No Free Lunch and No Free Ride

The minor "dust up" at the GOP gubernatorial debate in Charlotte on Thursday needed to happen and needs to escalate through the primary. While Moore and Perdue take aim at each others heads with the half-truth barrage of ads, Mayor McCrory has skated along taking credit where little is due and forcefully touting his law and order credentials and leadership style. And little if anything has been done or said to challenge the assertions by the press, the public or his fellow primary opponents.

So when Fred jumped Pat about his record on tax increases in Charlotte and the damn- the-voters construction of the Bobcats Arena (are their cheerleaders really called the Patcats?) it was about time. When after hearing one more diatribe about how great a leader he was and how HE had done all these wonderful things, ostensibly by himself since he never gives anyone else any credit, I joined in the fray.

Now I don't believe in going negative and frankly, I'm not sure that Fred does either or else he would have already taken on the Mayor. But if a candidate is going to portray himself (or herself, Ms. Perdue) in a particular way, then it's fair game to set the record straight. I know that the Mayor is the current fair-haired GOP candidate running TV ads touting how he's going to cut taxes, stop illegal immigration (actually pirating the basis of our plan to deal with the high cost of illegal immigrants to the state), and how he's the greatest leader since George Washington. But his record needs to be carefully examined and discussed.

We've still got lots of debates but it seems that most of them give each candidate about 1 minute to answer questions and little if any opportunity to challenge the assertions of other candidates. It's a perfect format for a smooth-as-a-baby's-behind candidate to hide behind the sound bite and avoid the tough answers. So let's bring it on. If being a part-time Mayor of Charlotte in a strong City Manager - Council form of government is your claim to the governorship, then be prepared to prove it because I for one am not willing to sit quietly by and let an inaccurate picture be presented to the voters.

Bad Advice for McCrory

Perhaps Pat McCrory's political advisers think they're being clever and milking free press by continuing to play coy about the Lord High Mayor of Charlotte's intentions of running for governor. I would contend that they are in fact doing him a disservice as well as primary voters. The unintended impression is simply that this whole exercise is a some kind of a lark and if and when he gets in the race he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

On Monday night in Asheville there was a large gathering at an 11th District GOP dinner honoring Republicans that have worked hard over the years for candidates and the party. No McCrory siting and no one representing him (Fred, Bill and I were all there). The first WUNC-TV gubernatorial debate takes place tomorrow night on the economy and as of this morning, no indication that McCrory will participate.

Word on the political blogs is that McCrory will ultimately get in the race but continue to serve as Mayor and I assume draw his paycheck from Duke Energy. Even an energetic candidate might find juggling those responsibilities more than challenging. The sense is that old Pat will throw his hat in the ring, make some obligatory appearances at GOP functions, pontificate on being a big city mayor, splash up a million or so in slick TV ads and see if he can win the May primary. If not, no political harm done.

My impression is that Pat's being nudged into the race because his real political ambitions to replace Congresswoman Sue Myrick are blocked for the time being and his supporters want him to do something. Frankly, that's not a good reason to be running for governor and the whole cavalier attitude about the process and the last minute interest in running only adds credence to the perception about Charlotte.

Pat's a good guy and a capable politician but the current coyness to his gubernatorial plans is too clever by half. The issues facing our state are too complex and too serious to be playing political games. If you've got something to offer the debate on the issues then now's the time to step up.