Fred Smith for Governor

I decided over the last week that I was going to vote for Fred Smith in the GOP gubernatorial primary.  And last night, I had the opportunity to attend a rally held in Greensboro on his behalf, and meet him briefly.

Right now, it appears that the GOP gubernatorial primary is essentially a two-man race.  And of those two men, I think Senator Smith is the better candidate to represent conservative Republican ideals.

Smith has a varied list of policy positions on his website, and is a consistent conservative.  He is pro-life and pro-family.  He wants to hold the line on spending by our state government, and reorder its priorities.  He advocates stopping the raid of the state Highway Trust Fund, and promoting charter schools.  He champions tort reform and market-driven, consumer-directed health care.  He talks about constitutional amendments on eminent domain and the definition of marriage.  He espouses traditional conservative Republican approaches to job creation and crime control.

His chief opponent, Pat McCrory, has chosen to focus on fewer issues.  It is unclear, therefore, at this point where he stands on some important matters.   I hope that will become more clear as the campaign progresses.

McCrory has strengths as a candidate.  He is good on the stump, and does well on TV.  He has certain leadership qualities.  Fred Smith also possesses many of these strengths, but there is somewhat of a cultural difference.  McCrory appears to be at least a notch or two more moderate in his views than Smith.  McCrory may appeal more to urban areas; whereas Smith's appeal may be more to small town/rural North Carolina.  McCrory's manner of speech is fairly generic and neutral; but Smith exhibits a distinctive country/southern twang.

Some have argued that McCrory may be better positioned to prevail in the general election because of his moderate views.  But Smith disagrees.  He points to the success of people like Richard Burr, Elizabeth Dole, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Jesse Helms in statewide campaigns here in North Carolina.  He says that when Republicans run as strong conservatives statewide, they have a good chance to win.

Statewide polling previously reported on the web showed McCrory ahead, but the latest internal polling may not necessarily confirm these results.  And John Hood points out that Smith merely needs to keep McCrory from exceeding 40% of the vote to force a runoff.  And of course, if Smith gets more than 40% on May 6, he wins.  Hood emphasizes Smith's instincts as a manager, demanding accountability for tax dollars spent.  And in fact, the senator does have a fairly impressive life story that demonstrates his capacity for leadership.

Postscript: I had a chance to spend some time with Tony Wilkins at the function last night, met some nice folks for the first time, and had the chance to reconnect with a handful of others.  Lee Greenwood sang a set for attendees; and I happened to have asked him in the lounge area for directions to the rest room earlier in the evening, momentarily unaware of who he was.  It was great to see everyone.

 

Comments

[Ryan]

I went to a function for Fred, via my employer a week or so ago, and a question about Iraq came up. He gave a response to the original question so I politely asked a follow up question concerning his response. He declined to answer my question. I personally felt like he chose not to have a voice and made me feel as though he was not going to be a voice for the people.

A question about education also came up. It was extremely obvious that the person that asked about education was talking about grade school and they wanted to know his stance on helping the stated education program. His response was about how his son went to or is currently going to Wake... totally off base.

I think Fred made a very bad impression at the event.

Ryan

[Joe Guarino]

Ryan, I am sorry you had that experience. I am not sure what Iraq has to do with the duties of the North Carolina governor; and I am glad that Smith has fairly detailed policy positions on his website on education and other issues.

[Matt]

Well, I think Pat McCrory would make a much better GOP nominee and Governor that Fred Smith.

1. McCrory's proven he can win in an area with much more Democrats than Republicans. McCrory has then maintained and strengthened those gains, to an unprecedented point.

2. McCrory has dealt with the issues vital to North Carolina first-hand as Mayor. Illegal immigration, economic booms and busts, tremendous growth, and crime. A 33% drop in crime during his Mayoral time is pretty impressive IMO.

3. McCrory appeals to a wider range of voters. Of the candidates you mentioned, Fred Smith shares some of their values, but doesn't have their vision. What makes Pat the truer heir to those people you mentioned is that he embraces solutions and proposals to problems before it is too late. Pat has the vision and the experience to lead, not just by being Mayor, but he established coalitions of Mayors and other figures to lobby for more funding from Raleigh. He was appointed to a Homeland Security advisory group. Pat McCrory is THE choice for Governor, and I have been doing my part to get him elected.

Have a nice day.

[keith]

Joe, I have to agree with Matt. I know in the past the republicans have tried with the Charlotte connection in Vinroot. But I think Pat is different, he appeals to me a lot. One angle is our NCDOT, he wants to completely overhaul that complete joke of a board and organization.Somebody came out with a commercial where there was some ridiculous bridge in new bern where the NCDOT paid millions and millions and showed barely any cars on bridge at around 8:00 in morning then showed traffic in the triad and charlotte area completely packed with the headline you see where you tax money went to or something like that. The point was that politicians in this state are controlled by eastern politics.

I want a governor who will pay more attention to this part of the state and I think Pat Mccrory is that man for the GOP.
I would like to see a big city mentality go to Raleigh.

[Joe Guarino]

Matt and Keith, thank you both for your comments. If McCrory wins the nomination, I will certainly be supporting him.

Matt, I agree that McCrory can be a potentially strong candidate in the fall. The rural/urban dichotomy, however, can cut both ways. It can hurt him with rural/small town voters, and those with a bias against Charlotte.

And Keith, we need to remember that the DOT mess is primarily a Democratic phenomenon. Fred Smith did not create this monster, and the fact that he hails from eastern North Carolina does not mean that he would abuse the DOT as the Democrats have in the past.

As I stated in my post, Smith seems to speak to a broader range of issues right now than McCrory. And of great importance to me is the pro-life issue. Michael New of the University of Alabama has demonstrated that sound policy-making on the state level can reduce the incidence of abortions markedly.

[George]

The GOP has four very good candidates. However, there is only one candidate that has really demonstrated that he wants to be the governor of the people and not governor of the government. Fred Smith has traveled across North Carolina for nearly two years viisiting every county not once, but on many occassions.

I rememember the Mike Easley campaign - Television and not crossing North Carolina to talk to the citizens - Look what we got. Pat McCrory runs for mayor, gets re-elected and then announces for governor. Which position does he want? Jack Hawke, prior to joining his campaign, said that Pat's statement about using the governors office to bring more to Charlotte was a mistake.

Don't get me wrong, Pat is a nice guy and a good politician, but has not addressed alot of the issues that define us as tarheels, Faith, Family, Life, Second Amendment, Property Rights and more.

In 2004 the GOP lost because of many reasons (and should have), the Congress forgot that the GOP wins when we stay with our conservative principles and do not try to out democrat the democrats. Look at Newt Gingrich and the contract with america, we won and won big.

Fred Smith is a true conservative that will not give up his conservative principles - Jesse Helms was the same way. Many folks did not like Jesse Helms, but they respected him for not wavering on his convictions and testing which way the wind blows.

I have personally been with Helms, Burr, Dole, Bush 41, Faircloth, Martin and others. I can assure you that there is no candidate that I have seen over the decades that works harder than Fred Smith. This is what North Carolina needs - a governor that works!!

May 6 is close at hand, be sure to vote for the candidate of your choice, and when all is said and done, the GOP must galvanize around our nominee and energize the GOP and Conservative Democrats to vote Republican.

[Joe Guarino]

George, I have to agree. Thanks for the comments.

[keith]

Believe me when I say whoever wins has my vote in November. It feels good to have the candidates we have for this election coming up.

Joe , will you post anything on the judge's to vote for in the up coming election. I would like to get opinions on what other people are thinking on the judges?

[Joe Guarino]

Keith, thanks for asking. Yes, I hope to discuss at least a few of the judicial races.

[ryan]

Joe,

He should not have answered the first question if he didn't want to touch the subject. I'm not saying I love or hate the guy. I am saying that he made a very bad impression to a lot of people.

Ryan

[Joe Guarino]

Ryan, I again appreciate your offering your opinion. It appears to me that the first question should never have been asked. But I was not there, so I cannot know for sure how this all appeared, and how it was received by attendees.

I think that culturally some folks who live in urban areas are not going to necessarily feel a natural affinity for Smith. And I think the converse it true for McCrory-- that some folks from small towns and rural areas will not prefer him.

[Bubba]

While any of the Republican candidates would be choices I would support, I think Pat McCrory is the only candidate capable of beating either Perdue or Moore.

That fact is more important to me and many other Republicans, and overrides any favorable individual policy points that each of the candidates hold.

We can't afford to be stupid about the governor's, or ANY state government race anymore.

That's exactly the reason the Dems continue to win at the ballot box and dominate our legislature and Council of State.

[Joe Guarino]

Bubba, I hope that, regardless of the results of the primary, that we end up with a candidate who will prevail in November. It is an important time for the state; and there is much mess to clean up. I will enthusiastically support McCrory if he wins the primaries.

I understand Smith won the straw poll at the Civitas event last weekend; and has gotten the endorsement of the NRA and Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum. One of the possibilities discussed at the rally was getting conservative Democrats to vote for the Republican nominee in November. The thought was that Smith might be well positioned to make that happen.

[Fred Gregory]

Fecund Stench aka Stinky is spewing one of his usual vile BDS diatribes while taking cheap shots at Fred Smith, Lee Greenwood, the song and evil America. The cretin is beneath contempt. Cone has linked it and added a few revolting remarks of his own. I think the NCGOP should demand that Cone take down the link. Man they HATE !

[keith]

Joe these are the judges I am hearing to vote for, what do you think?

Court of Appeals
Jewel Ann Farlow or Dean R. Poirier

Court of Appeals
John M. Tyson

District Court Judge District 18
Robert Enochs

District Court Judge District 18
Betty J. Brown

District Court Judge District 18
Randle L. Jones

District Court Judge District 18
Crump, Gorham, Hassell ??? Don't know about this one

[Fred Gregory]

Joe,

I saw Lee Greenwood perform "God Bless The USA" at the Grand Ole' Opry during the International Association of Chiefs Of Police convention in Nashville, TN in 1986. "Mawkish" is such a bitter and hateful word to describe this eternally beautiful and patriotic song. Some people?

[Joe Guarino]

Keith, I need to do a bit more research on most of those races. I know I will be voting for Dean Poirier in the Court of Appeals race, having already seen his website and looked at his race. The candidates for the first five races you list were featured in a small ad in this week's Rhino placed by the Guilford Republican party.

Fred, the song was very moving on Tuesday night. Tony and I had decided that the first time it was sung at a Republican National Convention was for Reagan in 1984. I remember seeing it then on TV. I had no idea who Lee Greenwood was then, but it was clear this song was very powerful and special. That is why, as I indicated over at Ed's blog, it was featured in observances in the wake of 9/11.

According to some worldviews, expressions of patriotism are considered to be in poor taste, to be low class. I disagree.

[George]

The Conservative Democrats in the east will vote for a conservative Republican like Fred Smith. Fred has received strong support from Democrats in his district. Jesse Helms, Faircloth and Reagan appealed to these voters and Smith will as well. They have turned out at his BBQ's. WNC will be a very strong area for Smith as well. If a Republican looks like a Democrat, the Conservative Democrats will not crossover. In WNC most of the Conservative Democrats are now Republicans.

[Bubba]

"The Conservative Democrats in the east will vote for a conservative Republican like Fred Smith."

I wouldn't say that is a certainty, by any means.

Some significant changes would have to occur between now and election day for that to take place, assuming Fred got the nomination.

[Joe Guarino]

I hope what George says is true. And I think there would inevitably be adjustments to the campaign later depending on the circumstances. We first have to get past the primary, and if needed, the run-off.

[George]

I have heard many Democrats say that they will not vote for Perdue/Moore and will vote for Fred Smith if he makes it to the general election.Charlotte has a very poor record of electing people statewide. They just don't relate to the rest of North Carolina. They have given us: Vinroot, Knox, Myrick and Gant.Democrats & Republicans from Charlotte just do not cut the mustard with ENC & WNC.

[Matt]

George, McCrory has little in common with those previous Charlotteans you mentioned. McCrory has not lived in Charlotte his whole life, but more importantly, he has interacted and worked with leaders from across the state. He founded the Metropolitan Commission, which includes leaders from the 25 largest cities across the state. That means Greensboro, Asheville, Fayetteville, etc. I know many more Democrats that would LOVE the chance to elect Pat McCrory to statewide office, in his years in Charlotte he has proven he can compete and win Democratic votes in addition to independents and Republicans. Furthermore, in the Mayoral office, it isn't ideologically-driven the way a Governor's race is. Pat McCrory is an authentic conservative leader with a true vision, and Fred Smith is a conservative with no vision and certainly not electable.

[Joe Guarino]

Matt, I appreciate your comments. I will stand behind my preference in the primary. I think Fred Smith is a good man who has a solid conservative vision for how he would want to lead the state.