GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory Thursday urged his opponent to accept a pledge not to run “clearly unfair” TV ads in the campaign.
During an appearance in Raleigh, the former Charlotte mayor struck back at a Democratic produced TV commercial that raises questions about his role in lobbying to keep Tree.com, a lending and real estate company, headquartered in Charlotte and then later accepting $140,000 in compensation to sit on its board.
“This election should be about the serious issues facing the state and the two competing visions for North Carolina,” McCrory said at a news conference. “There's enough that differenentiates Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and I without having to resort to airing sleazy and unfair ads that don't tell the truth in an attempt to tear down the opponent.''
His campaign was expected to file suit in Wake County Superior Court Thursday against two Democratic groups airing a third party ad. McCrory said that while such suits often take years to resolve, he said it was important to send “a signal” that such distortions were unacceptable.
The state Democratic Party released a statement saying that McCrory had made a similar pledge during his 2008 campaign against Democrat Bev Perdue only to run a negative radio ad.
UPDATE: Ford Porter, a spokesman for the Dalton campaign, said., "We're GLAD McCrory finally has an opinion on something. He didn't have an opinion about about our proposed debates. He's been silient on all the issues before the General Assembly, and he certainly didn't have an opinion about his consultant's racially charged ad campaign against the president. Amazingly, he also has no opinion on the misleading ads that the RGA ran first attacking Walter Dalton.''
