I’m with Cooper

by | Mar 3, 2016 | 2016 Elections, Editor's Blog, NC Politics, NCGov | 5 comments

Early voting for the March 15 primary begins today. Over the next few days, I’ll tell you who I’m voting for in most of the races and why I’m supporting the candidates. Today, I’ll start with the governor’s race.

I’m voting Roy Cooper. The main objective of Democrats in North Carolina this year should be to recapture the Governor’s Mansion. If the party is to successfully rebuild, they need a power base. Right now, they’ve got virtually nothing.

Cooper is in the best position to beat Pat McCrory. Cooper basically announced he was running in 2013. Since then, he’s built an organization and a substantial war chest, a requirement for anyone who wants to take on a sitting governor. He’s also consistently been one of the highest vote-getters in the state.

Cooper has the executive and political experience needed to serve as governor. Few people would doubt that he’s qualified for the job. He’s overseen the Attorney General’s office competently and fairly for sixteen years. Before that, he served in the state Senate, giving him a solid grasp of the workings of state government.

Cooper announced he was running early because he was so disturbed by the direction the Republicans were taking the state. He obviously felt an obligation to run, not just a need to move up the political food chain. He passed up several other opportunities in previous years. Right now, more than ever, we need that level of commitment.

Personally, Cooper is mild-mannered, smart, and likable. He’s not easily rattled and is not a publicity hound. While he had problems as the SBI that we will surely hear about and he had a long-standing lawsuit about a campaign ad in the 2000 election cycle, he’s been scandal free and I’ve never heard people question his integrity. In contrast, everybody questions McCrory’s.

Ken Spaulding also announced that he was running soon after the Republicans took power. However, he has been out of state government for many years and needed to build a campaign that captured the imagination of dissatisfied voters. Over more than two years, he failed to do that.

Spaulding needed to run an insurgent campaign that tapped into the frustration with the status quo that’s spurred Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. When he should have been running against the system, he was running against Cooper. He needed to think bigger and use the new tools available to garner support. He may have the skills to be governor, though I don’t that for sure, but he hasn’t built the organization that it would take to beat McCrory.

I’m confidently voting for Roy Cooper.

5 Comments

  1. Chris Telesca

    Not sure I agree with this statement: “He’s overseen the Attorney General’s office competently and fairly for sixteen years.” Way too many people have gotten caught up in the “criminal conviction system” while Cooper was in power. While local District Attorney’s bear much of the responsibility, the AG does set the tone if not the policy and procedures for what goes on in the courts and out on the street with the police. The fact that cops can gun down people in the streets and not be held accountable is a crime in itself – but think of all the other crimes that happen when police don’t follow procedures and they foist bad arrests/cases onto ADAs and folks get caught up in the system for years, wrecking their lives.

    • TY Thompson

      Or put another way, when your State needs an Innocence Commission, something is waaaayy wrong.

  2. HunterC

    I strongly disagree that “the main objective of Democrats in North Carolina this year should be regain the governor’s mansion.”

    The primary objectives should be — in descending order: to retake the state senate, the state house, sweep the appellate court seats, the governors race, lt gov race, other council of state races, county commission races, then other races.

    The power in NC is and has always been (in modern times) with the legislative branch. It is political malpractice to divert attention away from the key role of the senate and the house in 1) stopping bad things and 2) making good things happen.

    The office of the governor is a bright shiny statewide thing, but as clearly demonstrated in our recent history, it possesses no real power.

    Focus attention, money and effort on the legislature first.

    • Tom

      There is a story about the Duke of Wellington walking through a park in London and being confronted by a little man who held out his hand and said to the Duke, “You are Mr. Peterson I believe.” The Duke looked down at him, smiled and said:

      “If you believe that, you will believe anything.”

  3. Norma Munn

    “Mild mannered” is a welcome change after Trump, Cruz and Rubio. I agree, however, that without legislative changes, Cooper as governor will have a tough time making any inroads into the current GOP agenda, much less undoing the damage from past few years.

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