WRAL

E. Edwards furniture store opens

bniolet — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:50:57 -0400

Elizabeth Edwards quietly held a "grand" opening for her Chapel Hill furniture store Saturday with her husband by her side.

Edwards opened Red Window, named for a store her mother ran. Her children and John Edwards were there to help.

WRAL asked Elizabeth Edwards about the stories swirling about her husband's affair, a grand jury investigation over possible payments to the mistress and the child that John Edwards may or may not have fathered out of wedlock.

"We have not been detracted, even distracted too much by reports we cannot control," Edwards told WRAL. "All we can do is go about our own lives."

In a report on the opening carried by WNCT in Greenville, John Edwards said he has been helping with the store.

"I do more moving furniture than anything else," he said. "This is Elizabeth's deal, but everybody in the family is trying to help support her."

PhRMA ad praises Hagan

bniolet — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:26:03 -0400

With the health care debate in Congress reaching a critical juncture, the pharmaceutical industry is spending large sums on TV advertising in North Carolina to help shape the discussion.

PhRMA, the pharmaceuticial industry group, won’t say how much it is spending in the state, Rob Christensen reports.

But public records show that the industry group has spent $75,377 on WRAL-TV alone.

The industry ad that has been running in recent days — and was airing Monday — praised Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, a member of the Senate Health Committee. The ad is also sponsored by Families USA a nonpartisan advocacy group that pushes for affordable health care.

Hagan is one of the Southern moderates who had expressed reservations about the public health option part of President Barack Obama’s healh care plan.

"On the issues that matter to working families, Kay Hagan has been there — whether it's fighting to make healthcare more affordable or voting to expand healthcare coverage to 11 million kids without insurance," says the industry ad. "And now, Kay Hagan's leading the fight to ensure quality, affordable healthcare for every American, so you get to choose your doctor, and your doctor decides which treatments and medicines are best for you. Call Senator Hagan today. Tell her thanks for standing up for us."

The industry group, which includes local giant GlaxoSmithKline, began the advertising campaign July 2 and it is scheduled to continue at last until August 2nd, according records.

The ad campaign is part of a stepped up effort by both sides on the health care debate.

Moveon.Org., a liberal advocacy group, had threatened to run TV ads against Hagan, but so far has not done so. The Washington Post has reported that Obama has asked health advocacy groups to stop criticizing Democratic senators, including Hagan.

Update: Post now states that the ad has two sponsors.

Stam quick on his feet

bniolet — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:06:55 -0400

Rep. Paul Stam saw the giant inflated bounce sitting on the grassy lawn behind the legislature and wondered aloud what he had gotten himself into.

He was going to be interviewed. While jumping. In the bounce. While a video camera rolled.

The interview was with Mark Roberts, a former WRAL traffic reporter, who is working on a show for the station's Web site.

The segment that landed Stam in the Moonbounce? "Bouncing Around Ideas with the North Carolina Legislature."

Wocka Wocka Wocka.

Stam did his best to ham it up. "This is right where this needs to be because this place is a joke," he tried to a few groans from the few bystanders gawking at the sight of two grown men in suits climbing into a kids' bounce.

More after the jump.

Moore downplays possible 2010 run

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:30:10 -0500

Richard Moore is circumspect about 2010.

In an interview with WRAL's Cullen Browder, the outgoing state treasurer seemed to downplay talk that he may run against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in two years.

"I'm flattered that people would think that I'd be worthy of being one of the 100 U.S. senators in this country, but I don't have any plans," he said.

Moore, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination this year, said that knowing he would have to start a campaign committee up in as little as a year and begin raising money was also an obstacle.

"That gives me even more pause ... that's just not very long," he said.

Still, Moore did not entirely rule out a run.

"I don' t know that the timing is going to be right for me, but I know to never say never," he said.

In recent weeks, U.S. Rep. Brad Miller has ruled out a run, Rep. Heath Shuler has hinted he might run and an anonymous blogger has started a Web site to draft Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Hat Tip: Tom Jensen

Dome's Take: Perdue's missed opportunity

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:48:46 -0400

Is Beverly Perdue a bad debater?

Democratic consultant Gary Pearce said allowing her to debate five times was "political malfeasance." Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts said Republican Pat McCrory is "more polished." WUNC reporter Laura Leslie said debates "aren't Perdue's strongest suit."

Dome's take: The format makes the difference.

McCrory has clearly outshined Perdue in sit-down debates that allowed more back-and-forth between the candidates, such as the recent debates on WRAL and WTVD.

But the two are more evenly matched in formal settings with podiums and timers, such as the recent debate at the SAS Institute. Perdue excelled in that type of setting during her primary debates against Richard Moore.

Their backgrounds may help explain that. As Betts noted, Perdue has presided over the Senate for eight years. It's a place where formality reigns. Parliamentary rules determine the course of the debate and legislators take turns giving short speeches.

City council meetings are much more informal. Mayors and council members typically sit, discussion is more freewheeling and thinking on your feet is a virtue. Typically, only the city attorney keeps careful track of Robert's Rules of Orders.

In addition, state legislators rarely debate during their campaigns, while McCrory has faced a number of televised debates in his biennial campaigns for mayor.

In short, the more the debate is like the Senate, the better Perdue does. But when it's more like a City Council meeting, McCrory tends to win the day.

If we're right, then Perdue's decision to skip the UNC-TV debate tonight — a formal debate that will be aired statewide — was a strategic mistake.

Munger: Offshore drilling is a gimmick

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:29:33 -0400

Mike Munger says offshore drilling is a gimmick.

The Libertarian gubernatorial candidate told Dome that after watching the debate last night online he thought the answers of his Republican and Democratic opponents were "shallow and unimaginative, even by the rather low standards of the other debates so far."

"The offshore oil drilling 'issue' is a gimmick," he wrote in an e-mail. "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."

Munger was writing from Australia, where he was invited to lecture and learn about alternative energy sources and waste management.

"I have the background, and ideas for solutions, that will help North Carolina solve its energy problems," he wrote. "Bickering about drilling off the coast of N.C. isn't going to solve anything."

Munger was not invited to the WRAL debate.

Perdue: Mental health not separate

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:08:25 -0400

Beverly Perdue says mental health is not separate from physical health.

In response to a post earlier this morning, spokesman David Kochman said that she was not saying that mental health and physical health are different things during a debate at WRAL last night.

"To clarify, Bev was talking about her responsibilities as chair of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund not extending to mental health," he wrote Dome. "In most of North Carolina's policy discussions, mental health has been cordoned off in its own separate category. But she's the one candidate who has repeatedly said that the only way to fix the system is to stop treating mental and physical healthcare as two separate systems."

He pointed to a section of Perdue's campaign Web site that echoes this thought.

"My background in health care tells me that it makes no sense to separate mental from physical health care," Perdue says on the site.

Later in the day, Republicans also pointed to the same section to criticize Perdue.

"Which is it, Bev?" said N.C. GOP chairwoman Linda Daves in a statement. "Is there a difference between mental health care and physical health care or not?"

Physical health, not mental health

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:15:50 -0400

Is there a difference between physical and mental health?

In recent years, mental health providers and advocates have sought to blur the line between diseases of the mind and body, arguing that it is a false distinction that leads to common misperceptions of how mental illness works.

In pop culture, mental illness is caused by childhood trauma or an inability to cope and is solved with Freudian talk therapy. But increasingly doctors are finding that genetic problems or brain injuries are behind many problems and prescription drugs are the answer.

(Advocates also hope that erasing the distinction will lead to mental health parity — meaning that insurers and the government do not distinguish between heart disease and bipolar disorder, for example, when paying for care.)

It would be mostly an academic question, but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue used the distinction during a debate Tuesday to argue she was not responsible for the problems with the state's mental health reform efforts.

When Republican Pat McCrory noted that Perdue has called herself a "health leader" in the state, she responded: "Physical health, not mental health, Pat. There's a real difference."

Since 2001, Perdue has chaired the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund. Although the group did not play a role in mental health reform, it has tackled the issue of mental health.

In this May 2007 press release, for example, the group announced that it was providing a grant for mental health providers to help with prescription drug needs.

Update: The Perdue campaign responds here.

Perdue distances herself from Easley

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:59:37 -0400

Beverly Perdue took the strongest step away from Gov. Mike Easley yet on Tuesday.

At a debate on WRAL last night, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said several times that she would be a "more hand's on governor" than Easley.

After being pressed by moderator Pam Saulsby to be specific, Perdue said that she would have handled mental health reform differently.

"If the mental health crisis had happened on my watch, I would have been there," she said. "I would have gone into the institutions."

Still, Perdue was careful not to attack Easley too much, adding that he did "a great job" in the budget crisis of the early 2000s and saying she would be different from Govs. Jim Hunt or Jim Martin as well.

Republican Pat McCrory also said he would have handled mental health differently, but he went after Easley and the "power elite" in Raleigh much more forcefully.

"I would not have decentralized the mental health care system without telling anyone about it and then not taking accountabilty for it," he said. "We've had people die in our mental health care hospitals while people are playing cards."

He included Perdue in his attack, noting that she's claimed to be a health care leader and is "second in command" to Easley.

Perdue responded by saying she worked on "physical health, not mental health," and noting that the lieutenant governor is elected independently of the governor.

Perdue channels Orr

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:35:28 -0400

Paging Bob Orr...

At a debate on WRAL Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue suddenly channeled former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr.

In a discussion about vouchers, she said that the state constitution is "our most sacred state document."

Orr, a constitutional scholar and judge, often spoke highly of the state constitution during his debates.

Of course, he lost.

Coincidentally, Orr was later featured in a brief video clip showing him making oral arguments to overturn the state lottery in a court case.

Update: Orr e-mailed Dome to say that the timing was ironic, since Perdue presided over the Senate during the lottery vote, which he argues is unconstitutional.

"The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law will be happy to provide a free pocket size copy of the N.C. Constitution to the Lt. Governor — and any other candidate for public office," he wrote.