Blue has the political and technical skills

by | Mar 8, 2016 | 2016 Elections, Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 9 comments

I’ll admit that I have a bias toward really smart candidates who have solid values. A lot of times, I’ll put those qualities ahead of a laundry list of qualifications. Smart, thinking people can figure out how to get things done and tend to surround themselves with other smart people who can help them succeed. Dan Blue III falls into that category and that’s why I’m voting for him for Treasurer.

Blue is one of the smartest people I’ve met recently. He’s a guy who thinks broadly and keeps the big picture in mind. He’s also got the experience that we need in a treasurer. He’s worked with investment firms and with bonds. He may have a learning curve taking over the Treasurer’s office but so would anyone else. He was recruited to run, at least in part, by Treasurer Janet Cowell, another one of those smart folks. I’m confident she would only recruit somebody to replace her who could do the job.

Dan’s opponent Ron Elmers has solid qualifications for the job, too. However, Elmers makes a statement in his video that I find troubling. He claims not to be a politician, but he’s now on his second run for the job. That, in my book, makes him a politician. What he’s really saying is, “I don’t like politics and I don’t have that type of experience.” For better or worse, the Treasurer’s position is a political job. Understanding the give-and-take of politics is a qualification and requirement.

Blue grew up in a respected political family. His father is, of course, Dan Blue, Jr., the current Senate Minority Leader and former Speaker of the North Carolina House. While the rest of the Democratic Party was suffering in North Carolina, Blue III oversaw a very successful Wake County Democratic Party. He understands the political role of the Treasurer’s office as well the technical side of it.

I’m confident Democrats will have a solid nominee for State Treasurer. I’m just more confident in Dan Blue III.

9 Comments

  1. Barbara Boney Campbell

    Dan Blue, III, is smart (he is, I believe, a Morehead Scholar), hard working and has a proven track record within the Democratic Party. He understands what it means to run a campaign and will run the Treasurer’s office well when he wins. I have great faith in Janet Cowell and believe she would NOT have recommended him for the office had she not believed he was the BEST candidate for the job. He’s got my vote!

    • Chris Telesca

      To be a Moorehead scholar you have to attend UNC-CH, which I don’t believe DBIII ever did. And I don’t trust Janet Cowell or any other public official to make secret deals with banksters

  2. Chris Telesca

    Here’s my problem with Dan running for the Treasurer’s seat and with Janet Cowell’s endorsement. She made some questionable calls with the secret hedge fund deals that can’t be revealed to the public – especially the public employees whose pension money she’s investing. Dan says he’s gonna continue the work she did – and that troubles me. He thinks secret agreements with Wall Street banksters is a good thing? There’s only so much love we can show to rich Wall Street banksters – and letting them get fat off fees from managing our pension funds is not the kind of love we should be showing them. And talking about accountability – Wake County Dems were asked (or had their arm twisted) to run the Kay Hagan campaign through a federal account after Randy Voller fired NCDP Robert Dempsey in February 2014. Apparently – they felt they couldn’t trust Randy to hire anyone to launder the money properly. After the campaign was over, all the Hagan campaign gear was left to the Wake Dems and we (the board that I sit on) was asked how we wanted to distribute that gear – keep it, sell it, donate it to other county parties, precinct chairs in Wake County, etc. After the 2012 Charlotte DNC convention debacle (where $500K of tech gear was “lost”), I asked for a complete inventory of all that gear BEFORE we started handing out goodies. No inventory was done by the March 2015 Board meeting PRIOR to the Wake County Convention in April. The subject of Hagan campaign tech goodies was brought up again, and again I asked for an inventory. I was promised an inventory and still don’t have it. $85 worth of inventory tags were ordered from ULINE in August 2015, but I sill don’t have an inventory of all that gear. Don’t even know where it is now – for all I know the Hillary Clinton campaign could be using it right now – since they are in the same building as the Hagan campaign used in 2014. Where’s the accountability?

  3. Cecil Winslow

    I have voted for Mr. Blue when he ran for office in the past this time but I prefer someone as State Treasurer that has a business background and a CPA license. That’s why I’m supporting Ron Elmer.

  4. Lucinda

    Dan Blue is a great choice, the best choice, for State Treasuer. He has made himself knowledgeable about so many of the issues that the treasurer’s office faces. Smart, personable, going places!

  5. Walt de Vries, Ph.D.

    Thomas: Good endorsement. Your philosophy on politicians who surround themselves with smart people (often smarter than they are) is spot on. Janet Cowell’s recommendation of Dan is of course frosting on the cake, and Janet–a Fellow of the NC Institute of Political Leadership–made our IOPL proud.
    Mr. Elmers needs to re-think his views on “politicians,” if he wants to hold a political job in the Council of State.
    Dan’s father, State Representative Dan Blue, Jr., is one of this state’s most respected and brightest public servants. Like father, like son?

    • Chris Telesca

      not sure what you previously voted for Dan Blue III for – – this is his first election for public office. You might be referring to his father who has run for NC House, NC Senate, and way before he ran for US Senate.

      • A. D. Reed

        Where did anyone say he voted for Blue before? Nowhere in the article I read, or in the comment you replied to. Maybe you should read the article before commenting on it.

        Of course, someone might have voted for Blue III to chair the Wake County Democratic Party, if that someone were a precinct captain or other party insider who had a vote on the party’s executive committee. But the article is about why Mr. Mills WILL vote for Blue, not at all about HAVING voted for him.

        Geez louise.

        • Chris Telesca

          Cecil Winslow
          March 9, 2016 at 1:31 pm
          I have voted for Mr. Blue when he ran for office in the past this time but I prefer someone as State Treasurer that has a business background and a CPA license. That’s why I’m supporting Ron Elmer.

          Why don’t you read the comments before you fire back

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