Work with the Governor for the bonds, Democrats
Published October 22, 2015
by Doug Clark, Off the Record, Greensboro News-Record, October 21, 2015.
Oh, come on.
North Carolina's Republican and Democratic parties will be sniping at each other's candidates for the next year-plus, so today's shot at Gov. Pat McCrory isn't unexpected.
But they need to be called out when they're just, plain wrong.
From the NCDP:
"Following Governor McCrory’s announcement that he would be launching a television campaign in support of the bipartisan bond referendum signed Wednesday, the North Carolina Democratic Party called on the governor to draw clear separation between his re-election campaign and the referendum by pledging not appear in any pro-bond television ads not funded directly by his campaign.
“ 'The bond referendum that will be on the ballot in March passed in the legislature with broad, bipartisan backing. It would be fundamentally inappropriate for the governor to use contributions for this measure to prop up his floundering re-election campaign. Governor McCrory should publicly pledge not to appear in any advertisements paid for with contributions legally intended to support the referendum. The debate on this important issue for our state should not be tainted by partisan politics,' said NCDP Spokesman Ford Porter."
OK, first: The bonds are the result of McCrory's initiative. The legislature didn't give him everything he wanted on the package by a long shot, but it was only because he pushed hard that a proposal will go to the voters at all.
Second: McCrory wanted the bonds to go on the ballot this November, so the state could get a fast start and before interest rates go up. That would have had minimal impact on his 2016 campaign.
Third: The governor should be the leading campaigner for the bonds, which will move North Carolina forward. If he helps raise money to support a bond campaign, he's entitled to appear in ads promoting the bonds. Voters need to know the governor supports them.
Fourth: The proposition isn't without risk. The fact that the vote will be on March 15, the same date when the Republican presidential primary is held, may mean that the electorate will be disproportionately conservative. The bonds could be voted down, which would be a huge political defeat for the governor.
Finally: Democrats don't have to feel left out. They should be proactive and join McCrory's pro-bonds campaign. In fact, their candidate, Attorney General Roy Cooper, could help raise money for the bonds effort and offer to appear with McCrory in TV ads. That would take the politics out of the issue, which is appropriate, and maybe help draw a stronger bipartisan vote in favor.
For once, let's stop sniping and instead work together.
October 22, 2015 at 9:47 am
Norm Kelly says:
Good editorial. Thanks for pointing out the partisanship of the demoncrat party. Quite unusual.
The ending, though, leaves some to be desired.
It states: 'For once, let's stop sniping and instead work together.'
Properly worded: 'For once, Democrats need to stop sniping, stop trying to politicize a non-political issue, work together, and work for the good of the state.'
It's the Demons being completely partisan on this issue. It's the demons who specifically need to be called out on this. Ending with a more direct statement toward the partisan politics of the demon party is more appropriate.
I wonder, if this were a demon-passed initiative and it were Cooper selling it to voters, and Republicans were being so partisan, would media-types be specifically calling out Republicans? I'm almost certain the ending would have been directed specifically at the Republican party and not quite so generic. Chances are the editorial writer would have wanted to leave the final impression that it was Republicans being totally partisan. Why such a wishy-washy final statement when its demons being so totally and transparently partisan?
