DOLE TALKS TO LOCAL LEADERS
By Ted Strong
Washington Daily News
August 23, 2008
Washington, NC
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) was in Washington to meet with local leaders Friday.
Dole didn’t make any speeches or campaign locally, but instead limited herself to the closed-door meeting with the likes of Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss and National Spinning’s Jim Chesnutt.
“I thought it was a positive meeting,” Washington Mayor Judy Jennette said. “I think we were able to put some local concerns on the table, and some national concerns as well.”
The closed meeting allowed for an open, honest discussion, said Catherine Glover, the chamber’s executive director.
The more than hour-long meeting covered a number of local issues, including the U.S. Highway 17 corridor, Dole said after it ended.
She said she helped secure hundreds of thousands of dollars of funding for the project, which aims to streamline transit in the eastern part of the state from the Virginia border to South Carolina.
She said the state had once been renowned for its quality roads and bridges.
“Now we’re in a state of general disrepair,” she said….
Dole also reminded civic leaders that she pushed for a moratorium on Medicaid cuts supported by the Bush administration. She said that move saved Beaufort County Hospital $1.6 million each year.
Gas prices were another issue of interest, Dole said, and one that impacts local economies.
Dole proposes that any and all options for getting oil prices down be explored, she said.
“The big thing is getting off this dependence on foreign oil from people who hate us,” she said, rattling off the names of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Dole also pushed her roll in the tobacco-quota buyout.
“It allows farmers to retire with dignity or switch to another crop with help, or they can compete on the world market if they want to keep growing leaf,” she said….
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ANAYLSIS: BIDEN PICK SHOWS LACK OF CONFIDENCE
By Ron Fouriner
Associated Press
August 23, 2008
DENVER - The candidate of change went with the status quo.
In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.
He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate — the ultimate insider — rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.
The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden pick is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative — a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image….
A senior Obama adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his boss has expressed impatience with what he calls a "reverence" inside his campaign for his message of change and new politics. In other words, Obama is willing — even eager — to risk what got him this far if it gets him to the White House…
So the question is whether Biden's depth counters Obama's inexperience — or highlights it?
After all, Biden is anything but a change agent, having been in office longer than half of all Americans have been alive. Longer than McCain.
And he talks too much.
On the same day he announced his second bid for the presidency, Biden found himself explaining why he had described Obama as "clean."
And there's the 2007 ABC interview in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president.
It seems Obama is worried that some voters are starting to agree.
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FROM THE NCGOP PRESSROOM: BIDEN POINTS OUT OBAMA’S WEAKNESSES
August 23, 2008
RALEIGH—North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Linda Daves released a statement in response to Barack Obama selecting Joe Biden as his running mate.
Joe Biden Said Obama Is Not Ready To Serve As President. ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "You were asked is he ready. You said 'I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.'" Sen. Biden: "I think that I stand by the statement." (ABC's, "This Week," 8/19/07)
Joe Biden Said He'd Be Honored To Run With McCain. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart: "You may end up going against a Senate colleague, perhaps McCain, perhaps Frist?" Sen. Biden: "John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off -- be well off no matter who..." Stewart: "Did I hear, Did I hear with?" Sen. Biden: "You know, John McCain and I think" Stewart: "Don't become cottage cheese my friend. Say it." Sen. Biden: "The answer is yes." (Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" 8/2/05)
Chairman Linda Daves made the following statement:
"Barack Obama pledged to choose a running mate who was 'ready to be President.' But is Obama ready? In the past, Senator Biden has said no. No choice of Vice President can make Barack Obama more experienced. By choosing a man who has been one of his harshest critics on the issue, Obama merely further exposes his own flaws. On one of the central questions facing voters in this election - is Barack Obama ready to be Commander-in-Chief? - even his own running mate says he fails the test. Joe Biden is right about one thing. The country will be better off with John McCain as President."
GOVERNOR’S CANDIDATE McCRORY IN TOWN
By Brian Haney
Dunn Daily Record
August 27, 2008
Charlotte Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory stopped in Dunn yesterday to attend a campaign fundraiser in his honor at the Western Sizzlin' restaurant.
The event, hosted by N.C. Rep. David Lewis, drew a crowd of nearly 30 supporters, including Erwin Mayor Patsy Carson, and Republican contender for U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge's 2nd District seat, Dan Mansell….
"Pat McCrory has a vision that the state can be better than it is," said Rep. Lewis, "and this is a unique and special opportunity to hear remarks by a truly great man."
Addressing Issues
Mayor McCrory addressed what he thinks are some of the state's most pressing issues.
"I am not coming to try to appease you in Dunn," he said. "The next governor is going to have to make some very hard ... decisions and I'm willing to make those tough decisions."
The mayor spoke of a disconnect between employers who, in the current economy, cannot find qualified employees and a 30 percent dropout rate among the state's high school students. Mayor McCrory explained how he wanted to bring together this disconnect by putting an emphasis on vocational programs in high schools and allowing students to learn a trade instead of encouraging them to attend a four-year college.
"Not every student who graduates from high school needs a four-year degree," he said. "We need to quit directing students where they don't want to go and direct them where they can acquire a marketable skill. We need to connect our state's labor needs with our educational strategy."
He also addressed what he called "paralyzing" energy prices that aren't going to end and said North Carolina has to play a role in finding a solution to the problem.
"I'm a conservative," he said. "Conservation is important and as Republicans, we need to understand that."
Mayor McCrory's plan to help alleviate the energy crisis: Do it all. He added that he isn't sure we can continue using ethanol, as its production is crippling food prices.
"North Carolina must have off-shore drilling for oil and natural gas," he said….
He ended his speech by challenging those in attendance to not simply to talk amongst themselves, but go out and get Republicans to go to the polls, then convince Independent voters and North Carolina Democrats, who he said he believed have conservative values, to vote for him as their choice for governor.
"If not now," he asked, "when?"…
Before continuing on to his next campaign stop, Mayor McCrory said one of the things that surprises him most about his campaign travels is how mayors all across the state are dealing with the same issues he's been facing for 13 years as mayor of Charlotte: "Gangs, career criminals, drugs and the 30 percent dropout rate."
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FROM THE NCGOP BLOG: PERDUE’S RIDICULOUS CLAIMS ON DRILLING
By Linda Daves
Chairman, North Carolina Republican Party
Much has already been made of Bev Perdue's complete about face on offshore drilling. When once she stood "100 percent" opposed to it and said it would never happen on her watch, she now says she has always supported it. For those experiencing massive cognitive dissonance standing right now at the intersection of those two counterfactual statements, I will attempt to wade through her argument. Apparently, Bev Perdue is for offshore drilling… in Texas. Unfortunately, her staff forgot to remind her that she is actually running for Governor of North Carolina. Your position on offshore drilling in Texas is somewhat inconsequential in the race for that office. However, wanting to have it both ways and be able to say that she stands with the 70 percent of voters in North Carolina who want to open our shores to safe, responsible deep sea exploration, she is deliberately trying to mislead North Carolinians. This is truly the most cynical type of politics: betting that you can say one thing, mean another, and hope the voters are too uninformed to notice.
When a politician shifts positions to suit the political winds of the day, it causes one to wonder about their leadership when we are considering elevating them to an office and stature that will cause them to have immense pressure from all sides each day. We want to know that the person will stand for us and not for those who would whisper in their ears with plans not in the best interests of North Carolina. When a politician does not actually change her mind, but merely manipulates the facts to make a claim to deliberately mislead voters, we can know with certainty that person will do anything to get elected. A person who will do anything to get elected will do anything when elected and you cannot count on that person to look out for you. Can voters trust Bev Perdue? Not as long as she continues to deliberately mislead them and hope they don't figure her out before Election Day.
