Monday, January 17, 2005

Big Dogs Line Up for Turlington

No surprise, this, that big hitters on the Council of State have endorsed Gov. Easley's pick for state Democratic Party head. Sending out a letter on behalf of Raleigh attorney (and big business lobbyist) Ed Turlington last week were Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Agriculture Commissioner Britt Cobb, state Treasurer Richard Moore, Attorney General Roy Cooper, and Tricia Willoughby, the interim superintendent of public instruction.

Big deal. The Guv himself might want to recall that four years ago virtually the entire power elite of the state Democratic Party lined up behind the candidacy of Dennis Wicker for the office Easley now holds. We didn't follow the advice of the power brokers then -- though perhaps we SHOULD have -- and we're not falling into line now either. There's just something off-putting being told by the big heads in Raleigh who we need to have leading us out here in the backwoods.

ADDENDUM: Another article in the N&O says Easley has repented his cold indifference to the workings of the Democratic Party and that he's backing Ed Turlington as state party chair because, Easley told the AP, Turlington "has credentials and credibility with the national party. He would probably be the most respected chair in the country, and he could start us moving in that direction: fielding candidates who can win a race in a lot of the red states." We'd heard that Easley might actually harbor presidential ambitions, and this article seems to confirm that.

In other words, we're all supposed to swallow this Turlington fellow because the Guv has ambitions. Thanks but no thanks. I got better things I can do with my time.

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