The conversation in the Lieutenant governor's race has turned to the topic of electability, as well it should. Some of us have gotten bogged down in the back and forth about Dellinger's fundraising while others claim that, regardless of how he came about it, that money makes Hampton the most electable progressive in the race.
But there are other electability factors in play between my candidate, Dan Besse, and Hampton Dellinger. Let's have a look, shall we?
Our friend Gordon has been relentless in pursuing the answer to the question "What does our next Lieutenant Governor plan to do about the Mental Health Care crisis in North Carolina?"
I'm pleased to report that his question was the first of last night's LG candidates debate.
Senate Candidate Jim Neal musses Party Chair Jerry Meek's hair during his comments to the Executive Committee Meeting of the NC Democratic Party on January 26, 2008.
As most of us in the audience in Asheville presumed, this is the segment of the afternoon upon which the press coverage of the first Lt. Governors debate has focused. I think it's important for everyone to see the unexpurgated exchange.
Mel Watt, my Congressman, a man whom I've voted for over and over and over again, a man of whom I am usually moderately proud, a man who is a former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, has stated that he's endorsing John Edwards...because he is a White Man.
I made a shocking discovery last night. If you use the word "sexy" during the course of an interview, TV editors are incapable of cutting the sentences in which the word is embedded. As you'll see in the video below, I kind of blew it by couching the word in the negative (as in "landfills are NOT sexy") but this tactic could be used to great effect during your own "earned media" opportunity. For maximum impact, say "sexy" at least three times, though you may have to work up to this advanced level.
Walter Dalton's paid political consultants are almost certainly warning him off any direct engagement with his Democratic opponents in the race he's gotten himself into. What they weren't betting on six months ago is that the Lieutenant Governor's race would become the epicenter of a battle for the heart of the party that it's become. Where the smart money might have said that the LG's office was patronage for a party man, the media affection for this contest will ensure that it only gets more energy intensive for all involved.
And I'll tell you, I don't see Walter Dalton walking away with an election that people are actually paying attention to.
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