Democratic Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Republican Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, both considered strong contenders for the nominations of their respective parties in the campaign for governor, addressed business leaders in Greensboro today. The two, who were joined by Libertarian candidate Michael Munger, spoke at Embassy Suites Piedmont Triad International Airport at a forum hosted by area chambers of commerce.
NC Treasurer Richard Moore, the other major candidate for the Democratic nomination, canceled about an hour before the event, organizers said.
I spoke briefly to Munger, who said he has gathered a sufficient number of signatures to get his name on the ballot in November, but focused most of my attention on Perdue and McCrory, as North Carolina voters will have to choose one candidate from each of the major parties on May 6 to advance to the general election.
Munger, a political science professor at Duke University, told me he believes North Carolina needs to reduce the regulatory and tax burden on businesses, and do away with corporate incentives, which he said tend to give politicians bragging rights but fail to spur overall economic growth. Instead, he said, the state should invest in its community colleges and in transportation and communications infrastructure.
Perdue describes herself as a pragmatist, and her brand of Democratic politics seems to depart little from that of sitting Gov. Mike Easley, Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight.
“I believe this area can be the future of aerospace in North Carolina,” Perdue said of the Triad. “You’ve got Piedmont International Airport healthy and well and prospering. You’ve got FedEx and HondaJet, and all that serves as a lead-in to secure other military industries.”
Her support of corporate incentives also represents a continuation of Easley’s economic development program.
“I believe we need to continue to provide tax incentives to small businesses to allow them to be competitive in the global economy.” Perdue said, adding that as governor she would try to persuade all 50 states “to discontinue incentives [but] I don’t think FedEx and Dell would be sitting here without incentives.”
Perdue, who cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the lottery in 2005, said she would push for an amendment to the state constitution to ensure that lottery funds can only be spent on education. “I know some of you hate it and some of you like it,” she said. “I’m a realist, a pragmatist. We are watching it closely to make sure it’s done right.”
McCrory is an interesting kind of centrist candidate. His rhetoric on immigration appeals to a certain conservative and nativist sentiment that runs strong in this state, but his advocacy of mass transit makes him more progressive than many prominent Democrats in the state. And with Charlotte’s new light-rail system, he has a record to match.
“I think the more choices you have, the better,” McCrory told the audience at Embassy Suites. “You put bike paths and pedestrian paths where you think they might be needed, not just today, but for the future.”
In discussing gangs, he made a connection between illegal immigration and criminality, and demonstrated a cognizance of recent events in the Triad.
“We have a serious gang problem right here in Greensboro,” he said. “You also have international gangs. In Charlotte we had a shootout with an El Salvadoran gang, all illegal immigrants. Let me repeat, all illegal immigrants. And thank God, they missed and our police didn’t.”
Later I asked McCrory if he agreed with the five leading candidates — Democrats Perdue and Moore; and Republicans Fred Smith, Bill Graham and Bob Orr — that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to attend North Carolina community colleges.
He clearly is: “I am opposed to it. They’re illegal.”
I took the question a step further and asked if he also would be in favor of denying undocumented immigrants access to emergency rooms, and the mayor drew a distinction.
“I believe in helping people for their health and safety,” he said. “I would not deny anybody help for their health and safety.”
2 comments:
McCrory is an interesting kind of centrist candidate. His rhetoric on immigration appeals to a certain conservative and nativist sentiment that runs strong in this state[...]
I think your wording here attempts to denigrate McCrory's stance on immigration. While it is true that some conservatives' immigration views stem mostly from blind xenophobia, the same can not be said for McCrory.
As mayor of a large southern city for the past 12 years, McCrory knows firsthand how dangerous illegal immigrants can be. We here in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem areas would do well to remember that we are having an increasing problem with gangs whose membership consists soley of illegals. Violent crimes against honest, hard-working Americans are disgusting enough when committed by their follow citizens. When these same crimes are committed by people who shouldn't even be here, the blame shifts partly to a government who has no desire to enforce their own laws.
I am aware that most illegal immigrants are NOT gang members and are only interested in making a better life for their families. I have no problem with people from other countries wanting to move to America for better opportunities; that is why we have a LEGAL path to citizenship. By crossing the border and living here illegally, these people have already shown that they are capable of breaking our laws, and for some of them, more violent crimes are an easy progression.
One of McCrory's biggest concerns is North Carolina's crime rate, and I dare say he's had more first-hand experience with that than any of the other GOP candidates. McCrory's immigration stance is firmly connected to his fight against crime, not simple conservative "rhetoric".
Melissa: Guilty as charged. I am critical of McCrory's stance on immigration, as I am those of all the Republican candidates and the two leading Democratic candidates.
Conflating illegal immigration with gang activity and criminality amounts to crude stereotyping. True, there is evidence that the children of undocumented immigrants are involved in gang activity, but so has every immigrant group in American history that has found itself shunned and despised, going back at least to the Irish in New York.
And if undocumented immigrants are involved in gang activity, it would seem that denying them access to vocational education through enrollment in our community colleges would drive them deeper into criminality, not rehabilitate them.
I also reject your suggestion that a willingness to cross national borders illegally reflects a predisposition to engage in criminal activity. One is driven by the understandable desire to work hard at low wages to provide for one's family, while the other largely stems from a willingness to prey upon the weak through deception and violence.
We'll have endorsements for both the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries, along with the Democratic Senate race, lieutenant governor's races, the Democratic presidential primary and Guilford County bond issues in our print edition on April 16. Stay tuned....
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