Monday, June 09, 2008

Who Attended Obama’s Speech

RALEIGH — The invitation-only crowd at Barack Obama’s speech today seemed like a who’s who of North Carolina Democrats.

Most notably, Gov. Mike Easley not only attended the event but was one of the people who introduced Obama. Easley had previously endorsed Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary.

“I know I’m late, but I am on the train,” Easley said. “I’d rather be a bum on the boxcar of the Obama train than at the front of the bus with John McCain.”

He went on to lavish praise for Obama’s economic plan.

Also in attendance at the speech were John and Elizabeth Edwards, who received thunderous applause from the crowd.  Alongside the Edwardses were three Democratic governors from other states: Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado. They were in North Carolina today for a leadership training conference at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Obama also gave shout-outs to two North Carolina congressmen: G.K. Butterfield and Bob Etheridge. And the crowd of about 600 was peppered with Democratic state legislators, including state Senate majority leader Tony Rand of Fayetteville and state Sen. Linda Garrou of Winston-Salem.

The most notable Democrat who was not in the crowd was Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor. Perdue has endorsed Obama.

Obama Returns to N.C. Campaign Trail

RALEIGH — Barack Obama returned to North Carolina today for a major speech on the economy in which he called for an additional $50 billion stimulus package on top of the tax rebate checks the federal government has already given out.

Obama also repeatedly linked John McCain with President Bush, saying that McCain’s proposals represent an extension of Bush’s policies in the areas of taxes, health care, home foreclosures, the deficit and college affordability, among others. His comments came in the wake of news about record-high gas prices and accelerating unemployment.

“This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid. It was the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long,” Obama said.

National and North Carolina Republicans, meanwhile, have spent most of the day counterattacking, calling Obama out of touch with ordinary Americans and saying that his policies would cause large tax increases.

Obama’s speech today, at the N.C. state fairgrounds, was his first return to North Carolina since he won the state’s Democratic primary on May 6. It was also his first formal campaign event after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race and endorsed Obama on Saturday.

Obama’s decision to come here is a sign of his belief that he can make North Carolina competitive in the general election.

(Pictured above: Obama arriving this morning at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.)

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Some N.C. Democrats Want Clinton for Veep

Six months ago, the frenzied fight for the Democratic presidential nomination began with a surprising win for Barack Obama in Iowa. Forty-nine states later (plus three territories and the District of Columbia), the race finally appears over. Obama surpassed the number of delegates needed for the nomination last night, and many of the last undecided superdelegates – including North Carolina’s David Parker and Muriel Offerman – have endorsed him. And in Winston-Salem, some of Hillary Clinton’s biggest supporters say it is time for her to formally concede, the Journal’s Bertrand Gutierrez reports.

The next big question for Democrats is what happens next for Clinton — and whether she will become Obama’s vice-presidential nominee. Some prominent North Carolina Democrats have already begun urging an Obama-Clinton ticket. Jim Neal, who lost a U.S. Senate primary last month against Kay Hagan, is helping promote DraftObamaClinton.com, which was launched by Citizens Consent, a grassroots group.

“The best way to unite the party is to unite the two strongest candidates our party has ever seen,” Neal said in a press release.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson, who is a prominent Clinton supporter, is asking the Black Congressional Caucus to support an Obama-Clinton ticket (Hat tip: Dome).

Monday, May 19, 2008

From Ball Handler to Obama’s Handler

Barack Obama has been criticized for his relationships with his controversial former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and the 1960s radical, William Ayers. But Obama is directly linked to another figure who, at least in North Carolina, is far more nefarious: a Duke Blue Devil.

Reggie Love, a former basketball player and football player at Duke, is Obama’s chief body man on the campaign trail. He spends most hours of most days with Obama, Media General’s Sean Mussenden reports. Love (pictured above) stays busy:

He makes sure that Obama gets up on time in the morning, gets in the shower and has breakfast. He makes sure he has his daily briefing books and list of fundraisers or super delegates to call that day. He makes sure he gets to bed at night.

In between, he does a thousand other tasks that busy presidential candidates cannot do for themselves.

Love insists that he didn’t meet a single person during North Carolina’s primary who held it against Obama that he hired a Dukie. Click here for the full profile from today’s Journal.

Perdue for President?

Could Beverly Perdue become the nation’s first female president?

The New York Times suggested that it’s possible.

In a speculative story yesterday, the Times took a look at women in politics who could become plausible future candidates for president, now that Hillary Clinton’s chances for the presidency appear very slim.

The story suggests an exhaustive slate of possibilities — from Condoleeza Rice to Chelsea Clinton, from Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius to Alaska governor Sarah Palin. A graphic accompanying the story contains portraits of 12 women and asks “Is There a President Here?” Among the 12 is North Carolina’s very own lieutenant governor, Perdue.

The story also devotes one line to Perdue, saying that along with Sebelius, Perdue “is also named as a prospect” to be Barack Obama’s running mate. Trail Mix, however, is skeptical about that, given that Perdue is in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign this year.

Here’s another intriguing (and utterly speculative) possibility from North Carolina that the Times didn’t mention: Kay Hagan. If Hagan were able to upset Elizabeth Dole in the U.S. Senate race this year, her political stock would go through the roof and she would get nationwide recognition. Remember that Obama, like Hagan, was only recently a little-known state senator.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Runoffs and Recounts and Other Revelry

The race for state labor commissioner is becoming quite laborious.

In the Democratic primary for the office, Winston-Salem’s Mary Fant Donnan was the top vote-getter by a slim margin, but she fell well short of the necessary 40 percent to win outright. That means a runoff election is in order.

But it’s uncertain who else will get to be in the runoff. Currently the second-place candidate is John Brooks, but the third and fourth-place candidates are just a few thousand votes behind, and they both have requested recounts. But the state law on recounts is written in such a way that it is unclear whether the third and fourth place finishers are legally entitled to such a recount. The State Board of Elections will have to sort through the issue this week. Full story is here.

Meanwhile, another very close Democratic primary ended much more simply. In the 5th Congressional District, Diane Hamby decided not to request a recount against Roy Carter, the Journal’s Bertrand Gutierrez reports. That clears the way for Carter to take on incumbent Republican Virginia Foxx in the fall.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Breaking: Edwards to Endorse Obama

John Edwards will reportedly break his long silence tonight and endorse Barack Obama for president.

The Huffington Post reports (and others confirm) that Edwards will endorse Obama at a campaign rally in Michigan this evening. The apparent start time for the rally is around 6:15 p.m.

(Pictured above: Obama and Edwards on the campaign trail earlier this year.)

Libertarians Complete Petition Drive

The Libertarian Party will be on the November ballot in North Carolina.

Tomorrow, the party plans to turn in 72,000 certified petition signatures to the State Board of Elections, making Libertarians officially eligible to field candidates alongside Democrats and Republicans.

The N.C. Libertarian Party has long complained about North Carolina’s restrictive ballot-access laws. Few other states require third parties to collect anywhere close to the number of signatures that North Carolina requires. Running the necessary petition drive in North Carolina took nearly four years and $128,000, the party said today. (Defenders of the current system say it keeps the ballot from becoming cluttered with minor candidates.)

The Libertarians have been on North Carolina’s ballot before, but they have never received enough votes to automatically get a place on the ballot four years later. This year, thanks to a new state law, the party must get at least 2 percent of the vote (down from 10 percent) in the gubernatorial election in order to guarantee a place on the ballot without having to petition in 2012. Mike Munger, the Libertarian candidate for governor, believes that 2 percent is well within reach — and he says he would consider that a victory.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Poll Watch: Two Tight Races in Early Stages

The first few general-election polls conducted after last week’s primary suggest that North Carolina’s top two statewide races could be close contests.

Of course, it’s very early; these candidates, just coming out of primary fights, still have six months of campaigning to do. But at this point, several recent polls are showing dead heats or nearly dead heats in the general election races for governor and U.S. Senate.

In the race for governor, Public Policy Polling shows Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Beverly Perdue in a tie, 45 to 45. One big boost for McCrory, pollster Tom Jensen writes, is that he is getting more crossover appeal than Perdue, who may have been hurt by her bruising primary battle against Richard Moore. Another poll, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, shows McCrory with a surprising lead over Perdue, 45 to 39.

In the Senate race, Democratic challenger Kay Hagan has been saying for months that Elizabeth Dole is vulnerable in November. Hagan starts as a clear underdog, but appears to making up ground quickly. PPP shows Dole leading Hagan by just five points, 48 to 43 — a much smaller margin than the 17-point gap PPP showed in its previous general-election poll between Hagan and Dole. And Rasmussen shows Hagan actually leading by a smidgen, beating Dole 48 to 47.

Monday, May 12, 2008

In Print Today: A Landmark Year for Women?

From today’s print edition (the better-late-than-never version): Although Hillary Clinton did worse than expected in last week’s primary, most of the other women running for statewide office won their races. It started with Beverly Perdue, Kay Hagan and Elizabeth Dole, and continued right on down the ballot. If the trend continues in the general election, 2008 will be a landmark year for women politicians in North Carolina.

... And one of those women politicians is Winston-Salem’s Mary Fant Donnan, who is running for commissioner of labor. Donnan says that her understanding of the struggles of rural workers is spurring her to run for the post. (She was the top vote-getter in last week’s primary by a slim margin and is likely headed for a runoff.) The Journal‘s Lisa Boone has a profile.