrats/Liberals in the past decade? Something that might help a shaky economy? Something besides "food stamps & unemployment benefits actually help the economy grow"? Something besides "the rich don't pay their fair share" (which they refuse to define!)? Something besides raising gas taxes, raising sales taxes? Think hard! Really hard. Didn't come up with anything, did you? Know why? There haven't been any new ideas from liberals in MORE than a decade.

Please prove me wrong! Unlike Liberals, my mind actually is open to information. I'd love to be proved wrong on this, have someone with intelligence sway my opinion. Wouldn't you love to convert a Libertarian to a Democrat? This is your chance.

I won't hold my breath!

August 31, 2013 at 11:20 am
dj anderson says:

"The crowd in power always deserves the hardest shots, and is this crowd ever in power!" -- story

Where's the surprise? There's nothing unusual this year in that. The past two years of joint power were the exception when Bev was using the veto. This year is the same as when Democrats were in complete power for a hundred years.

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looking for a leader of the Democratic Party is worthy, but does it have to be as gubernatorial candidate?

Roy Cooper? -- He's hitting the headlines weekly, protecting the old, petitions against new laws, declared Duke La Cross players innocent, is against pollution, fights Duke's rate hikes -- his finger is in the water. He has all of the looks & positions, but none of the Charisma.

Kay Hagan? - Let's leave DC Senate and go to Raleigh to veto Republicans...nope!

Erskine Bowles? - Headed UNC, helped Clinton work with Newt to get balanced budget, he could do the job, yes, he could get revenge for his dad losing to a Republican in the past, but he would also be against extending Medicaid due to it's impact on the National Debt. He'll pass.

Anthony Foxx? He might leave the DOT, has been Charlotte's mayor and that's a proven path to Raleigh, and Democrats would have a feel good fuzzy moment nominating a black. He's got potential, but he's in DC now.

Janet Cowell? I like looking at her, but she doesn't have a dynamic "look-at-me" personality that might be needed to be leader at this point. Wonder what she might do with state pension money in Hedge funds? Another feel good fuzzy for Dems in that she's a woman, but we've been there,done that. I like her.

William Barber? HE IS THE LEADER

Dan Clodfelter? That last name is not the best for all those who vote on superficial basis. His tax plan +gained Republican support via sponsorship, which is a +new thing Dems must learn, +lowered the evil Democratic created sales tax, +didn't widen sales tax much to keep up revenues, +was like the Republican plans in less than 6% flat tax,(-)didn't help the poor by going only half as far as Republicans with a $5000 deduction instead of their $12,000, +brought in more revenues, +set aside revenue to repay the FEDs for unemployment billions. With the exception that the tax plan that Clodfelter has championed for a decade has now been done (what would Clodfelter do now?) I really like this guy.

NOT MENTIONED:

Mickey Michaux, Long time house member, who has a finger in the water, can counter Rev. Barber by going along with him,

Dan Blue - has the magic name, has looks, charm, feel good fuzzy is that he's got family history and could be the first black NC Gov.

Josh Stein - fine speaker, witty, and for the feel good fuzzy dems need, is Jewish. NC voted for a Mormom.

Jim Hunt - I know stuff is already named for him, and he would be near 80 when elected in 2016, but he won't be driving the governor's limo, yet the guy got it done once, came back a second time and did more, and the third time is supposed to be a charm! Warm fuzzy feeling is that he is OLD, and probably would be the oldest in history. Jerry "moonbeam" Brown is governor of California at 75 today.

Where's Andy Griffith when you need him?