The LG race, candidates, and money
This started as a comment here, but quickly got way too long.
First, the pro-Dellinger arguments have been really vitriolic.
Second, this is not a two man race. Nor are only 2 candidates "financially competitive." This is a 4 person race with 2 excellent candidates that Dellinger is brushing aside here. And if you want to make money an issue, just look at the McCain campaign--as much as I don't like him, he beat the money campaign in NH with almost no cash with his ideas and how the media and editorial boards responded. Similar to how Huckabee beat the money campaign in Iowa. And, how Edwards beat the Clinton machine in Iowa. You know, the non-plutocratic way. The same way Besse or Smathers could hand Dellinger his ass in May. (Or, if that's not good enough for you, give to Dan Besse.)
Third, there is no way of handicapping the race now. Yes, Dellinger and Dalton are raising obscene sums of money. But money doesn't vote. (Look at Larry Kissell, who is going to win in 2008 despite being outspent again.) Despite our analytic urges to rate the candidates' chances and deem some viable and some not, there is simply no way to tell now. We're just going to have to wait for those pesky voters to start paying attention closer to the election so we can get some meaningful polls. Until then, all 4 candidates are running active campaigns and are viable.
Here's my take on the race. Every single impression Dellinger has made on me has been mixed. His ideas are clearly in the right place. He's liberal, an environmentalist, the works. However, he has a very off-putting (good word, Gordon) style. He appears smug in debates, and sounds entitled in his emails. When he attacks Dalton, he sounds like a pestering kid trying to annoy someone and make them angry. He does not come across like someone whose heart is in serving the people. And the fact that his experience he cites is that of a Raleigh insider and not an elected official serving a locality or district doesn't help at all. These are all extremely unscientific observations, but how a candidate carries himself matters, and tells us things about his values and priorities that his words can't.
I haven't seen nearly as much of Smathers, but I've been impressed with him. He paid a visit to UNC when the Young Dems hosted an internship fair and worked hard to recruit students, and made a good impression on many. He is thoughtful, in touch with ordinary people, and has led during a town crisis. If anything, his campaign is too one dimensional with the "local leadership statewide thing."
However, both of them pale in comparison to Besse. Besse has spent decades helping people and supporting progressive causes all across North Carolina. He's worked in the rural East and in urban Winston-Salem. Despite running in a district much more moderate than he, he has provided vital progressive leadership as a councilman. My hometown would be a worse place now and would not be making such big strides toward sustainability if not for Besse. Not only does he have this experience and progressive record, he firmly in touch with the people he serves. When I was working for a school board candidate in 2006 (a guy running in a long shot district who ended up doing pretty well), Besse specifically sought me out and offered me some advice to pass on to the candidate. When I got interested in city planning issues a few months later and found out what a disaster the W-S beltway was looking like it would be, I contacted my mayor, who didn't respond, and Besse, already very busy with the LG race, who gave a very detailed breakdown on what was going on. He knows and can discuss policy in a great deal of depth with ordinary people who don't know what's happening and can make it make sense.
He is as hard a worker in the political arena also. At every single party event I have been to in the last three years, I have seen him there. This includes countless canvassing trips preceding the events. He is a hard worker who understands that change requires hard work in politics in addition to policy.
Besse is the most thoughtful, hardworking, and accessible candidate. If nominated, he will work hard, understanding that the race is not about him, it's about the people the race will affect. And he'll make sure he wins. And when he does, we'll have a truly dedicated, thoughtful, in-touch, accessible, progressive leader as LG.
- Jake's blog
- Login or register to post comments
PDNC
Forgot to mention, Besse won the Progressive Dems of NC endorsement in a landslide (72%, I think!). Come November I'll be working for his campaign like crazy.
Jake
Thanks for taking this to a new thread. Things were getting nasty in the other one.
Your impressions of Dellinger are mine as well, and there's nothing wrong with saying them out loud, even if others would attack them.
I haven't made up my mind between Besse and Smathers. I wish I had more time to spend with both.
Impressions, LG Debate
I would urge anybody who is following the LG race closely to watch the videotape of the Salem College debate -- this is the one Dalton skipped for some reason. (Has anyone heard why? I have been resisting making any snide comments about his absence in case he had a family emergency or something.) I think someone from Besse's campaign taped the whole thing -- it is really worth watching.
Before I go on, I want to let folks know that I am a supporter and volunteer for Hampton Dellinger.
I've been to three of the debates (the PDNC annual meeting, the one in Asheville and Salem College -- I missed the Fayetteville one). In fact, I had planned to live blog the Salem College debate, but couldn't get an internet connection to make that happen. In re-reading my notes, though, it is probably for the best -- my hastily typed notes would not have made for very illuminating reading.
At any rate, Salem was a great debate. It made for an interesting visual to see an empty chair (where Dalton would have been) in between Smathers and Besse at the table, underscoring his conspicuous absence. Jerry Meek did a great job moderating, too. He was crisp, funny, and fair, and stepped back to really showcase the three candidates -- each of whom has a lot to recommend him. While I certainly hope that Dellinger wins the primary, I will readily cast a ballot for any of these three guys in November.
My overall take on the debate was that Dellinger came out on the top. This may not be a big surprise, given that I was not neutral when I walked in the door, but I felt that Dellinger showed a combination of deep understanding of the issues as well as specific ideas for addressing them. For those of you who have expressed reservations here about Dellinger's style, I would again recommend watching the debate, if someone with greater technical skills than I can post it up here.
He came off as strong but not overly aggressive. One of the liveliest portions of the debate occurred between Dellinger and Besse, and both candidates demonstrated how to engage one another in debate: they were clear and direct yet never went too far negative in tone. Kudos to both of them on that.
Besse has very similar positions to Dellinger on a lot of issues, and seems like a very good guy to me. As a point of criticism, I felt that Besse, while he showed a good understanding of the challenges facing the state, did not offer as many solutions in how to handle them. He has good ideas but too many of his answers referred to needing strong statewide solutions, without providing enough specificity as to how those solutions might look. Other than that, though, I thought Besse had a good debate performance.
I also like Smathers a great deal. He has charisma and a focused message and I like listening to him speak. I think Smathers' greatest asset is his personal charisma and likeability, but for some reason, he seemed to be not in his usual good humor at the debate. Totally understandable given the schedules all of these guys are keeping, but Smathers' message suffered without the help of his personal charm. His message of local solutions to state problems is cogent, but he stretched too far to use that paradigm in the answer to every question, resulting in a repetitive quality to his responses.
That's my takeaway. If you get the chance, watch the debate. I came away impressed and energized by Dellinger's performance (good thing, too, since he is my candidate!) but different people see things differently. Check it out for yourself if you can.
A good and fair report
Thanks for the disclaimers. That really helps when I'm trying to think through all the grains of salt required to go along with so much excellent commentary.
Good job.
Please keep in mind the vitriol
Was really coming from one source.
I have been a Dellinger supporter in the past because I really like Hampton personally and I don't think this person puts a very good public face out there for the campaign. He doesn't speak for Dellinger, so maybe he shouldn't since he doesn't seem to be able to back down from attack mode.
I would have no problem with Dellinger, Besse or Smathers as our nominee. I haven't met Smathers, but get a great feeling from him and the people in his campaign. I have met both Dellinger and Besse and think the world of both of them.
I missed this one somehow...
But my post on the LG race and all that is here
It's also on the front page :)
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Yay! Thanks!
n/t
Dellinger's deceptive press release
Hampton Dellinger's press release of 1/25/08 contains the following: "According to fundraising reports filed today with the State Board of Elections (SBOE), Hampton Dellinger . . . is the financial frontrunner in the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor. Dellinger has $910,593 in cash on hand. Walter Dalton reported $904,192. Dan Besse showed $122,402."
The reports that Dellinger refers to are the year-end reports that each candidate was required to file with the SBOE, stating the amounts of cash on hand as of 12/31/07.
The problem with Dellinger's statement is that it is not true. The report that Dellinger's campaign filed with the SBOE says that he had $726,439, not $910,593.
What Dellinger has done in the press release is to state his cash-on-hand figure as of January 25 against Dalton's and Besse's cash-on-hand figures as of December 31. (Note that he says "Dellinger HAS" as opposed to "Dalton REPORTED" and "Besse SHOWED.") This apples-and-oranges comparison of cash-on-hand is, at best, half-truth.
It simply is not true that "According to fundraising reports filed today," he was the frontrunner.
Nobody replied so you posted a blog entry?
one day as a member - two negative hateful actions.
Good record you got going there.
Hampton didn't hide the ball at all, and you know it. Everyone knows he was discussing cash on hand, and the only numbers the other campaigns would release for cash on hand was what they reported. Hampton reported what he had on hand on the day of the press release.
If anything, the other campaigns likely held off on expenditures until after the end of the year deadline, so as to boost those cash on hand numbers. If they had more as of Jan 28, they would have said so as well.
But there was nothing deceptive about the press release.
Try again, Mr. Anonymous.
"85% of Republicans are Democrats who don't know what's going on." -Robert Kennedy, Jr.
You know.....you need to step back and calm down
noticing a discrepancy in Hampton's press release isn't a hateful and negative action. Your vitriol is undeserved. This person is pointing out that the comparison wasn't apples to apples. You need to calm down, step back and stop being so hateful in your reactions to other people.
Just another example of the money bulls***
The real sad thing is that he sends out a press release implying that because he has raised the most money, that somehow makes him the No. 1 candidate. Go to almost any of the web sites of the candidates for these offices, and most of the press releases they send out have to deal with how much money they are raising. It's pathetic. Where's the discussion of the issues? Where's the ideas to help our state transition into the 21st Century? Where's the innovate solutions to ongoing problems?
Let's look at what Dan Besse is talking about...
1. Conservation PAC Endorses Besse for Lieutenant Governor - Besse receives the first environmental endorsement of the 2008 election cycle in NC
2. Dan Besse on helping Public Educators.
3. NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (February 4, 2008) - NORTH CAROLINA NEEDS COMPREHENSIVE, LONG-TERM STATE WATER RESOURCES PLAN
4. Besse endorses call by coastal scientists to oppose new ocean seawalls
5. Dan Besse on Healthcare.
One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon