An ugly breakup

by | Jul 24, 2015 | Editor's Blog, NCGov | 26 comments

Pat McCrory’s angry letter-to-the-editor of the Charlotte Observer was really a remarkable document. The Observer’s not just any newspaper. It’s his hometown newspaper and they endorsed him twice in his runs for governor and every time he ran for mayor.

The relationship has been souring for a long time. The Observer supported McCrory because they expected him to carry his moderate, business-friendly credentials to Raleigh. Instead, McCrory got rolled by the legislature which forced him to the right during 2013 legislative cycle. They also became disillusioned with his lack of transparency and trouble telling the truth.

They called him out in a brutal op-ed when McCrory broke his promise not to further restrict access to abortions. Then, after that 2013 legislative session, Charlotte Observer editorial page editor Taylor Batten interviewed the governor for an hour and forty minutes and wrote a scathing piece that called McCrory “a man obsessed with his image and how he’s portrayed.”

This week the Observer criticized McCrory and his lawyer, Bob Stephens, for several lapses that cast doubt on either Stephens’ judgment or his intentions. It also questioned why McCrory wasn’t holding anybody accountable. McCrory blasted the paper for an “elitist bias and lack of journalistic standards.” The paper has the same editorial board that repeatedly endorsed him. The only thing that’s changed is the job he’s done.

It’s not just the Observer. McCrory is getting battered from all sides right now. Democrats and their allies are beating him up over everything from the Confederate flag to the Stephens controversy but that’s expected. The news media is suing him for failing to turn over public documents that they requested two years ago and are criticizing him for his lack of transparency. Even his own party is questioning his effectiveness and competence. Republican Senator Tom Apodaca told the Asheville Citizen-Times, “The governor doesn’t play a role in much of anything.” Republican Senator Harry Brown pondered “I can’t figure out if Pat thinks he is the Governor of Charlotte or the Mayor of North Carolina.”

All governor’s fight with the opposing party. They also have dust ups with the press. They usually even spar with legislators in the own party, particularly when they hold the majority. But not all governors lose the confidence of their hometown newspapers.

The Charlotte Observer is supposed to be the paper that knows him best. They’ve been covering him for 20 years. They gave the state their recommendation on his candidacy. Now, they feel burned and probably a little embarrassed. It’s been an ugly breakup and McCrory is the one who’s acting badly. 

26 Comments

  1. Mark Estep

    In 2012 the unemployment was 9.5. Our schools were in the bottom 3 in every major category- Easley and Purdue had started the toll rd to Lk Norman. Now we have 5.8 unemployment. Have paid off BILLIONS of dollars of dept that the DEMS were leaving for our grandchildren. He has done more for teachers than Purdue ever did. ” if I recall right the liberal teachers union did not even endorse her”. And to think that we got here in 2 and a half years is a joke. The liberals were in control of this state for well over 100 years ” two of the three branches”. And it does take time to dig out of the disaster that was left. Thanks Governor for taking responsibility and not leaving a mess for our grand kids. !

  2. Bubba Gump

    What does McClatchy and The Red Cross have in common? They’re both non-profits. Seriously though, your comment here and only one dollar ($1.00) will purchase one share of McClatchy stock. Won’t you help today?

  3. Russell Scott Day

    Tom Moore Speaker, correction.

    So far the ignorance, fear, prejudice, keeps on ticking. Along with a massively common belief that their betters deserve to have all the power over decisions vital to their interests while watching whatever it is they do see of news on Fox, believing that those who diss it are at war with Christians and will take Christmas from them. Not “Voting” except as to punish or run out any of the invaders with their laws as now it comes to the terrifying possibility that Yankee trucks and cranes will come to carry off their KKK monuments set in every Town Square they remember so fondly as they marched around them and sang Dixie on Memorial Day.

    Ignorance and fear and prejudice keep winning, so far.

    They just figure it is their betters right to deny them Medicaid, and any other benefits of the Federal Government, excepting the Armed Forces, a jobs program they were well trained for.

    NC was prominently mentioned for HB 819 in The Collapse of Western Civilization, glossed as being good for real estate brokers freed from revealing that whatever beach property they sold would be under water in 30 years, already washing away. The gloss being that there was an understandable ulterior motive, not the sincere belief that it must be untrue since it is always pretty hot in August.

    • TY Thompson

      Real estate brokers may be unvarnished capitalists, some may even be outright crooks, but even those with consciences won’t be disturbed by Climate Scientology. Not much chance of anything being underwater for at least 70 years since we’re supposed to be seeing a solar minimum by 2030 with a return of hard winters, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in three centuries. But of course, the ice age alarmists might be just as hyperbole-prone as the warmist doom-shouters.

      • Apply Liberally

        TY: Your remark is classic science-denier jibberish. You speak as if you have a climatology degree and are an expert on SLR. I’ll wager neither is the case. Anyone who talks about solar minimums/maximums as factors in our current climate change situation proves himself to be clueless on basic earth sciences and likely just another denier — in your case, I’ll guess due to your politics.

        • TY Thompson

          Really? science denier? The term in and of itself is gibberish. Or jibberish, if you prefer vernacular. I’m glad you think I sound like I have a climatology degree, nevertheless, scientific credentials aren’t really necessary to decipher that the case for anthropomorphically-derived global warming is open to question.

          • Apply Liberally

            You have the right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts, friend. Every peer-reviewed scientific analysis and data record, as well as most every respected earth/climate scientist on the planet point to a changing climate. But the uneducated, closed-minded, and arm-chair blowhards continue to claim it’s a hoax and/or say that it’s wide open to debate. It ain’t either.

  4. Lucia Messina

    Gee, I just hope everyone, who wrote in and read these comments… are going to work on the campaigns for 2016. We all have to convince, the general public of these concerns and get them to vote. No one can take for certain, that everyone in NC, knows the truth about McCrory.

  5. Tom Hill

    Tom Apodaca, an overweight bail bondsman, was opposed in 2014 by Rick Wood, a respected retired high school teacher and coach. Wood raised a few tens of thousands of dollars from grassroots support, a lot of which came from educators. Apodaca had more than $300,000 in his campaign chest from out-of-state contributors alone. Wood won about 40 percent of the vote, and Apodaca collected about 60 percent. But Apodaca would have won even if the money field had been leveled. We Democrats lost because of the gay marriage issue and the dislike of Obama in our state, but party leaders refuse to acknowledge this truth. In 2014 our Bible-based churches distributed literature prepared by a right-wing PAC in Charleston, SC, which encouraged members to vote for identified “conservative” (synonymous with Republican) candidates. Many members think that they are voting a Christian ticket when they vote for Republicans. BTW, Apodaca has little empathy for undocumented workers. Here is an appropriate line from Julius Caesar, ” ‘Tis a common proof that lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, whereby the climber upward turns and with scorn looks upon the path by which he did ascend.”

  6. Lex

    For the Republican governor of the 11th largest state in the Union to call anyone “elitist” is laughable.

  7. Russell Scott Day

    I’m reading the Transportation port report.

    I wonder if Tom Apodaca has a challenger in the next election. Senator Brown’s comment is meaningless, or is meant to denigrate the office of Mayors.
    Looks like a good deal of the Transportation plan was done under Governor Purdues watch and direction.
    I have a strong respect for NCSU engineers, and recommend they and A & T get all the support they need to develop a 98 percent Renewable Energy plan.
    Cut backs to 6 percent, from the 10 percent aim are ridiculous. NC is about as perfect as a landmass gets. For there to be a 25 percent poverty rate in the state is nothing less than criminal.
    “You cannot go wrong if your goals are correct.” Einstein.
    What exactly are the goals of the Republican leadership that wants little to do with the Governor? They look to me to be at the service of old Energy and the status quo. Apodaca has way too much power from what I can tell. His offense to Tesla is a marker of knee jerk offense to the organization most successful with Solar, Energy storage, and private aerospace.
    Great! Make it clear Elon Musk isn’t welcome here. The Musk organization is making things that are the future. Electric vehicles. Hyper loops, likely more suitable for a mature geographical zone than out there where the land shifts.
    The Republican Party that’s leadership pushes the Governor around looks more to blame for a backwards push that will cost the people of NC. So what if the infrastructure is great, weather perfect, and all the energy you could ever need just waiting for capture off the coasts in either the tides, or the Gulf Stream.
    Singapore isn’t anywhere I want to live, and it is all slick and full of obedient people.
    It hardly matters now who the governor might be. Long as the old school privatization, corporatization wave of the national Republican agenda is forced down everyone’s throats by the likes of the current legislative body, run by Speaker Tom Mills who shuts off anything but the rigid ideological agenda backwards and mean in every way, things will roll downhill.
    Have I got it right? It is so horrid I can’t believe my own judgements. I must be mistaken. There must be persons of stature somewhere in the government?
    P.S. It is amazing to me that so little is said of Honda and GE who are deep into aerospace and have roots now in our state. Instead of lamenting the losses I’d like for a bit to see them get move press, a pat on the back for investing in the state, as it is. Always it is wisest to build on your strengths, not spend so much energy on those opportunities you weren’t right for.

  8. Tom Hill

    “Moderate” is not a code word for “liberal”. Only right-wing-nuts are unable to make the distinction. Dwight Eisenhower was a moderate Republican and a successful President. And based on his actions rather than rhetoric, even Ronald Reagan was a moderate compared to the ditto heads who comprise the right wing of today’s Republican party. Reagan talked about government being the “problem”, which has provided the mantle for the Tea Party. But he greatly expanded the role of the government, almost exactly doubling its revenues and tripling the national debt during his 8 years in office. Who can forget the billions spent on “Star Wars” technology and the ballooning of the conventional and nuclear arms industry under his reign? He worked with Democratic Speaker Tip O,Neill to close tax loopholes and greatly increased the government’s role in the nation’s economy, primarily in the form of defense spending. But today’s right wingers deny the truth of these indisputable facts. .

  9. deaconbluesnc

    Governor Ken Doll is still obsessed with his image. The problem for him now is he’ s a complete failure.

  10. bmcguire2

    where can I click to read McCrory’s letter to the editor?

      • bmcguire2

        Thanks for the link. My he is so thin skinned.

        • WNC observer

          His letter is remarkably free of substance. It relies on name-calling & rhetoric rather than facts or logic. Impossible to have a meaningful discussion with someone who responds that way.

  11. B. T. Hobson

    McCrory got the Observer recommendation because they thought he’d be more “moderate” which is a code word for “liberal”. The people of the state are tired of liberalism and perhaps that is why McCrory has gone to the right a bit more. I’m tired of this idea that politicians owe anything to institutions like papers/companies/movements or others because they recommend them. McCrory owes nothing to the Observer and we all should welcome this split. Be concerned with the people, not the newspapers/media.

    • Bob

      I think you’re missing the point. McCrory doesn’t owe the CO anything. The problem is that he resorts to the “elitist bias” critique against the paper, which is just being lazy. A governor should be able to articulate himself better. And BTW moderate in NC is center-right, not liberal. The clowns running Raleigh now are off the charts to the right. And they have been more disrespectful to the Governor than any newspaper I know of. McCrory is too dumb to fight back effectively so he just has these little hissy fits now and again that make him look dumber than he actually is. Really sad.

    • mirindak

      Mr. Hobson, you cannot speak for the people of NC. To say “they” are tired of liberalism is a broad generalization based on your own opinion. It was so-called liberalism that created jobs and made NC the progressive state it was until the knuckleheads controlling the legislature started rolling back progress on alternative energy, the environment, education, a woman’s right to choose, Medicaid, helping the poorest of our state … the list of regressive policies and bills passed is endless. The Republicans in the legislature always hide behind their interpretation of the Constitution, unless it comes to separation of church and state.

      • Craig Austin

        I find myself much in agreement with Mirnidak. The Governor continues to lie. What he says and what he does are usually at odds.i moved here when Jim Hunt was gov.the first time. Very progressive state. Even Jim Martin was not as bad as this regressive bunch we have in Raleigh now. Our economy is sinking. Yet these fools pat themselves on the back. I think even John Hood is finding it hard to make excuses for them. Stop with the dam tax cuts. Let’s fix some stuff. Can you imagine with the continual upping of fees ,that a license plate will cost 200 bucks in a few years and a haircut 50 dollars. Enough with the fees and sales taxrs. Let Mr and Mrs Big Bucks pay their fair share.

        • larry

          can’t fix stuff…ain’t got no money…gave it all to or back to the Big Bucks crowd but I am sure they will eventually trickle it down to us so they can fix the pot hole in front of your house or repair the roof on your kids school.

      • Richard Parisse

        Ha! A progressive Shangri-La? The state was on the verge of bankruptcy before the republicans took over. The Progressives had almost bled hard working north Carolinians dry. Your post is nothing but Democratic talking points.

        • Nona

          And your post is nothing but absolute Republican bull.

          Results of an extreme Republican takeover:
          – NC lawmakers’ refusal to expand Medicaid by turn down billions of federal dollars in turn costing citizens of this state tens of thousands of jobs and early deaths of thousands of people. From Raleigh’s News & Observer:

          “The report estimates that forgoing federal Medicaid expansion from 2013 to 2022 will cost North Carolina $39.6 billion. In addition, the state’s hospitals will lose out on $11.3 billion in federal funds intended to offset cuts in their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements as required under the Affordable Care Act, which anticipated that all states would expand Medicaid.

          That’s more than $50 billion in federal funding forgone over 10 years. Meanwhile, the state would have to spend about $3 billion for its share of expansion. That is a mindboggling deal to refuse so that conservatives can express their pique over “Obamacare.”
          (http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article17346896.html)

          No possible state bankruptcy there…….

          – NC lawmakers’ decision to end the Earned Income Tax Credit (i.e., tax hike for 900,000 HARDWORKING households, a majority with children to support).

          – NC is tied with Texas and Kentucky for 11th highest child poverty rate in the U.S., increased by 25% since 2008.

    • larry

      In what world is moderate a “code” word for liberal? As a card caring liberal I can assure you that moderate is NOT liberal in any way shape or form. As for Pat wiggling right…well he does do a lot of wiggling but why or where is as yet not clear.

      • Nortley

        “In what world is moderate a “code” word for liberal?”

        In the world of the tea bagger/Fox bubble where President Obama is a “socialist,” born in Kenya, and where Jade Helm and Agenda 21 are going to take over America because Glen Beck says so.

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