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Thursday, October 23, 2008 10:28 AM McCrory should lead the state In a year of tight political races and historical firsts on the campaign trail, perhaps none of the contests that we will have to vote on this year has been tighter, or full of more strange bounces, than the North Carolina governor's race. A year ago, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, a popular eastern North Carolina politician who had risen through the Democratic ranks in the Legislature to become one of the state's most influential lawmakers, seemingly stood on the front porch of the Governor's Mansion. All she had to do was grab the doorknob, not trip walking across the entryway, and her dream of becoming the state's first female governor would be realized. But Perdue has found her way blocked by Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who seemingly came out of left field this spring to win the GOP nomination for governor. He has battled Perdue to a virtual tie in the polls headed into the homestretch of the campaign. McCrory is also battling history, as he is seeking to become only the third Republican governor of the state since the start of the 20th Century. In a strange twist, it is the mayor from the state's largest city who is successfully campaigning as the outsider to the state's political halls of power, while Perdue has had to defend herself against attacks that she is just another cog on North Carolina's good old boy Democratic machine. Perdue has done her best to distance herself from the multiple ethical scandals that have washed over both the Governor's Mansion and the Legislature in the last couple of years and says that voters will judge her on the ideas that she is championing in the race. She has written a 44-page book called "Building a New North Carolina," that details many of the things that she hopes to accomplish as governor, including two years of free community college tuition, providing health insurance for the state's uninsured children and boosting the state's green economy. Where Perdue has fallen short, however, is that she has failed to present herself as a leader who would be able to push these ideas to fruition, even in the face of opposition. This leadership quality is the very point that McCrory has successfully built his campaign around. As the mayor of Charlotte for the last 13 years, McCrory has presided over an era of unprecedented growth for the city. And he has done so while working with a city council controlled by Democrats. McCrory touts the fact that he has worked with his council to get things accomplished in Charlotte while still using his veto power more than 20 times to strike down items approved by it. During the state's gubernatorial debates, several of which were skipped by Perdue, McCrory has come across as a pragmatic leader who could translate his executive experience in Charlotte to the statehouse in Raleigh. It is for this reason, that we recommend McCrory for governor. |
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