From one "Extreme" to another in presidential primary

There’s some strange stuff going on in the Democratic presidential primary in North Carolina that may make some voters forget about the N.C. Republican Party’s “Extreme” ad linking nominee Barack Obama and Democratic governor candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore to radical preacher Jeremiah Wright's recent ravings.
For several days, voting advocates have warned that robocalls by someone identifying himself as “Lamont Williams” have targeted mostly African American households with some misleading and incorrect information about what they have to do to be eligible to vote. Listen to the robocall here.
Turns out that campaign has been linked to a group in Washington called Womens' Voices, Women Vote which has links to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Click here for a link.
Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies has more information on the group and its campaign. Click here for more.
I asked Kromm to boil it down to its essence. Here’s what he e-mailed back:
“I think the 3 important items here are:
“(1) This organization Women’s Voices unleashed a deceptive and probably illegal robo-call and mailing campaign in NC that confused voters about their registration status shortly before the May primaries; many of those targeted were apparently African American voters.
“(2) Many of the organization’s principals apparently have close ties to Sen. Clinton; the group itself seeks to mobilize a constituency that has leaned in Clinton’s favor.
“(3) When confronted about the illegal calls, the disruptive timing, etc., the organization’s response boils down to “oops, we made a mistake” – this coming from an operation that includes some of the most seasoned and sophisticated political operatives in Washington.
We agree with Bob Hall [Democracy North Carolina] and others -- it just doesn’t add up.”
Late Wednesday afternoon the N.C. Department of Justice sent out the following:
“Raleigh: Telemarketing calls that led North Carolina residents to question whether they could vote have stopped, but voters should question mailings scheduled to arrive soon, Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday.
“On Wednesday, Cooper and his consumer protection team demanded that the organization Women’s Voices Women Vote stop breaking state law with prerecorded calls to North Carolina residents. The organization said Wednesday the calls would stop.
“The robo-calls told residents that they would be receiving a voter registration form in the mail that they needed to sign. But the deadline to register by mail has passed, and some call recipients already were registered, causing confusion.
“’Regardless of the motivation, the robo-calls violated the law and they needed to stop,” Cooper said.
The calls violated state law by failing to disclose who sponsored the call and failing to offer the organization’s contact information to get the calls to stop.'”

What's weight of Easley's endorsement?

Gov. Mike Easley has thrown the full weight of his political organization behind the presidential candidacy of Sen. Hillary Clinton in the May 6 Democratic primary.
The question is, of course, how much of an organization the governor has to throw to anyone’s support. Easley won the governorship in 2000 largely without a large political organization such as the ones that former Democratic Govs. Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford put together not just to win elections but also to shape public policy.
Mike Easley shunned the usual trappings of political organizations - the county grass-roots building blocks that his predecessors used, and the endless ribbon-cuttings and baby-kissings when he ran successfully for governor in 2000 and 2004. Easley’s appeal was based in large measure on his extraordinary ability to communicate with individual voters through TV ads and broadcast appearances.
But there’s relatively little organization - he couldn’t even get his choice selected chairman of the state Democratic Party several years ago. There’s even less now that Easley is going out of office in a few months and apparently is not all that interested in running for further public office or even serving in the new administration in Washington. But who knows what’s in the mind of politicians? He may want a job in D.C. badly.
How much will Easley’s endorsement help Clinton next week? How much would it weigh, politically? Let me know what you think.

Not registered? You have until Saturday

The N.C. Center for Voter Education and UNC-TV have produced an online voter’s guide with a lot of helpful information, including how to register and cast your vote in the same-day registration and voting process that ends Saturday, May 3.
Here’s a news release from center about the work of the two institutions and a link you can follow to learn more:

"Online Guide Gives Voters Facts on N.C. Candidates

"RALEIGH With North Carolina engaged in a historic primary election, the N.C. Center for Voter Education has partnered with UNC-TV statewide public television to create an online voter guide available at www.ncvoterguide.org.

"The guide features information on voting in this year¹s primary election, candidate profiles and multimedia interviews with the contenders, including those vying for down-ballot offices often overshadowed by the presidential and gubernatorial races.

"Research by the N.C. Center for Voter Education has found that the No. 1 reason why registered North Carolina voters don¹t cast a ballot is that they don¹t know enough about the candidates. This lack of information is especially prevalent when it comes to judicial and Council of State races.

"'It is wonderful that the presidential primary is inspiring voters to head to the polls, but it is vital that voters also have information about the other races that await them on the ballot,' said John Thompson, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education. 'This online guide is designed to empower North Carolina voters with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot in all statewide races.'

Incorporated with the guide¹s candidate profiles is the Judge for Yourself: Election 2008 series featuring in-depth, one-on-one interviews with contenders for the governor¹s mansion, U.S. Senate, Council of State and N.C. Court of Appeals.

In addition to being available at www.ncvoterguide.org, Judge for Yourself: Election 2008² can be heard at www.ncvotered.com/govote.

"The Raleigh-based N.C. Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina."

Too extreme? For North Carolina?

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has condemned a North Carolina Republican Party ad campaign attacking Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his former pastor as “offensive” and asked that it be withheld. The ad "degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats," McCain said.

The ad called Obama “just too extreme for North Carolina” and also criticizes Democratic gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore for having endorsed Obama.

Wow. Think of that - the party of Jesse Helms, calling someone too extreme for this state. Not so long ago almost nothing was too extreme for North Carolina politics, including the Helms’ campaign portraying Democrat Jim Hunt as someone backed by gays and lesbians, not to mention Teddy Kennedy and Jesse Jackson.

What Obama's former pastor said did, indeed, offend a lot of folks, but Obama has repudiated Jeremiah Wright's remarks and most candidates have stayed away from the N.C. Republican Party's style of guilt-by-association ad. But evidently the GOP thinks it's right at home in North Carolina, where there's a rich tradition of this sort of thing in political campaigns -- including the days when the Democrats ran everything.

Here’s a link to Observer reporter David Ingram's story.

Democrats made nice, not news

The Democratic candidates for governor made more nice than news Tuesday night in their much-anticipated televised debate. Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore were well-behaved and entirely civil - surely to the disappointment of those who had hoped for a more pointed exchange.
Perdue, after all, had avoided accepting a debate format for much of this campaign season, though she has participated in a lot of forums. Anyone watching the debate on WRAL would have wondered why she was reluctant to take part in a debate with Moore, who has aired ads critical of her performance on several counts. Moore cited her votes in favor of higher university tuition and for the state lottery as key differences between the two, but Perdue kept smiling and suggesting the debate focus on issues, not nitpicking old votes. I’m guessing her campaign was satisfied with her performance, though it seemed to me that Moore’s assertions and answers were crisper and quicker.
Moore’s problem was to portray Perdue as being wrong or making poor policy choices without also appearing to be a bully beating up on Perdue. He walked that thin line pretty well, but overall the tone of the debate was almost genial. The two agreed on a number of issues, including each candidate's clever commitment to make sure one of them would be elected governor in the fall. If there was any sting in this debate, that pretty much smoothed things over and left the impression these two candidates aren’t that far apart.

Perdue agrees to debate Moore Tuesday night

Give Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue credit for resolving an impasse over the only real debate -- Tuesday night at 8 p.m. -- we're likely to see in the Democratic primary for governor. She's agreed to debate State Treasurer Richard Moore -- who has been pressing her for a long time to take part in a real debate where the candidates can challenge one another and debate ideas in the classic sense of the word.
Moore had agreed to a debate invitation from WRAL TV in Raleigh, which proposed a format without time limits on individual answers and rebuttals. Perdue preferred an alternative proposed by WTVD in Durham, which called for 75-second answers and 60-second rebuttals. That might have covered more topics, while the WRAL format might lend itself to more depth.
It was a stalemate until Tuesday afternoon when Perdue agreed to the WRAL format. That debate will be shown on a number of stations around the state. Their debate -- coming at a time when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has declined to debate Sen. Hillary Clinton in North Carolina -- should be helpful to North Carolina primary voters torn between two experienced candidates, and looking for reasons to support one over the other.

Who's afraid to debate -- and why?

Who’s afraid to debate – and why?
Gov. Jim Hunt is the latest N.C. political figure to urge Sen. Barack Obama to debate Sen. Hillary Clinton before the May 6 primary. He joins Gov. Mike Easley and legislative leaders Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight in calling for the debate.
Hunt points out that while the presidential candidates have debated many previous times, the candidates have not discussed North Carolina issues.
Left unmentioned is a decision by Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan, running for the nomination to oppose incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, not to debate. She’s ignoring her opponents, including Jim Neal of Chapel Hill, who has not had the money to mount an advertising campaign that might help attract voters to his campaign. Hagan, of course, is following the traditional view that front-runners in a political race ought not give their challengers a platform.
The same thing is at work in Democratic governor candidate and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue’s reluctance this spring to face State Treasurer Richard Moore. Perdue avoided debates for much of the campaign, though she recently called for a debate and has accepted WTVD’s proposal for an April 22 debate. Moore prefers an alternative debate format proposed by WRAL in Raleigh which would provide a more open debate process.
Those who are reluctant to debate before N.C. voters may have their own strategic reasons for doing so. After all, they’re trying to win an election. But in declining to debate, they rob the public of an opportunity to see how they perform under pressure and how they react to tougher questions than they’re likely to get in the usual candidate forums. Among many other factors, the public is entitled to measure the candidates’ reluctance to debate when they make choices about whom to support.