Charlotte Observer

McCrory headed Republican mayors in '01

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:43:48 -0400

Pat McCrory became head of a group of Republican mayors in 2000.

According to a Dec. 13 article in the Charlotte Observer that year, the Charlotte mayor won a yearlong term as president of Republican Mayors and Local Officials:

RMLO executive board members this fall asked McCrory, who faced no competition, to run for president though he hadn't been particularly active in the group, which pushes Republican solutions to municipal problems. He has earned a reputation among mayors, however, particularly as chair of the Energy and Environment Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

He said that he would spend a day or two each month in Washington, arguing for Republican solutions to municipal issues on behalf of the 750-member group. In particular, he said he would press for local control and against unfunded mandates.

"It gives me access to both the executive and the congressional branch. It helps open doors, and any time you open doors you help Charlotte," he said. "If I meet with (Senate Majority Leader) Trent Lott, Charlotte's request will be in the room too."

McCrory spoke on the group's behalf at the 2004 Republican National Convention. His speech praising President Bush is being cited in a new TV ad by Democrat Beverly Perdue.

Perdue praising Reagan in ad

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:40:13 -0400

The Republican Governors Association has apparently turned on one of its own.

In a new ad, the group calls Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue manipulative, using footage of her in a UNC-TV interview from 2000.

"I do really admire someone who can be charming and manipulative at the same time," she says in the ad.

According to an Aug. 4, 2002, story in the Charlotte Observer, Perdue went on to say "...if they can be on the right side of public policy issues."

So who was Perdue talking about? Former president Ronald Reagan.

You know, the former Republican governor who chaired the Republican Governors Association from 1968 to 1969.

Powell's anti-Southeastern essay

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:37:03 -0400

Lew Powell argued in 1985 that the South had vanished.

The culprits come from points North. Where Yankees in blue uniforms failed — in wiping out the South — Yankees in blue Hickey Freemans have now succeeded.

"When I mention the South to these people," says UNCC geographer Al Stuart, "they get a funny little expression on their face. They don't know what I'm talking about. I immediately have to qualify it as the Southeastern United States."

The Charlotte Observer editor wrote that it was "just a matter of time until Charlotteans speak with Southeastern accents, eat Southeastern fried chicken, offer our guests Southeastern hospitality."

The complete essay after the jump.

Hat Tip: Lamara Williams

An academic look at 'Southeast'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:03:10 -0400

Is the "Southeast" a Yankee creation?

In a noted essay in the Charlotte Observer in the early 1980s, editor Lew Powell suggested that the use of the term "Southeastern" was an attempt by Northern transplants to re-identify their new surroundings.

Now retired UNC-Chapel Hill professor John Shelton Reed responded to the article in a piece (under the pseudonym J.R. Vanover) for Southern Partisan magazine that attacked the term as a historical dodge (quoted here):

... I am afraid that, increasingly, Southeast is not being used to designate a part of the South, the eastern counterpart of the Southwest. Rather it refers to a major region of the United States — a counterpart to, say, the Northeast. There is a disturbing tendency in these parts to say and to write and even, God help us, to think Southeastern, where formerly we would have said and written and thought Southern.

In a scholarly paper in 1990, Reed and two co-authors found that use of the terms "the South" and "Dixie" had dropped in city phone books over the past two decades.

McCain 43, Obama 38

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:51:54 -0400

A poll shows more Carolinians support John McCain.

According to the survey by The Charlote Observer and NewsChannel 36, 43 percent supported McCain, while 38 percent supported Barack Obama.

The poll did not ask who people intended to vote for, but rather who they thought would be a better president.

Respondents viewed McCain as more knowledgeable and experienced and said he would make a stronger commander in chief, but they said Obama was more likeable, optimistic and compassionate.

The survey of 1,008 residents of North and South Carolina was conducted Aug. 8-13 by The Telephone Centre of Greensboro It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

How Pittenger, Dalton compare

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:33:18 -0400

How is fundraising going in the lieutenant governor's race?

Campaign finance reports from both Democratic nominee Walter Dalton and Republican rival Robert Pittenger are in for the second quarter.

Here's a breakdown of the numbers:

Fundraising: Since the beginning of their campaigns, Pittenger has raised $1.9 million; Dalton, $1.5 million. But take out the $765,000 Pittenger has given his own campaign, and he only raised $1.2 million from others.

Cash on Hand: At the end of the second quarter, Pittenger had $316,000, while Dalton had $177,000. Pittenger has nearly double the money, but neither amount is all that impressive given how much TV ads are going to cost in November.

Spending: Pittenger spent $450,216 in the second quarter, while Dalton spent $637,602. Still, Dalton had more formidable opponents than Pittenger did, so this doesn't prove much. Both will need to keep their expenses down to afford TV ads.

Dalton is part of a powerful Senate clique led by Senate leader Marc Basnight, while Pittenger is sometimes forgotten by his own party's leaders. Still, neither is exactly a household name or has the kind of larger-than-life personality that will draw attention.

In a low-interest race like the lieutenant governor, that means the race may come down to who gets their name out better. For now, the numbers show a pretty even match, unless Pittenger continues to dig into his own pockets.

Perdue plays to the reporters

ryanteaguebeckwith — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:46:19 -0400

Beverly Perdue made a play for the media.

Talking about the economy at an N.C. Bar Association debate today, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee went over the heads of the lawyers and judges and gave a nod to the reporters in the back row.

"This morning's papers talked about the unemployment rate continuing to go up in North Carolina," she said. "We all know that and see that. Even the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer are having employment layoffs."

Appropriately enough, Perdue then talked about worker retraining programs. For former reporters, those usually involve several years at a law school.

Easley wants e-mail lawsuit thrown out

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:10:50 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley wants a judge to throw out a public records lawsuit.

In a motion filed Tuesday in Superior Court, Easley's attorneys argued that the N&O, the Charlotte Observer and nine other news organizations are improperly asking a judge to make sweeping declarations about policies and behavior.

Hugh Stevens, an attorney for the newspapers, said in a statement that the governor's complaint argues that the courts are virtually powerless to enforce the public records law.

"It appears that the governor is taking the position that if he has a public record and refuses to permit its inspection and copying, the courts can act; otherwise, he can ignore the public records law with impunity, even to the extent of destroying public records," Stevens wrote.

The filing Tuesday means the case is likely headed to a courtroom. (N&O)

Char-O endorses Obama

ryanteaguebeckwith — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:29:12 -0400

The Charlotte Observer editorial board has endorsed Barack Obama.

In an unsigned editorial this morning, the sister paper of the N&O says that it is troubled by Hillary Clinton's "tendency to tell voters what they want to hear," while Obama is "one of the most powerful, effective speakers to seek the presidency in years."

Sen. Obama is a man of uncommon intelligence. He's a graduate of Columbia University with a law degree from Harvard, where he was editor of the law review. He bypassed lucrative job opportunities to become a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor Chicago neighborhoods plagued with crime and joblessness.

The newspaper says Obama has "made missteps" in his campaign, but shown an "ability to learn."

The N&O will not endorse in the Democratic primary, according to public editor Ted Vaden.

Moore 'proud' of his ads

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:58:59 -0400

Richard Moore told the Charlotte Observer he was proud of his ads.

The Charlotte Observer's Jack Betts has the story:

Treasurer Moore has been pressing Perdue hard with tough, pointed ads and campaign rhetoric, but Moore doesn’t regard his negative ads as anything to be ashamed of. In an interview with the Observer’s editorial board earlier this week, Moore was asked about those ads and the tone of his campaign. He responded, "I'm proud of my campaign."

Update: Moore also told the Winston-Salem Journal recently that he didn't think his ads were "particularly dirty."

"What is negative? Everything that we have put on the air is based in fact," he told the paper.