The Dilemma

This Saturday, after a keynote address by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Richard Moore and the other candidates for governor will each be given the stage at the North Carolina Bar Association’s annual meeting to explain to why they should be our next governor.  

You’d think most candidates would walk over hot coals for the opportunity to be handed the microphone in front of hundreds of state Bar members, right?   Not so, reports Ryan Beckwith on the N&O blog “Under the Dome.”  Apparently, Lt. Gov. Perdue is taking a pass because she’s “not an announced candidate,” according to a staffer. 

This begs an interesting question: What is an announced candidate?  As most North Carolina political insiders can attest, Perdue’s been telling anyone with a checkbook that she’s running for years now.   And as Beckwith noted, she made no bones about it in Wilson recently.  The local newspaper reported:

Perdue, a two-term lieutenant governor, confirmed to the crowd that she was running for governor in 2008 and that it's been the worst kept secret in North Carolina politics. She said she's been actively campaigning for the office for about two years.

[ Wilson Times, 4-27-07]

That sure sounds like an announced candidate to me.  In addition, she’s hired staff, put a consulting team together and is out raising millions of dollars, even from D.C. lobbyists.   The clincher, I believe, is the fact that she’s even sending a tracker to videotape Richard Moore. 

So, I’d argue that if Perdue talks like a candidate, raises money like a candidate and starts videotaping her opponent like a candidate, than she’s a candidate.   Which brings us to a second interesting question: Why is Perdue ducking the Bar Association?

There seem to be three possible answers:  1) Perdue can’t articulate why she’s running, 2) her campaign doesn’t think she can hold the stage, or 3) some combination of both.  It will be interesting to watch if “hide the candidate” becomes the Perdue camp’s main strategy in the months ahead.  Stay tuned.

As for Richard Moore, he welcomes the opportunity to address the Bar Association’s annual meeting and looks forward to more invitations from similar groups interested in hearing his vision and plans for North Carolina.  Furthermore, we hope to post Richard’s speech on our website so everyone can see it.  As a result, my friends at the Perdue campaign don’t have to send their tracker all the way to Asheville on a Saturday.


— Jay Reiff

Campaign Manager