Candidate development

by | Oct 29, 2013 | Editor's Blog, NCGov | 1 comment

Poor Pat McCrory. Either he doesn’t understand how government works or he’s just making stuff up again. Remember when he cut unemployment benefits to North Carolina’s long-term unemployed despite our stubbornly high unemployment rate? He blamed Barack Obama. It wasn’t true and the press and everybody else called him on it.

So when his administration cut off aid to pregnant women and young children, who do you think he blamed? Yep. Barack Obama.

And then when he stopped payments for Work First, the program that provides assistance to low-income families with children, who do you think McCrory blamed? Right again. President Obama.

None of it’s true. The decision to cut unemployment benefits, WIC and Work First were all decisions made by the McCrory administration and, in the case of unemployment benefits, the Republican-controlled legislature. Barack Obama had nothing to do with those decisions.

This time, he got called out by three sitting Congressmen. It’s not often that federal electeds get involved in state issues. When McCrory tried blame the president and say that he didn’t actually discontinue the Work First program, Congressmen Price, Butterfield and Watt sent a letter disputing his claims. The also noted that North Carolina is the only state to take such action.

So why does McCrory make such misstatements? They’re becoming a hallmark of his administration. Remember when Aldona Wos blamed Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin for not expanding Medicaid? Passing the buck is standard operating procedure in the executive branch these days.

McCrory has a credibility problem. The press no longer takes him at his word and neither do other elected officials. He behaves more like a wayward candidate than a sitting governor.

It’s a bit late, but somebody needs to do serious candidate development with him. He needs to be prepped and scripted at all times. It’s obvious that he can’t think on his feet. He needs to learn to pivot and dodge because his knee jerk reaction is to make something up. Being evasive is an inherent part of being a candidate or politician. Lying is not. Somebody needs to teach the governor that.

1 Comment

  1. F.G.Carter, Jr.

    He’s taking lessons from Perry and Scott…probably should get new mentors who share “North Carolina Values” instead of those from Texas and Florida.

Related Posts

GET UPDATES

Get the latest posts from PoliticsNC delivered right to your inbox!

You have Successfully Subscribed!