Reading Between the Lines of 2008 Primary Voter Guide: Pt.2
Text taken from NC Public Funding Programs 2008 Primary Voter Guide : NC Board of Elections
Again, in the interest of helping the confused liberal/progressive voter, here is a humble attempt (and personal opinion) to determine which candidates have ideas and qualifications that might be appealing. Our picks for consideration are in BOLD type. This time it's the candidates for Auditor, Commissioner of Insurance, and Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Auditor
Beth A. Wood
Occupation: Case Investigator
Endorsements: NC State AFL-CIO; Ralph A. Campbell, Jr., Former Democratic State Auditor; WA Br
Broadus, CPA, PC, Chairman of AICPA Government & Not-For-Profit Conference Steering Committee.
Personal Statement: “I have been a CPA for 20 years, I have 15 years experience in State government, 10 years in the State Auditor's Office, and I train CPA's across the nation in government accounting & auditing”.
Fred Aikens
Occupation: Career State Employee with service in the Legislative and Executive Branches of State Government. Which means you did...what exactly?
Endorsement: None yet
Personal Statement: “Qualifications: Senior Fiscal/Budget Analyst for the Legislature (15 years), Senior Executive in 2 of the largest agencies (yes, but what are they?) in State Government, one encompassing oversight responsibility for a $2.5 B per year budget and 15,000 employees, plus a strong military background that included positions of significant responsibility in the Global War Against Terrorism and command of troops during wartime in the Iraqi Theater of Operation.”
Warning Bells: Where do I start? When I think of auditors and accountants, I think of sober, responsible individuals focused on managing money, not Rambo with a calculator and an AK-47. I like my auditors BORINGLY normal. I'm sure Enron and Bear Sterns had “exciting” auditors, and we all know how that turned out. Also, when was the last time the military handled money responsibly? He especially lost me at the idea of giving someone the power to rifle through bank accounts in the name of the “Global War against Terrorism”. Ask Eliot Spitzer how he likes that....
Commissioner of Insurance
Wayne Goodwin
Occupation: Asst. Commissioner of Insurance: Asst. State Fire Marshall; NC Dept of Insurance, 2005-present
Personal Statement: "What distinguishes me from my opponent? I am NOT affliated with the insurance industry. I am for “the People”. I’m the first Insurance Commissioner candidate to refuse special interest money, and the first to accept fundraising limits. My opponents continue to accept special interest money. It will be my honor to continue Jim Long’s legacy.”
Warning Bells: Oooh, this is a tough one, because I really liked Jim Long, and I enjoy Mr. Goodwin's blog (Wayne's World), BUT after reading through his opponent's (singular) statement, I really can't find strong evidence that he has done what Goodwin has said (Smith stated he has modest self-imposed limits). Goodwin appears to have the whole backing and blessing of the Democratic machinery and mucky-mucks behind him, and to be honest, I'm not necessarily sure about that (see, Kay Hagan). Also, Mr. Smith said the magic words that really get my attention: "making health care reform a top priority".
David G. Smith
Occupation: Attorney
Personal Elective offices held: None
Personal Statement: “I am a participant in the Voter-Owned Elections Program. I will not accept any campaign contribution of more than $200 from any contributor to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest in my job as your Commissioner of Insurance. Once elected, I will commit to keeping insurance costs low for our state’s citizens, making health care reform a top priority and punish those who commit insurance fraud in our state.”
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Eddie Davis
Occupation: 30-Year Classroom Teacher
Personal Statement: "As we look toward the future, Davis believes that students need stronger critical thinking skills, whether they are headed to college or to the workplace. Standardized testing is very important, however , our schools must focus on teaching the "whole child" if our students are to be prepared to answer the challenges of the 21st Century. Davis pledges to spend the majority of his time working with parents and students to develop programs the will reduce dropouts and eliminate achievement gaps." Some friendly advice? What you say is good, Peel thinks you need to ditch the creepy way of referring to yourself in the third person.
June St. Clair Atkinson
Occupation: Educator, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Educational administrator, Public school teacher. All at the same time?
Personal Statement: I will focus on all students being excellent readers and having access to technology. All educators must work in schools where students demonstrate respect and personal responsibility. To meet these goals, we must continue to build partnerships with parents, business people, and interested citizens and make major changes in No Child Left Behind. Like jettisoning that idea?
Warning bells: Both candidates have good qualifications, but I tend toward Mr. Davis because he mentions working with the students, and not business people. If you want to know why my antipathy towards the business world mingling in our schools, please check out this post, Born to Buy: The Commercialization of Public Schools on The Simple Dollar. Very scary stuff that should concern any parent. Also doesn't sound opposed enough to NCLB.
- Emma Peel's blog
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Emma, a brief rebuttal with items to seriously consider ...
Emma, first of all, thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions about your picks for Council of State.
I truly respect your position regarding Insurance Commissioner, even though you have selected my opponent.
However, as a matter of fundamental fairness, please allow me this very brief rebuttal because you have some misinformation or misunderstanding as to what appears in the Voter Guide:
When Mr. Smith says that he is only accepting $10 to $200 (the exact same amount that I am also required to follow under the public financing law, a program that I opted into almost ONE MONTH BEFORE Mr. Smith did!), what if you were to find out that a significant number of those contributions to Mr. Smith came ONLY from the insurance industry, particularly the health insurance industry, agents, etc.? Does a significant percentage of contributions to a candidate from ONE INDUSTRY in the Insurance Commissioner race cause alarm bells to ring? Do you think that Mr. Smith's "plan" for health insurance will take into account his percentage of contributors from the health insurance industry and health insurance underwriters? Why has he not come forward with his health insurance plan yet? (Even "The Independent Weekly" asked that question, and because of the editors' concerns for Mr. Smith's conflict of interest, has chosen to endorse my candidacy for NC Insurance Commissioner.)
The campaign reports are due to be filed soon, but I doubt that primary election voters will see his campaign reports in time because of how long it takes to post them online at the SBOE.
Also, I take it that you may not know that Mr. Smith is PRESIDENT-ELECT of the NC Health Insurance Underwriters. On information and belief, he, as President-Elect, is mining that group and similar industry and agent groups for as many contributions as he possibly can. Doesn't that undermine the intent of the public financing program? Receiving a small percentage is one thing, but a significant percentage from one industry regulated by the Dept of Insurance?
Further, his campaign staffer has explicitly told more than one person recently - including one legislator just north of Wake County - that Mr. Smith has raised between $100,000 and $150,000 in just four weeks after opting into the public financing program. Do you think that money came only from $10 contributions? I think not. How do you think he raised that kind of money, if his campaign is telling the legislator the truth? And, where do you think he raised such money, once again, if the campaign staffer is accurately portraying the truth? A reasonable person will deduce the answer.
One final thing: At the time that the State Board of Elections asked for candidates to submit their statements (to my shock, less than one week after filing!), Mr. Smith had NOT filed his Declaration Of Intent where he would opt into the public financing program. That is why I said that he was still soliciting contributions from special interests. He spent another 3+ weeks soliciting contributions from the health insurance industry and others; sure, he may have limited himself to $200 each, that's fine and legal, but at the time he was not limited to $200. More importantly, when you solicit even $100 and $200 from a significant number of insurance industry folks in a group where you are president-elect, it adds up ... I believe that there are 900+ members of Mr. Smith's insurance organization, based on that organization's recent symposium in Winston-Salem.
I hope that this has helped explain the Voter Guide from someone who submitted information himself. The SBOE limited us to a certain number of words, hence the limited information you see, which can't take into account all of the information above.
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Meanwhile, thank you for your kind words in support of my Wayne' World blog!