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Tuesday Wrap-up
posted at 2007-09-04 19:50 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
Wright’s campaign shuttered
Wilmington’s Mark Schreiner says state elections officials haven’t received the overdue campaign finance reports of Rep Thomas Wright. Today was the twenty-day deadline – and that means the New Hanover Dem can’t deposit or withdraw money without incurring a misdemeanor charge.
Call me crazy, but I’m betting Wright has more pressing issues on his plate right now than financing his next election - like, say, that SBI investigation, which is expected to wrap up at the end of the month.
Decker gets a jumpsuit
Former state Rep Michael Decker reported to a South Carolina prison camp today. As it stands, he still doesn’t know how long he’ll be staying - there’s no decision yet on Decker’s bid to get his sentence reduced for his “extraordinary” cooperation with the prosecution of former House Speaker Jim Black. The AP’s Gary Robertson has more details here.
Leakage
House Speaker Joe Hackney’s spokesman Bill Holmes might be feeling a little like roadkill on the information highway today. His thoughts about spinning the Goodyear bill inadvertently went out to House members at the bottom of another related message. Someone passed Holmes’ notes to an opponent of the bill, Dallas Woodhouse at Americans for Prosperity, who promptly published them to the world in this press release.
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How bad is it? Well, on one hand, Holmes is doing what he was hired to do – handle the press. But on the other hand, we don’t usually get to see the roadmap. And some of it’s a little squirm-inducing.
Like the part where Holmes, who’s a former AP editor, talks about trying to convince an editor he knows, Elliott Potter at Freedom, to assign reporter Barry Smith to do a story on the bill. Ouch. Not many editors or reporters aspire to be name-checked in a spin plan, though I’m sure it happens more often than we’d like.
More troubling, at least to me, is the part about telling Goodyear to change its tack on job cuts. From Holmes’ email:
"We also need them to dispel the notion of cutting jobs. They haven't done this effectively and it's part of the reason this job cut talk has lingered. Rep. Glazier could help with this since he has been working closely with the company and its lobbyist."
Hold it right there. As I wrote last week, Goodyear’s PR guy refused to say whether they’re planning job cuts, even though I gave him three chances to say yes or no. NCNN’s Matt Willoughby says Glazier told him earlier this year the deal might involve some job cuts.
On one hand, you’ve got Governor Easley et al arguing that the state shouldn’t pay Goodyear $40M to cut 750 jobs. On the other hand, you’ve got supporters like House Speaker Joe Hackney who say they don’t anticipate Goodyear will cut any jobs. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows the truth probably lies somewhere between. So why not just cut the spin, bite the bullet, and say so?
He’s out, she’s…in?
Dome’s Ryan Teague Beckwith reported this afternoon that State Senator Tom Apodaca (R-Henderson) won’t run against Heath Shuler in ’08. Apodaca seemed to be checking the waters lately, but now says he can do more good for his constituents in Raleigh than in DC. No word yet on whether former Congressman Charles Taylor is up for a rematch against Shuler.
And in Greensboro, Mark Binker says Senator Kay Hagan (D-Guilford) is hinting she might consider a run against Senator Liddy Dole. Mark’s story won’t be out till tomorrow’s paper, but there’s a preview on his blog. That’d be an interesting race, and maybe an even more interesting primary, given that Wake Dem Grier Martin and state Education Board chair Howard Lee might also be interested. The Dome item on that is here.
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