Three down, one to go

Unlike my favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and my football team, the Carolina Panthers, at least my choice for the next governor of North Carolina enjoyed a successful weekend marked by three major newspaper endorsements:

The Winston Salem Journal (10/12/08) -- "North Carolina enjoys a gubernatorial election this year with three candidates who would make good governors. The Journal thinks that Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is the best qualified of the three to be a very good governor...

"The Journal was especially impressed with McCrory's promises to rethink our transportation needs and make long-range plans to meet them. He also impresses us with promised policies of an open office, thus allowing the public to see how its government operates."

The Greensboro News & Record (10/12/08) -- "Pat McCrory's stump speeches and debate performances make a good case for his candidacy. But his record as the longest-serving mayor of North Carolina's largest city makes an even better one. McCrory, 51, a Republican who grew up in Jamestown, has won seven consecutive terms as Charlotte's mayor.

"You don't receive that many votes of confidence without doing something right.

"In a city, which unlike Greensboro, holds partisan elections for its leaders, McCrory has worked effectively across party lines to get things done on a majority-Democratic city council. Also unlike Greensboro, where the mayor is merely one of nine equals, Charlotte's mayor wields veto power to go with the title...

"McCrory's skills and experience are best suited to provide what Raleigh needs most right now: a broad view, a clear plan and an ambitious vision."

Charlotte Observor, 10/05/08 -- "N.C. voters face a difficult choice for governor on Nov. 4. We recommend a vote for Republican Pat McCrory. We believe McCrory's experience, approach to government, outsider perspective and willingness to take a stand make him a better choice than Democrat Bev Perdue.

"McCrory would bring an urgently needed energy to the office. While we don't agree with him on every issue, he knows where he stands on most aspects of state government and why he stands there. He's too sure, sometimes, that his position is right, but that certitude is preferable to Perdue's tendency to base her stands on what she believes is politically expedient.

"As Charlotte mayor for 13 years, McCrory, 51, has shown steady leadership. He has presided over a prosperous age for the city driven in large part by people and factors that had little to do with him. But he has generally kept city government clean and helped make Charlotte a place where people want to live, and one which has attracted thousands of newcomers."

Rhino Times endorsements

Oh what a day.

The Rhinoceros Times, Greensboro's token conservative newspaper, endorsed Fred Smith today.  That was not a surprise -- everyone saw it coming.  What WAS surprising was the article that accompanied the endorsement:

"The nod here goes to Fred Smith, who is much more conservative than McCrory, who is a get-the-job-done and get-reelected type of politician."

As with EVERY OTHER "RINO" ATTACK ON MCCRORY, no one ever really explains what it is about Pat McCrory that is so liberal.  Okay, so at least once in every debate I've ever seen, Fred Smith has had to mention that he thinks there should be an amendment banning gay marriage, and McCrory has simply not brought the issue up.  Is that it?  Is that what makes Smith the "true conservative" -- the fact that he wants to interfere in the separation between church and state in a blatant display of bigotry?

I digress.

I find it amusing that not only does the Rhino Times compare the "conservatism" of the two candidates, but McCrory is suddenly a bad guy for "getting the job done" and getting re-elected.  Getting stuff done is bad?  Working across party lines for the good of the state is bad?  Getting elected is somehow... BAD?

The Rhino Times needs to look at the polls.  McCrory is the "get-elected" candidate for the Republicans, which is what we need.  In a recent Rasmussen survey, McCrory only trailed Bev Perdue by 3 points and Richard Moore by 2.  That's compared to Fred Smith who lost to Perdue by 18 points and Moore by 11.

Let's continue with the article:

"[Fred Smith] knows a lot about how small businesses are being regulated to death and has done a good job in the state Senate trying to hold the line as a conservative, which hasn't been very easy the past couple of terms."

Hey Freddy, you know what would make your job a little bit easier?  SHOWING UP FOR IT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.

The article is right about one thing -- Fred Smith knows how to get a small company off the ground.  Step one -- purchase a company on the brink of bankruptcy... step two -- get elected to state legislature and ensure that your company handles as many state projects as possible.

And finally:

"It's simply a fact that it takes a good amount of money to run statewide races.  It doesn't matter how qualified a candidate is; if he or she can't raise money, it is nearly impossible to get the word out."

Oh what do you know -- it just came out this week that McCrory raised $1.2 million during the first few months of this year.  Compare that to Smith's $885,000... $500,000 of which came from PERSONAL LOANS.  That's right -- McCrory is the only gubernatorial candidate that has not supplemented his campaign with personal loans, and he's still the one that raised the most money.

He also hasn't wasted that money on state-wide bbq, which perhaps speaks to his fiscal conservatism?

Not that I'm particularly worried about the Rhino Times endorsements... after all, they endorsed Alan Keyes for President.  Yes, this election.  No, I'm not kidding.

There's no doubt about it -- Pat McCrory is the Republican candidate that can and will win against the Democrats.  Whenever I bring this up to Fred Smith fans, their response is, "Fred Smith will beat the Democrats because everyone's tired of the Raleigh Democrats."  Well, that's not what the polls are saying... and were we not all tired of the Democrats back in 2004?  What about 2000?  Our state historically votes Democrats into state office, and that's just a fact... not a trend.

I really can't stress this point enough.  If you're tired of the Raleigh Democrats, if the thought of Governor Bev Perdue scares the crap out of you, you'll vote for the Republican that actually has a shot at bringing change to Raleigh... and that Republican is Pat McCrory.