A SEVENTH DISTRICT CAMPAIGN COMMENTARY
By Verne Strickland
If they never held another debate, the message would still be crystal clear – Mike McIntyre is not right for North Carolina or the Seventh Congressional District.
If political ads were banished from the air, we would still swear by this belief – Mike McIntyre is not right for the people of Southeastern North Carolina.
If the entire campaign were called off immediately, we would still know this – Mike McIntyre is not right for us today nor will he be tomorrow. Or ever again.
But let’s use the most recent debate, as sort of a launching pad for this discussion. It was version #2, staged August 27 in Kenansville.
While the first Pantano/McIntyre talkathon was more of a slugfest, this one featured more finesse, more cerebral content, more fancy footwork.
For example, a front-row observer at the impressive James Sprunt Community College amphitheater noted that, during some of the diciest infighting, a nervous Mike McIntyre did a tap dance under the table that could have put him in a tie for ninth place on ‘Dancing With the Stars’.
It was that kind of a night.
Mike talks the talk. He dances the dance. But he does not walk the walk.
He is not right for America. I think he was at one time. He was a paragon of virtue, devoted to hard work, answering only to his conscience.
Times have changed. Washington does not thrive these days on selfless service, but on manipulating the power structure, where cunning politicians use the federal hog trough to further personal aims.
Mike McIntyre plays the game with aplomb — sidestepping the tough decisions, casting votes of questionable merit, but rarely showing the grit to publicly defend them.
In fact, even in public debate, he denies that he cast those votes, claiming to his constituents that he is a tenacious conservative fighting for solid American values.
Mr. Mike has become a sheep in wolf’s clothing. At his core he is a decent guy. This has to be tearing him apart.
The record tells the true story. Our homegrown congressman is quietly going along with the liberals who own the national Democratic Party, accepting their favors and protection.
Mike has become a money mule, lugging millions in federal (taxpayer) dollars back to the district from whence those dollars came, buying the votes of grateful recipients who obediently keep him in office, where he votes for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda over 90% of the time. But conveniently, unabashedly, he denies it.
Around and around it goes. It’s a lavish pork buffet. And we are picking up the tab.
It has been a sad transformation. The idealistic young Lumberton native first went to the U.S. Congress in 1996 to represent North Carolina’s conservative Seventh Congressional District – then an impregnable Democratic stronghold.
While he pledged to vacate his seat after his sixth term, he is now serving his seventh, and scrambling feverishly to notch an eighth term.
It must be conceded that his longevity and seniority have bought him clout on a number of important Congressional committees, where he has served with dogged determination.
But, if he ever approached the job with passion, the passion is gone. He seems to be constantly in a defensive posture. I don’t feel he really believes in the work he is doing in his job as our congressman. And I somehow surmise that he secretly loathes the people who are leading him around by the nose.
How can Mike claim to be the voice of the Seventh? He never speaks. Many cannot recall the last time – if ever – that he rose to champion his own votes on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
This is Mute Mike.
We should add that many of the crispy dollars which have gushed into the coffers of the U.S. Treasury have originated in the Peoples Republic of China, increasing the possibility of manipulation of U.S. policies by a scheming foreign power which wants to wreck America.
It’s a dangerous game by any measure.
The McIntyre penchant for deficit spending plays into the hands of Barack Obama and his socialization of our nation, and gives aid and comfort to the arrogant liberal Nancy Pelosi, whose disastrous agenda touts big government – and the bigger and more monolithic the better!
Mike McIntyre conservative? Hardly. You ain’t always what you say you are, especially when you act like you say you ain’t.
America can’t afford Mike McIntyre and his kind anymore.
After the Kenansvile debate ended, I wandered through the crowd, and picked up some interesting interviews, including this little exchange with Melvin Williams, chairman of the Democratic Party in District Seven, who once predicted Mike McIntyre will win this election by a “huge margin.”
Strickland: “Mr. Williams, how do you feel your candidate fared in the debate tonight?”
Williams: “I think Mike did a terrific job. He always is able to explain his ideas.”
Strickland: And what about Ilario Pantano?”
Williams: “I think Mr. Pantano is a very good speaker.”
Strickland: “You left a lot unsaid.”
Williams: “That’s right. I did.”
And so does Mike McIntyre. That’s becoming a relevant issue in this campaign. The incumbent leaves much unsaid.
Maybe he doesn’t need to explain who he is. His constituents are finding out for themselves.
Our Seventh District congressman has become a relic and a Pelosi clone. The man says he’s not a quitter. But he should be.
And if he won’t vacate on his own, it’s time to enforce term limits via the ballot box.
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Showing posts with label NC7th District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NC7th District. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
VOTER TIDE TURNING IN ROBESON COUNTY -- MIKE McINTYRE'S HOME BASE. PANTANO CAMP SURGES IN FORMER DEMOCRATIC STRONGHOLD.
By VERNE STRICKLAND
“We have some of the most excitement in Robeson County since the Civil War,” said Phillip Stephens, chairman of the Robeson County Republican Party.
Tall order. But, judging by how lonely Republicans have been in this Democratic bastion, Stephens could be right. Correct that. He is very right.
“We are the most Democratic County in North Carolina,” he advised. “In size, we are the largest county in the state. And the Republicans are actually excited along with their conservative brethren over in the Democratic Party about the election in November.”
Robeson has a proud history, and a promising future. Formed in 1787, the county took its name from Colonel Thomas Robeson, one of the leaders in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Elizabethtown. During this battle the Tories in the southeastern part of North Carolina were crushed by the patriots.
Home to 14 municipalities, Robeson is one of the most diverse counties in North Carolina, with a true tri-racial population – Native American Indian, African American, and Caucasian.
Stephens, 48, is a resident of Fairmont. He has presided over a resurgence of Republican Party growth and political strength, and is convinced 2010 will be a banner year for the GOP in Robeson County.
“As recent as twenty years ago, over 90 percent of the county was registered Democrat. We have watched them lose a percentage point every year in the past two decades, while the Republicans have been gaining a percentage point, and sometimes two, annually. Independents or unaffiliated voters have been doing even better, registering at a rate of up to two percent a year more than our Republicans.”
The result is that, in Robeson County, Democratic registration has skidded from over 90 percent a couple of decades ago to just over 80 percent this year.
For the first time since the Civil War, Republicans in some precincts are flexing their muscles, confident now that they can rally their base to win elections in the county.
“Pantano has created a unique dynamic in our county,” said Stephens. “What he has brought to the campaign is that – rather than attacking Mike personally – Pantano has said that he understands McIntyre works to maintain what we’ll call a conservative image, and the Congressman is anxious to preserve that image.”
But while Ilario Pantano avoids personal attacks aimed at McIntyre, he considers the Congessman’s voting record and cozy relationship with ultra-liberal Democrats to be fair game. This is where the gloves come off.
“Our candidate wants to show how Mike’s friends in Washington, such as Nancy Pelosi, capitalize on McIntyre’s Democratic credentials in order to facilitate their Socialist agenda. It’s a strategy that resonates with Republican voters in Robeson County,” said Stephens. “Pantano gets traction with that strategy, and it’s working.”
Stephens asserted that the tactic is not negative campaigning, but merely exposing facts about the incumbent congressman and the people with whom he chooses to associate.
“We don’t have any polls,” he said, “but I said months ago that, the very second McIntyre agreed to debate Ilario Pantano, it was an admission that McIntyre’s internal polling was not favorable. In fourteen years we could not get McIntyre to debate because he had no reason to. Our political operatives and our benchmarks tell us that means the Democratic polling numbers aren’t as good as the public thinks.”
He said that Robeson County has not been in a position where conservative Democrats and Republicans would abandon McIntyre, but with a sufficiently credible candidate, the tide has changed.
“Our opposition research shows that McIntyre in the past few weeks has been trying to reach out to Republicans, however I think he realizes now that he will need to concentrate on his own base because Republicans have decided that they are supporting Pantano,” Stephens explained.
Now the GOP in Robeson County knows it can effectively raid McIntyre’s camp to pick up support for Ilario Pantano.
“It’s a whole new ballgame”, he said. “We’re shifting and trying to cross over and get those conservative Democratic voters over to Pantano’s side,” he said.
gop@nc.rr.com
By VERNE STRICKLAND
“We have some of the most excitement in Robeson County since the Civil War,” said Phillip Stephens, chairman of the Robeson County Republican Party.
Tall order. But, judging by how lonely Republicans have been in this Democratic bastion, Stephens could be right. Correct that. He is very right.
“We are the most Democratic County in North Carolina,” he advised. “In size, we are the largest county in the state. And the Republicans are actually excited along with their conservative brethren over in the Democratic Party about the election in November.”
Robeson has a proud history, and a promising future. Formed in 1787, the county took its name from Colonel Thomas Robeson, one of the leaders in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Elizabethtown. During this battle the Tories in the southeastern part of North Carolina were crushed by the patriots.
Home to 14 municipalities, Robeson is one of the most diverse counties in North Carolina, with a true tri-racial population – Native American Indian, African American, and Caucasian.
Stephens, 48, is a resident of Fairmont. He has presided over a resurgence of Republican Party growth and political strength, and is convinced 2010 will be a banner year for the GOP in Robeson County.
“As recent as twenty years ago, over 90 percent of the county was registered Democrat. We have watched them lose a percentage point every year in the past two decades, while the Republicans have been gaining a percentage point, and sometimes two, annually. Independents or unaffiliated voters have been doing even better, registering at a rate of up to two percent a year more than our Republicans.”
The result is that, in Robeson County, Democratic registration has skidded from over 90 percent a couple of decades ago to just over 80 percent this year.
For the first time since the Civil War, Republicans in some precincts are flexing their muscles, confident now that they can rally their base to win elections in the county.
“Pantano has created a unique dynamic in our county,” said Stephens. “What he has brought to the campaign is that – rather than attacking Mike personally – Pantano has said that he understands McIntyre works to maintain what we’ll call a conservative image, and the Congressman is anxious to preserve that image.”
But while Ilario Pantano avoids personal attacks aimed at McIntyre, he considers the Congessman’s voting record and cozy relationship with ultra-liberal Democrats to be fair game. This is where the gloves come off.
“Our candidate wants to show how Mike’s friends in Washington, such as Nancy Pelosi, capitalize on McIntyre’s Democratic credentials in order to facilitate their Socialist agenda. It’s a strategy that resonates with Republican voters in Robeson County,” said Stephens. “Pantano gets traction with that strategy, and it’s working.”
Stephens asserted that the tactic is not negative campaigning, but merely exposing facts about the incumbent congressman and the people with whom he chooses to associate.
“We don’t have any polls,” he said, “but I said months ago that, the very second McIntyre agreed to debate Ilario Pantano, it was an admission that McIntyre’s internal polling was not favorable. In fourteen years we could not get McIntyre to debate because he had no reason to. Our political operatives and our benchmarks tell us that means the Democratic polling numbers aren’t as good as the public thinks.”
He said that Robeson County has not been in a position where conservative Democrats and Republicans would abandon McIntyre, but with a sufficiently credible candidate, the tide has changed.
“Our opposition research shows that McIntyre in the past few weeks has been trying to reach out to Republicans, however I think he realizes now that he will need to concentrate on his own base because Republicans have decided that they are supporting Pantano,” Stephens explained.
Now the GOP in Robeson County knows it can effectively raid McIntyre’s camp to pick up support for Ilario Pantano.
“It’s a whole new ballgame”, he said. “We’re shifting and trying to cross over and get those conservative Democratic voters over to Pantano’s side,” he said.
gop@nc.rr.com
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Should Government Jobs Sector Growth Outpace Private Sector?
Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina voters agree that it is wrong for the number of government employees to grow as private employers in the state lay off workers according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.
According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 60 percent of voters said they agree that it is wrong for the number of government employees to grow at a time when private employers are laying off workers. Thirty-one percent disagree that it is wrong, and nine percent said they are not sure.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that North Carolina lost 133,400private sector jobs over the last decade, while North Carolina government added more than 34,000 new positions. These figures appear to be resonating with citizens as there is bipartisan agreement concerning growth of the government jobs sector.
Sixty-five percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats agree that government employment should not increase as private sector growth decreases. Sixty-five percent of unaffiliated voters also agree.
“As private employers have shed jobs over the past few months and years, government jobs have continued to grow. Just last month, government added 16,000 new workers in North Carolina while private sector jobs fell by 3,000,” said Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes. “North Carolina’s voters see the fallacy in growing government while the private sector contracts.”
When asked if they agree or disagree that no state employee should be permitted to be paid more than the $135,000 yearly amount that the Governor of North Carolina receives, 61 percent of voters said they agree. Thirty-one percent said they disagree, and 8 percent said they are not sure.
Furthermore, half of the voters who work for the government said they agree with the pay cap for state employees. Forty-four percent of government workers said they disagree, and 8 percent said they were not sure.
“Voters clearly understand that adding government workers has a cost to taxpayers,” added Hayes.
As the state struggles with the lowest number of private sector jobs for any May since 2003 (total of 3.18 million), 64 percent of voters agree that the rate of growth of government jobs should not exceed the rate of growth of private sector jobs. Twenty-three percent said they disagree, and 13 percent said they are not sure.
Additionally, over half of voters who work for the government said they agree that government job growth shouldn’t exceed that of private. Thirty-two percent said they disagree, and 10 percent said they are not sure.
The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.
SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT IN NC DISTRICT 7
THIS IS OBAMA AND McINTYRE COUNTRY!
Reported by correspondent Darwin Dowdy
New Hanover County (Wilmington) 9.2%
Robeson County (Lumberton ) 11.5%
Baden County ( Elizabethtown ) 11.4%
Cumberland County (Fayetteville) 8.6%
Duplin County (Wallace/Warsaw) 8.5%
Columbus County (Chadbourn/Whiteville)11.7%
Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina voters agree that it is wrong for the number of government employees to grow as private employers in the state lay off workers according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.
According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 60 percent of voters said they agree that it is wrong for the number of government employees to grow at a time when private employers are laying off workers. Thirty-one percent disagree that it is wrong, and nine percent said they are not sure.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that North Carolina lost 133,400private sector jobs over the last decade, while North Carolina government added more than 34,000 new positions. These figures appear to be resonating with citizens as there is bipartisan agreement concerning growth of the government jobs sector.
Sixty-five percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats agree that government employment should not increase as private sector growth decreases. Sixty-five percent of unaffiliated voters also agree.
“As private employers have shed jobs over the past few months and years, government jobs have continued to grow. Just last month, government added 16,000 new workers in North Carolina while private sector jobs fell by 3,000,” said Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes. “North Carolina’s voters see the fallacy in growing government while the private sector contracts.”
When asked if they agree or disagree that no state employee should be permitted to be paid more than the $135,000 yearly amount that the Governor of North Carolina receives, 61 percent of voters said they agree. Thirty-one percent said they disagree, and 8 percent said they are not sure.
Furthermore, half of the voters who work for the government said they agree with the pay cap for state employees. Forty-four percent of government workers said they disagree, and 8 percent said they were not sure.
“Voters clearly understand that adding government workers has a cost to taxpayers,” added Hayes.
As the state struggles with the lowest number of private sector jobs for any May since 2003 (total of 3.18 million), 64 percent of voters agree that the rate of growth of government jobs should not exceed the rate of growth of private sector jobs. Twenty-three percent said they disagree, and 13 percent said they are not sure.
Additionally, over half of voters who work for the government said they agree that government job growth shouldn’t exceed that of private. Thirty-two percent said they disagree, and 10 percent said they are not sure.
The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.
SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT IN NC DISTRICT 7
THIS IS OBAMA AND McINTYRE COUNTRY!
Reported by correspondent Darwin Dowdy
New Hanover County (Wilmington) 9.2%
Robeson County (Lumberton ) 11.5%
Baden County ( Elizabethtown ) 11.4%
Cumberland County (Fayetteville) 8.6%
Duplin County (Wallace/Warsaw) 8.5%
Columbus County (Chadbourn/Whiteville)11.7%
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