Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Joines Also for Obama?

Speaking of mayoral endorsements…

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said he is leaning toward Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, although he has not yet made a formal endorsement. Joines said he has talked with Durham Mayor Bill Bell (who endorsed Obama last year) about forming a group of North Carolina mayors in support of Obama. Obama will visit Greensboro tomorrow, but Joines said he has not heard anything from the campaign about an Obama visit to Winston-Salem.

Under the Dome notes that Obama has the support of most of North Carolina’s major Democratic mayors.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Greensboro Mayor to Endorse Obama?

The Barack Obama campaign said late last night that Mayor Yvonne Johnson of Greensboro will make a “major announcement” today at 11 a.m.

So this is how it works when a state’s primary matters: even mayoral endorsements are hot properties for presidential candidates.

Johnson (shown above) was elected last year as Greensboro’s first black mayor. Obama is not scheduled to be in North Carolina today, but he is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Greensboro on Wednesday.

Update 12 p.m.: It’s official. Johnson endorsed Obama, saying he can unite people of all backgrounds, beliefs and party affiliations. She also announced the details of Obama’s visit to Greensboro on Wednesday: He’ll be at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex at 1 p.m., with doors opening at 11 a.m.

... And meanwhile, the Clinton campaign just announced Hillary Clinton’s first visit to North Carolina: She’ll be here on Thursday. No further details yet.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Wake Forest Wants Debate

If Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton debate in North Carolina, Wake Forest University wants it to be in Winston-Salem.

The university has told the N.C. Democratic Party that it would like to host a debate before the May 6 Democratic primary, a university spokesman said last week. No debate has been scheduled in North Carolina yet — Obama has agreed to one proposed by CBS News on April 19, but Clinton has not accepted the offer. If she does, the debate would be moderated by Katie Couric. But the location is uncertain, and Wake Forest believes its sprawling Wait Chapel (pictured above) would be a perfect setting.

Wake Forest has been the site of presidential debates before. In 2000, George W. Bush and Al Gore faced off there, and in 1988, the university hosted George Bush Sr. against Michael Dukakis. This year, Wake Forest has been named an alternate site for one of the general-election debates scheduled for the fall.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Embattled Legislator Booted from N.C. House

The N.C. House of Representatives just voted to expel one of its own members for the first time in 128 years.

State Rep. Thomas Wright, a Democrat from Wilmington, was removed from office today because of various incidents of alleged misconduct involving campaign finances and charitable contributions. Wright also faces criminal charges. A full account from the Associated Press can be found here.

The House voted 109 to 5 in favor of expelled him from the legislature. Of the five legislators who voted against expulsion, two are Democrats from Winston-Salem: Rep. Earline Parmon and Rep. Larry Womble.

Parmon and Womble said they believe expulsion is premature before Wright has the opportunity to defend himself in court. During the House’s own investigation of Wright over the last several months, Wright was given many opportunities to present evidence in his own defense, but failed to do so.

(And no, this news is not technically a “Trail Mix” issue since it doesn’t directly involve the political campaign trail, but it’s just too historic to ignore. Incidentally, Wright has pledged to continue to seek re-election to his House seat despite today’s expulsion.)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

First Obama; Now (Bill) Clinton

The Hillary Clinton campaign just announced that Bill Clinton will make two campaign appearances in North Carolina on Friday.

One will be in Raleigh; the other in Charlotte. More details to come.

No doubt Hillary Clinton herself will also be down in the Tar Heel State sometime soon. It’s all a part of the campaigns’ gearing up their efforts in North Carolina, one of the most important states that has not yet held its primary.

Update 12:45 a.m.: More details as promised. The campaign clarified that Bill Clinton will be in Charlotte and Cary (not Raleigh) on Friday. In Charlotte, he’ll meet with veterans at a local VFW post at 12:30 p.m. In Cary, he’ll meet with seniors at the Cary Senior Center at 4:15 p.m.

In the Audience

FAYETTEVILLE — A number of notables were in the invitation-only audience at Obama’s speech this morning:

State Treasurer Richard Moore, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, attended the speech. Moore’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, did not (Perdue’s campaign manager said that she was unable to attend). Both Moore and Perdue recently issued low-key endorsements of Obama. In his pre-speech thank-yous, Obama mentioned Moore by name, but referred to him only as the state treasurer and not as a candidate for governor.* After the speech, Moore went backstage and met briefly with Obama, according to a Moore campaign official.

Also in attendance were several state legislators from the Fayetteville area, including state Rep. Rick Glazier and state Sen. Tony Rand. Rand is the Senate majority leader, and the student center at Fayetteville Tech where Obama gave his speech is named after him.

Several local elected officials, including Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne, attended the speech.

Obama was introduced by Paul Bucha, a Vietnam War veteran, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and outspoken critic of the Iraq war. In 2004, Bucha criticized attacks on John Kerry’s record of military service. He gave an introductory speech that was surprisingly eloquent, as introductory speeches go.

Perhaps the most interesting person sighted in the audience was Annie Leibovitz, the American photographer who is well known for her striking portraits of famous people, including these photos she took of Obama.

* (Hat tip to NBC’s Carrie Dann for noticing this bit about Moore and pointing it out to Trail Mix.)

Obama: ‘I Will End This War’

FAYETTEVILLE — Barack Obama said that ending the war in Iraq would make America safer, and he repeatedly lumped Hillary Clinton with John McCain and George W. Bush, saying that “pragmatic judgment” is more important than Washington experience in crafting a new foreign policy. His speech here, at Fayetteville Technical Community College, came on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Speaking to an audience of about 150 invited guests — including many veterans and Democratic elected officials — Obama said that as president, he would remove troops from Iraq at a rate of one or two brigades per month. At the same time, he said, he would strengthen the military by increasing the number of soldiers and marines and giving service members more time off between military deployments. That got loud applause from the audience, which included many people with ties to the military base just a few miles away. Obama said:

“From down the road at Fort Bragg, our soldiers have gone abroad with a greater sense of common purpose than their leaders in Washington. They have learned the lessons of the 21st century’s wars. And they have shown a sense of service and selflessness that represents the very best of the American character.“

Obama spent much of his speech addressing Afghanistan and Pakistan, which he called the true front in the war on terror, and the broader global context of American foreign policy. He pledged to double American foreign aid to combat extreme poverty as part of his plan to improve security in the 21st century.

Obama did not take questions, and quickly headed on his way to Charlotte, where he is making another campaign stop today.

The full transcript of Obama’s speech is available here.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Obama Plans ‘Major Speech’ in N.C.

Barack Obama will make his first campaign visit to North Carolina tomorrow and will give what his campaign is calling today a “major speech” on the Iraq war and national security.

The speech, in Fayetteville, comes on the fifth-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The speech is open to the press but not to the public; it is invitation-only. It will be at Fayetteville Technical Community College and will begin at 10:15 a.m.

Following the Fayetteville speech, Obama will hold a town hall meeting in Charlotte at 3:30 p.m. That event is open to the public — but tickets are required, and the campaign said today that no more tickets are available.

Earlier: Obama to come to N.C. soon.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Robinson Returns to the Trail

The man who has been known as “the black Jesse Helms” is back on the political scene.

Vernon Robinson, the former Winston-Salem city councilman and political firebrand, is working as a senior adviser to two statewide Republican candidates this year: Jim Snyder, a Lexington lawyer running for lieutenant governor; and Eric Smith, a Reidsville farmer running for superintendent of public instruction. Both candidates face contested primaries.

During his two terms on the city council, Robinson was a controversial figure who once erected a one-ton monument of the Ten Commandments in front of city hall. After being voted off the council, he ran two high-profile, though unsuccessful, campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost to Virginia Foxx in the 5th Congressional District in 2004, and he lost to Brad Miller in the 13th Congressional District in 2006. Robinson was famous (or infamous) for his brash political ads. (A sample from his 2006 campaign: “If Miller had his way,“ the ad said, with mariachi music playing in the background, “America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals.“)

So far in 2008, however, Robinson appears to be keeping things more low-key. For instance, he helped Smith set up an iPod video contest intended to encourage young people to vote.

(Pictured above: Robinson before a 2006 debate with Miller.)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Obama to Campaign in N.C. Soon

The presidential campaign is coming to North Carolina.

A spokesman for Barack Obama said today that Obama will visit the Tar Heel State within two weeks. Speaking on a conference call with reporters, the spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said that Obama has not yet officially scheduled his first visit here, but that the campaign is getting organized in North Carolina and that Obama will begin campaigning here soon. The primary is on May 6.

Gibbs and North Carolina congressman G.K. Butterfield (who is a superdelegate and an Obama supporter) held the conference call to respond to comments from the Hillary Clinton campaign that seemed to downplay North Carolina’s importance. In this New York Times story, Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton adviser, repeated a common argument from the Clinton campaign — that the states where Obama wins or is favored (count North Carolina in that second group) are mostly red states that won’t be important in the general election. Gibbs and Butterfield criticized Clinton for “waving the white flag” in North Carolina and said that Obama could make North Carolina a general election battleground.

Whether Clinton likes it or not, North Carolina is almost certain to be a battleground at least in the Democratic nomination battle. Other than Pennsylvania, it has more delegates than any other state with a remaining primary. Clinton’s people told the Associated Press that while they expect Obama to win North Carolina, Clinton will campaign here to try to pick up some delegates.