Well, it looks like Pat McCrory is directing his communications team again. The governor’s press office issued four statements and press releases in 24 hours criticizing a report about him taking $185,000 in compensation from a company his administration regulates. The final release was a virtual hit piece on the AP, filled with sarcasm and petty gripes.
McCrory can argue all he wants but the AP story exposed the relevant points: The governor took $185,000 in compensation from a company the executive branch regulates while he was in office. He didn’t disclose it when he had the opportunity to do so, despite pledging to run a transparent administration. Now, he’s having hissy fit because somebody called him on it.
The goal of the communications team should be to make the story go away. Instead, they’ve blown it up and pissed off the capitol press corps. The story was legitimate. The response was excessive and immature. Seems like somebody struck a nerve. What else is McCrory hiding?
The proper response would be something like, “We followed the law and have done nothing wrong. Now, we’re focused on getting North Carolina back on track and putting people back to work. That’s what we were elected to do.” Instead, we’re about to talk about the governor’s relationship with Tree.com and the press until Christmas knocks it out of the news cycle.
But that’s not the last we’ll here about it. The episode reinforces a cynical electorates’ perception of politicians and what’s wrong with the system. Middle class families are working harder and making less while people like Pat McCrory are trading their political clout for six-figure payouts by big corporations. That’s how the system is rigged.
It also continues a disturbing pattern of North Carolina politicians profiting off of their positions. Republicans were elected, in part, to clean up the cronyism in Raleigh. Instead, McCrory and company are cashing in. McCrory’s first Secretary of Public Safety Kieran Shanahan tried to keep his law practice up and running while he served in the cabinet. McCrory’s chief of staff Thomas Stith’s wife set up a lobbying shop. And he hired minimally qualified campaign staffers to top level jobs with high paying salaries. Get it while the gettin’s good.
McCrory’s response has been ham-handed and amateurish. He’s showing off his thin skin again and raising more questions than he’s answered. He was elected on a pledge of transparency and open government. Instead, he’s attacking the press and hiding behind the language of disclosure forms to justify obscuring his payout from a big corporation.
The capitol press corps has never been partisan. They’ve taken down a bunch of Democrats including sending a speaker of the house to prison. It’s their job to watch government and report what elected officials are doing. They did their job. McCrory should stop whining and do his.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Does anyone know what Pat actually did at Duke Energy besides get paid to be mayor of Charlotte? What experience qualified him to sit on business’ boards of directors anyway? Is it not obvious that he’s been paid for access and door opening?
What I found interesting about the AP story was the quote from the CEO and founder of Tree.com who said that the Governor “…was worth it” and that he was “adding ten times the value of what he was paid..” for his service on the board of directors. Since the CEO quantified it and the compensation is public what was it that McCrory did that was worth millions of dollars in value for Tree.com and its shareholders? Was there an implicit agreement or was the value provided truly explicit and transparent?
Did we ever get to the bottom of the Kay Hagan directing stimulus cash to her family thing? What’s that? No interest whatsoever? Well that’s understandable, after all that was public money so what the heck.
Well the republican led DENR says there was nothing out of the ordinary..http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/17/4242486/nc-denr-nothing-improper-with.html. Now that the Republicans control both houses of the state and federal legislature the refrain of “The Democrats did it” is wearing a bit thin. In some cases they did, and its one reason they were voted out at least here in NC. But thats exactly why what the Republicans in power have to do everything to make sure what they do passes the ‘smell test’ or the voters are likely to turn on them as quickly as they did the Democrats.
How I wish it was October 2016 right now vs December 2014 so this would actually effect his re-election prospects…Perhaps other indescretions will come to light between now and then…
To the victor belong the spoils. Take as many goodies as you can, tell the public it is OK, What is wrong with this this. May not violate the law, but it shows contempt for the folks who elected you to represent their interests. These are the folks who spend their lives working hard, making a good faith effort to respect and obey the laws of this state and country. It may not violate the language of the law, but it certainly creates a question as to whether the spirit of law was not violated.