governor 2008

Whew! The last three days have been a blur—traveling on Monday, the excitement of Tuesday and the endless media obligations and phone calls today. Now that I got a moment, I would like to say thank you. I know I have a number of great supporters at BlueNC and I want to say thanks for your energy and for your vote.

I also know that there were some here who supported my opponent, but now I hope you will join me and the rest of the Democratic ticket because it’s time for us to unite this party and this state.

You can see the excitement building in the Democratic Party all around you. Our registration numbers are up and we had record turnout yesterday. We also know that we are on the right side of the issues for North Carolina families on health care, education, the environment, jobs, and more and more and more.

But we also know that we need to work together to reach out to independents, and yes, even some Republicans. If we come together now, I promise you I will be a fighter and a hard working candidate that won’t rest until Election Day and we will win.

Thank you and on to November!

Our friend from across the aisle, Bob Orr, wrote a good op-ed piece on the business of economic development in the Charlotte Observer today.

In addition, if we make it easier for existing North Carolina companies to grow and make North Carolina an ideal environment for start-ups, our economy will be successful. We have spent millions trying to lure the next Google here with tax credits and payoffs. I don't want the next Google to be lured here; I want it to be born here.

When Bev Perdue announced that she was stopping the negative ads and was going to run a positive campaign, she reserved the right to defend herself against misleading attacks. That's what this ad is about. Setting the record straight in a manner that deals with the issues not tearing down the other candidate.

Of course y’all remember when Bev announced last week that she was going to stop the negative ads and run a positive campaign. Since then the campaign has been overwhelmed with positive emails from voters impressed that a candidate is eschewing the traditional negative campaign in favor of a campaign that focuses on the issues that matter most. Click here to read a sampling.

That reaction is quite different than what the pundits, media and the Moore campaign have had to say – one said it was “political suicide” and another said “political graveyards are filled with the bones of candidates who refused to fight back.” If you want to help prove the pundits wrong, and send the message that voters are more interested in a candidate who will build North Carolina up rather than tear the other candidate down, then we need your help, because Primary Day is only 18 days away.

What can you do to help Bev Perdue?

Dear Friends,

A few moments ago, I held a press conference here in Raleigh, where I announced that I will run all positive ads for the final weeks of the primary.

Frontpaged by James ... in hopes that this will be the start of a trend. Very happy to see this.

“The Democrats in North Carolina are what the Republicans usually are, and the Republicans are the Taliban,” Munger said, with characteristic brashness. “They look to scripture to decide what their positions should be.”

In a wide-ranging interview with the Winston-Salem Journal, Mike Munger, Libertarian candidate for governor in North Carolina, does what almost no politician ever does: he calls it exactly like he sees it. And while I don't agree with much of what the good professor has to say, I sure do love the way he says it.

What is going wrong with Richard Moore's campaign for Governor? After pulling an ineffective ad portraying the Treasurer as an angry white guy who doesn't want complex issues to be studied any more, he now borrows from the losing campaign playbooks of Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.

Ripped from the Capital Letters blog at the Asheville Citizen-Times:

Gubernatorial candidate Bev Perdue picked up some more endorsements today, this time from 11 past presidents of the N.C. Nurses Association. One is from WNC, Gerry Roberts of Forest City.

The group's political arm doesn't make an endorsement in the primary, according to Purdue's campaign.

Perdue is piling up endorsements in her run for the Democratic nomination against state Treasurer Richard Moore (who has endorsements of his own) and longshot candidate Dennis Nielsen (really, who needs endorsements when a statue has been built of you?)

Perdue has the support of a couple of law enforcement groups, the N.C. Troopers Association and the new N.C. Sheriff Police Alliance.

Plenty of other workers' groups have her back: the Communications Workers of America, the United Transportation Union, the National Association of Social Workers and, probably most significantly, the N.C. Association of Educators.

If you missed the candidates for governor debating last night, you can get a pretty good read on the highlights from Laura Leslie. She has a way of cutting to the chase, which I find more and more appealing as the campaigns slog on. Health care was front and center in this UNC-TV debate.

Health care is one of Perdue's core issues and she did a good job on the details. Richard did as well. On the Republican side, the only person with a lick of sense is Bob Orr, who undoubtedly ran afoul of the Puppetmaster with his comments, summarized below by Radiogirl.