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Wed.: Debates R Us
posted at 2008-04-16 21:35 | Last modified 2008-04-20 11:46
The GOP candidates for governor held (yet) another debate at WRAL last night. While no actual news was committed, it was pretty entertaining, anyway. You can watch the whole thing here.
WRAL's David Crabtree (who did a great job refereeing, BTW) sat down afterward with Mark Johnson, Cullen Browder and me to talk about how it went, You can catch it here.
It’s a little long, though, so here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:
McCrory (aka "The Target"): The GOP frontrunner took a lot of hits, yet managed to avoid accumulating any damage points. Best moment: fending off attacks and talking about criminal justice problems. Worst moment: getting ribbed by Bob Orr for sounding like Bev Perdue.
Smith: Came out swinging, but missed the fences. McCrory’s cool made Smith’s pugnacity look a little desperate at times. Best moment: talking about ethics and education. Worst moment: arguing with the moderator over what McCrory did or didn’t say.
Orr: Was Orr, which as David Crabtree put it, is a compliment. Cerebral, entertaining, and the only guy on stage to put a pinhole in McCrory’s incumbent-y confidence. Best moment: Ribbing McCrory for sounding like a Democrat. Worst moment: blaming state lawmakers for failing to act on an academic study, which happens all the time.
Graham: Smart enough to stay out of the Smith/Orr v McCrory pile-on, which gave him time to talk about his positions. Aside from one faux pas regarding executive power, he turned in one of his strongest performances yet. Best moment: Asking Orr during a McCrory/Smith exchange, “Don’t these guys crack you up?” Worst moment: Not knowing that the Gov can’t single-handedly suspend the state gas tax for the summer.
Winner: Fred Smith. Not just because of his performance, which was a bit better than normal, but because Orr and Graham did so well, too. If they pull in some votes, that could keep McCrory from getting 40% on May 6th, which would mean a runoff.
That would be the best possible outcome for Smith: away from the presidential heat of the first primary, the folks who would likely turn out for the runoff would probably be the GOP's core red-meat base – and they’re much more likely to go for Smith than McCrory.
Speaking of underdogs
The Winston Salem Journal endorses Orr – enthusiastically, even. Moore got a nod, too, albeit a less glowing one.
Da Dems
Will they or won’t they? At this point, it’s up to the stations. The NC Assoc. of Broadcasters said it would host the long-sought-after Dem gubernatorial debate, but when NCAB couldn’t get all the Republicans together that day, it pulled out.
WRAL and WTVD rushed in to compete for the chance to pick up the slack. Perdue agreed today to WTVD’s stricter format, which would give her a better chance to hold her “positive” own, while Moore agreed to WRAL’s looser format, which would work to his advantage. So can WRAL and WTVD come to an agreement to cohost? We’ll see.
Dinner and Politics
Are you really what you eat, politically speaking? NYT's Kim Severson looks at the finicky art of microtargeting voters by menu:
“For example, Dr Pepper is a Republican soda. Pepsi-Cola and Sprite are Democratic. So are most clear liquors, like gin and vodka, along with white wine and Evian water. Republicans skew toward brown liquors like bourbon or scotch, red wine and Fiji water.
"When it comes to fried chicken, he said, Democrats prefer Popeyes and Republicans Chick-fil-A.
“'Anything organic or more Whole Foods-y skews more Democratic,' Mr. [Matthew] Dowd said."
Speaking of food – HuffPo’s David Weiner says Cindy McCain’s “family recipes” came straight from the Food Channel. Oops. Campaign managers resorted to blaming the blunder on an unnamed intern, which is even less original than Cindy’s rosemary chicken. More here.
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