Despite our best efforts (both here and what other Democrats are doing), the Charlotte Observer is reporting that Jim Black claims that he is staying on as Speaker of the house:
House Speaker Jim Black said 55 of the 63 Democrats in the House want him to stay, and he expects little discussion of his job when the group meets Tuesday night in Raleigh.
Comments
is he in fantasy-land
or are the others too loyal/stupid/vulnerable to speak up?
I really don't know the state house but this is coming across to me as really really screwed up.
Really, really screwed up
That's a pretty good description of how I see the NC House. The only saving grace is that they mostly aren't rabid theocrats - not yet anyway.
Someone Black respects needs to tell him to step aside
Power......ah so hard to let go of!! I don't pretend to know all the intracacies of this scandal, however it does not look good. Apparently, house dems don't have the backbone to stand up to the man who helped them regain their majority.....understandable but disappointing. Where are the party big-wigs when you need them? What about Easily or Edwards or for that matter Jim Hunt, I know they aren't part of the legislative branch, but as it's head under this cloud Black threatens to undo everything he has worked for. Has this become so big that all republican legislative candidates can run on it?? What about generic polling?? Will this hurt us down ticket? Have the repubs recruited and fundraised well? Sorry but I live in VA.
Intricacies
If Black is right—if 55 of 63 house Dems want him to stay—we should not assume that his resignation is a good thing for the party or the state. Surely we can come up with 9 members of the Democratic House delegation who put the good of the state above their own personal good. Right?
Hi Kev! Glad you spoke up.
I'm at a loss for what is going on. I wonder if we will get any info out of the caucus tonight. I've taken a wait-and-see position, but the uncertainty is a bit of a pain.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Thanks Sou Dem-
Maybe I am just cranky because I used to love saying that my home state did NOT have the lottery!! But for real.....I am worried about the long term ramifications of him staying in.....he should step aside at least until the cloud is gone. With everything that is going on in Washington- Abramoff, Cunningham, Ney et al we don't need this right now in NC. But then my Congressman Jim Moran- who votes right- which means left, has had HUGE ethics issues. What do I know!
I'm a little concerned
I'm wondering if there are any primary races that might give us an indication of how much trouble Black might be causing for Dems.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Then...
It must be time to redouble efforts.
How about a blogswarm?
If Black needs to go, then it's our responsibility to help him do that. Let's choose a day for action. Press releases, emailbox stuffing, maxing the faxing, and calling for Black to step away.
How's Monday?
Scrutiny Hooligans - http://www.scrutinyhooligans.us
Nothing changed tonight
I just read the N&O's and the Charlotte Observer's stories on the caucus/meeting tonight..........seems that nothing has changed.
I am not neccessarily advocating a revolt, but going into the general with this swirling would not be good.
I think something did change...
the Dems put Black on notice openly that several of them are interested in the speaker position. It's out there and there is the leadership change voters are asking for. If he wins, Jim Black will not be speaker after November. I'll eat my own cooking if he is.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Change but when?
Don't do anything that drastic.....but really do you think that is good enough? That we run this campaign with him as speaker?
I don't know
but it was something...which is better than nothing...I think.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
You know
The Dems do have legislative priorities for the short session. It could be that they have done some balancing and think that keeping JB on for another eight months as speaker is less harmful than trying to get health care reformed and the minimum wage increased under, say, Holliman.
What about ethics reform??
Why are legislative priorities mutually exclusive from getting infront of this mess as well? I am just worried this might come back to bite us.
Maybe the short session view of ethics reform is
to send the message that if the people reelect Black, the Democrats will not reelect him as speaker. I think it could be worse if no charges are brought and the Dems overreacted. If Jim Black acted within the law and so many of us think his actions are unethical at best, don't you think the law is poorly written?
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
I've spoken to someone in the House
that said lobbying reform will be pushed harder than ever before and that the time was right for NC to have a national-leading agenda on reform. They also did not deny they would be interested in the speakership. They also did not deny that Black needed to be ousted and would be ousted. They also did not deny that the moon is made out of cheese.
What I'm trying to say is that there were meaningfull looks for the first couple things, not for the cheese thing though.
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
Kinda cheesey Robert.
:)