WataugaWatch

We like it when she gets tough.

Governor Perdue came out last night and said no way would she support a budget bill that raised taxes on "anyone other than the wealthy" (according to the N&O). She was reacting to a budget deal reached between the N.C. House and the Senate that would slap an across-the-board surtax on all income taxpayers, as well as raise sales taxes. (Republican leaders in the General Assembly accuse Perdue of supporting the proposed increase in sales taxes, which would hit the poor harder.)

Anyway, we're glad to see the Guv start throwing some elbows.

Labels: Beverly Perdue

The Guv told a breakfast of Lillian's List supporters in Raleigh, "North Carolina is going to be a state where choice is safe under my watch."

Not that anybody in the know is predicting that an anti-choice act could get out of committee in either the NC House or the Senate, but still, it's good to hear.

Labels: abortion rights, Beverly Perdue

Looks like our new Guv is thinking her own large-ish change agenda, which is good. Rob Christensen, who is well qualified, does a little history primer on NC's Depression Guv, O. Max Gardner, on whom Perdue may be modeling herself.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, O. Max Gardner, Rob Christensen

Guv Bev is off to a bold start -- signing executive orders to remove political patronage from the road-building process, among other things -- and thereby setting up a massive confrontation with the grandees in the state's General Assembly (we're talking Democrats here) who kinda basically like their patronage and their money-raising powers and will likely not take kindly to the Guv messing in their sandbox. But she needs to mess with 'em.

And we've glad that on his way out the door, Mike Easley signed an executive order that e-mails sent by state employees are properly part of the public record and should be saved. The governor's office was being sued by a number of newspapers for deleting e-mails. It's sooo Mike Easley to wait until he's almost out of office to tacitly acknowledge that the newspapers were right about this issue all along.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Mike Easley, North Carolina DOT

Eugene A. "Gene" Conti Jr. will head the NC DOT for Gov. Perdue. Good choice.

Gene was a VISTA volunteer in eastern Kentucky back in the mid-'60s, and after earning his undergraduate degree in sociology and anthropology at Eastern Michigan University, he completed both a master's and his Ph.D. (in anthro) at Duke. I knew him back in those days for his work on cultural change in the Appalachian mountains, before he shifted gears, got another degree in Policy Sciences and Public Affairs, worked as a policy analyst with the North Carolina Department of Administration, and headed to D.C. as a Presidential Management Intern and then onto the staff at the Office of Management and Budget. After other distinguished service, he became Congressman David Price's chief of staff for several years.

He knows transportation issues. When he left Congressman Price's office, he served a couple of years as assistant secretary at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, and from 2001-2003 he had the number two job in the NC DOT.

Massively and uniquely qualified, this guy. With a BIG job ahead of him, draining that particular swamp.

ADDENDUM: Tom Jensen says that Perdue's appointment of Conti is (as much as anything) a positive signal of gubernatorial independence from NC Senate grandee Marc Basnight.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Eugene A. Conti Jr., Marc Basnight, North Carolina DOT, Tom Jensen

We're relying (at the moment, at least) on former Dems operative Gary Pearce for a run-down on our new governor's first cabinet picks. Pearce's summation appears in his opening sentence: "all kinds of interesting twists."

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Gary Pearce

For eight years he's been NC's State Treasurer, and he's done a very good job, particularly with the state's pension fund. According to the N&O, "North Carolina has been rated among the top three state pension systems since 2003 in various national rankings." While the pension fund did lose money this year in the Wall Street melt-down (some 12 percent), the losses were much less than the 24 percent plunge of the S&P 500 ... primarily because Moore has been a very cautious and conservative manager of our money.

Then came his run for governor in the Democratic primary against Bev Perdue, which was pretty much a disaster from several perspectives.

Now Moore says he has lost all interest in any other elective office, which is unfortunate, because he's one of North Carolina's best public servants. We'll give him 2009 to reconsider and will hope to see him saddling up in 2010.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Richard Moore

Chris Fitzsimon at NC Policy Watch makes the tart suggestion that newly elected Gov. Beverly Perdue is dithering about cabinet appointments, particularly to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), because the "business community" doesn't approve of anyone whose name has been floated so far.

"Why does the business community have so much say about who will enforce the state's laws to protect the environment?" asks Fitzsimon. Perhaps environmentalists should begin insisting that they get to pick the secretary of Commerce or of Revenue.

The fact that Perdue is already acting indecisive in the face of potential opposition is not encouraging.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Chris Fitzsimon, environmental issues, NC DENR

Reading about Forsyth County's long lines for early voting, one realizes how really fortunate we in Watauga are with our local Board of Elections.

Since the beginning of early voting on Oct. 16, Forsyth, one of the largest counties in the state, has maintained only four early voting sites, two of them in the 12th Congressional Dist. and two in the 5th. Forsyth County accounts for some 38% of all the votes in the 5th District, and they provide only two early voting sites?!

Forsyth currently has the longest lines in the state and the fewest polling sites per capita.

The Forsyth Elections Board seems quite surly about it, too. They'll open more sites next week, they say, so in the meantime, wait in line over two hours or come back another day.

Members of boards of elections are appointed by the local political parties, two by the Democratic Party and one by the Republican (because the governor is Democratic. Don't yell at me ... that's the way the NC law is written). Wouldn't surprise us in the least if early next year, and if Bev Perdue wins the governor's race, there'll be some fresh blood on the Forsyth Board of Elections. If Pat McCrory wins, there'll certainly be fresh blood, and early voting will become even more problematic. As it will in Watauga too.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Forsyth County Board of Elections, Pat McCrory, Watauga County Board of Elections

Mike Munger (gotta love that pic!) is the Libertarian running for N.C. governor, but he isn't invited to participate in the debates between Bev Perdue and Whatisname. In the most recent of those debates Tuesday night, Whatisname chanted the orthodox Republican mantra of "drill, baby, drill!" and the Democrat acted like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, which is what Democrats are doing these days when off-shore drilling comes up (which it does approximately on the hour).

Mike Munger, excluded (we repeat) from the debate, e-mailed his critique of this charade:

The offshore oil drilling "issue" is a gimmick. There will no effect, zero, on prices in N.C. The governor of N.C. needs to work to make sure that HIGH prices have the economic benefit of encouraging the development of alternative energy sources.

Gosh. A man running for office who dares to tell the truth.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Mike Munger, oil industry, Pat McCrory

Saturday’s opening head-to-head debate between incumbent Sen. Liddy Dole and challenger Kay Hagan during the NC Bar Association's annual meeting at Atlantic Beach produced this welcome description of Hagan, from the indispensible Laura Leslie: "Hagan ... came across as down-to-earth, confident, smart, and most of all scrappy, which she'll need to be to pull this off. She came out swinging and never let up."

We like scrappy.

Dole, on the other hand, in "TV makeup," was "distinctly grande-dame -- dignified, confident, witty, and impeccably prepared."

Leslie scored it a draw.

Gov. candidate Bev Perdue didn't do as well in her debate with Pat McCrory, with the crowd of lawyers seeming to favor McCrory (though some apparently thought McCrory was a bit shallow on detail).

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Hagan, Laura Leslie, Pat McCrory

1. Poor Pat McCrory. The Republican candidate for NC Gov. criticized Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue for an opinion she doesn't have. In fact, Perdue agrees with McCrory on state policies regarding illegal immigrants admitted to community colleges.

2. Poor Gov. Easley. He's submitted his budget to the short session of the legislature, and because it calls for increased "sin taxes" on beer and cigarettes, the N&O judges it dead-on-arrival.

3. Poor little Patty McHenry. The 10th Dist. congressman attacks Democratic candidate and decorated war hero Daniel Johnson as a Nancy Pelosi recruit and a (gack!) liberal. Dear Patrick, you're going to have to do better than that, like, starting with something that's factually accurate.

Labels: Beverly Perdue, Daniel Johnson, Mike Easley, Pat McCrory, Patrick McHenry

Say it once and don't say it again: it was a very big night for the Barack Obama campaign, a disastrous night for Hillary. And can we put aside the supposed black/white gulf, when lily-white Watauga County went for Obama by a greater percentage than the rest of the state? This despite the stumping of Bubba through our neck of the woods. Buncombe County, which hosted visits by all three Clintons, went for Obama by over 54%. So much for the "Clinton magic" in western North Carolina (and in rural America generally).

Other Big Winners
Walter Dalton, who won outright in a four-way race for the Democratic nomination for Lt. Gov. Just about everyone was predicting a run-off.

Pat McCrory, who won outright in the Republican primary for NC Gov. Beverly Perdue has now a far tougher row to hoe.

The 40+ NC mayors, including Boone's own Loretta Clawson, who endorsed Barack Obama.

Losers
Republican Appeals Court Judge John Tyson, who was knocked out in this primary by two Democratic candidates, who will now have to face each other in November: Kristin Ruth and the grandson of Sen. Sam Ervin.

Poor Fred Smith, whom we were rooting for, who proved (once again?) that free barbecue can't compete with expensive political consultants.

Congressman Patrick McHenry, who though he beat back the challenge from fellow Republican Lance Sigmon, appears to be damaged goods and must now face a gen-you-wine military hero in Democrat Daniel Johnson come November. Sigmon said prior to yesterday that he would never endorse McHenry.

Jerry Butler. What's the deal with Jerry Butler? Why did his home county of Watauga not vote for him in his win in the Republican primary for the NC-45 state senate race? Inquiring minds want to know what the home-town Republican voters were thinking.

Big Losers
Linda Daves and the North Carolina GOP. Their big negative ad against Obama -- the "eeek, a scary black man" TV spot -- did not work in a state where it might predictably have had some effect. Not only have the state Republicans looked craven and desperate to a national audience; they've also effectively slammed the door on reaching out to under-30 voters, who (1) can't countenance the theatrical incompetence of the Bush administration and (2) have apparently grown more mature than their tiresomely racist elders in the South.

Labels: Barack Obama, Beverly Perdue, Daniel Johnson, Fred Smith, Hillary Clinton, John Tyson, Kristin Ruth, Lance Sigmon, Loretta Clawson, Pat McCrory, Patrick McHenry, Sam Ervin IV, Walter Dalton

Word from several Watauga County precincts this a.m. says that the Republicans are AWOL. No poll-greeters spotted for any Republican candidates, not even Paularoids (though, clearly, from the count of yard signs alone, Ron Paul is in the lead for the Republican presidential nomination. Apparently, true Paularoids are expecting a Big Uprising at the Republican National Convention this summer that will reject John McCain and sweep Ron Paul into the nomination. BTW, we want whatever it is they're smoking).

The most active Democratic campaigns locally -- from an unscientific count of poll-greeters working key precincts this morning -- would be the Bev Perdue campaign, Team Roy Carter, the Tim Futrelle committee, and both the Clinton and the Obama campaigns.

Turn-out has been steady though not in the overwhelming numbers we've seen reported from other parts of the state.

Labels: Barack Obama, Beverly Perdue, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, Roy Carter, Tim Futrelle, Watauga County primary voting