In political campaigns, a good “hit” is an issue that is easily defined, clearly understood and quite obviously opposed to the best interest of the voters. It’s even better if it’s hard for the intended target to defend or explain. The Republicans have offered up so many this session, that Democrats are going to struggle to determine which are most effective in the 2014 cycle. Today, though, they are voting on one that is a such a no-brainer, that it was used effectively against Governor Pat McCrory only five years ago.
The Senate is taking up the Solid Waste Management Reform Act. The bill will allow for mega-landfills and will make North Carolina a dumping ground for garbage from other states. That previous sentence alone is enough to send a number of lawmakers packing, but add more inflammatory language and a few visuals and you have a powerful hit piece.
The bill rolls back protections put into place in 2007 and allows landfills to locate right next to state parks and National Wildlife Refuges. It also allows for leakage from garbage trucks and more liquid run off from landfills while essentially reducing landfill owners’ financial responsibility for accidents. Lovely stuff.
My imagination is just spinning. But you can actually see how effective the issue would be in this ad run against Pat McCrory in 2008. The ad worked and he wasn’t even in office. Imagine what it will do to legislators who vote to invite piles of yankee trash into North Carolina. I can’t wait.
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 >
0 Comments