McCrory turns down a bottled water


Pat McCrory turned down a bottled water today.

Speaking at a gubernatorial forum sponsored by the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, the Republican gubernatorial candidate said that he could not accept a bottle of water from the group because it has a lobbyist.

Under General Statute 163-278.13C, lobbyists cannot make contributions to political candidates.

"The bad news is I'm not allowed to eat here, or even have a drink of water according to the current legislation, and the last place I want to break the rules is at a seminar on ethics," he said.

McCrory argued that the rule, which was passed as a package of ethics reforms after the Jim Black scandal, was unnecessarily strict and focused on the wrong part of the problem.

As it turned out, McCrory was mistaken. Since legislators had been invited and the meeting was open to the public, it fell under the exemption for educational meetings in G.S. 138a-32(e)(3).

Bob Phillips, head of the N.C. chapter of Common Cause, said that he had given McCrory bad information when he arrived, and the candidate ended up eating a sandwich and having a Coke after the meeting.

Still, coalition director Jane Pinsky said she would be open to amending the law to allow gifts of less than $10, as long as it was reported promptly.

"If I buy him a cup of coffee, there's no reason I couldn't go back to my office, get on the computer and report it," she said.

Correction: It was a bottle of water, not a can of Coke as reported earlier. 

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Re: McCrory turns down a Diet Coke

LOL @ war criminal comment below. You libs make me laugh sometimes. The rest of the time I'm crying.

Dirty politics! Plain and simple

Let’s look at the big picture. That unopened bottle of Dasani water was a political ploy. And so was that “talk” of a Diet Coke.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Bev is from New Bern.
2. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi.
3. Dasani is owned by Coke.
4. Pat spoke specifically of drinking a Diet Coke.

This whole dirty scene was an attempt to throw off on Bev, New Bern and Pepsi. The depths to which politicians will stoop never ceases to amaze me. Diet Coke is obviously what those big shots in Charlotte drink while us working folk drink Pepsi and tap water. It’s time to show those big city politicians that we will not be bullied and that mental health is really the issue here.

(I will give Pat credit for drinking a diet soda. This shows he is concerned about the importance of weight control. However, his talk of a hot dog does concern me. He should have specified a “fat-free” or “turkey dog.” But his failure to open the bottled water was a plus for me. There is not one thing wrong with tap water. If we would all drink tap water and give the money we spend on bottled water to the poor……then the poor could buy more lottery tickets and we would have better schools from which the students could drop out.....)

It's pretty simple to figure these thing out if you think real hard.

No free lunch for McCrory

He could have paid for one, like everybody I sat with. I pre-paid $12.50 for my lunch and before the program bought a coffee in the building for $1.72.

Re: McCrory turns down a Diet Coke

No doubt! It *was* lunchtime.

The bottle of water in question was the same one that sat unopened on the table in front of his seat. Who knew a Dasani could be so controversial?

Re: McCrory turns down a Diet Coke

Reviewing the tape, I think you're right. I swear I remember talk of a diet Coke. He also mentioned the sandwiches: 

"Now, I do think there are some things that we can do, and they don't include passing legislation which doesn't allow a legislator or a gubernatorial candidate to have a boxed lunch with you."

And later, he talked about hot dogs:

"A lobbyist from a private firm can take me out for a hot dog, but a lobbyist for a city or county can't." 

I think he was just hungry... 

— RTB

Re: McCrory turns down a Diet Coke

Not that it matters much, but the debate was actually over a bottle of water. (He sent an aide to get the Diet Coke out of his car.) - Laura L

Re: McCrory turns down a Diet Coke

Pat also said at the event that he would keep up-to-date info on his campaign contributors on his web site too. Sure would like to know who was at that McCrory fund raiser at John Kane's house a few months ago besides the war criminal George W. Bush.