This morning I located the following site, www.unctv.org/election.index.html, which seems to more than make up for the other outlets shortcomings. Yeah public television! My tax dollars at work.
So go there and you can find out about everyone running in your district from the US President race down to the NC State Auditor race (really!). I will wait while you squeal with joy.
On to the race for NC Lieutenant Governor. There are eight candidates, four democrats and four republicans, so I am going to keep this relatively short and sweet. The democrats are: Dan Besse, Hampton Dellinger, Walter Dalton and Pat Smathers. The republicans are: Timothy Cook, Greg Dority, Robert Pittenger, Jim Snyder.
I have actually met Dan Besse on several occasions. He seems nice and low key, very into women's rights. He goes into a lot of detail on his Web site, so I will just cherry pick what interests me. Under education he talks about moving away from teaching for tests; he wants to develop a co-op pool for health insurance that small businesses can join; he has served in several environmental positions, such as the NC Environmental Management Commission and wants to emphasize recycling.
Hampton Dellinger seems like a snappy, young'un with lots of motivation, but I think his Web site is a bit hazy on his stands. In his issues section he highlights some specific things like raising the compulsory school age in NC or his opposition to the Navy's OLF site in the eastern part of the state, but he doesn't seem to go any further, like "this is what I think we should do for the environment." He's been Deputy Attorney General and served in the Clinton Administration. On the UNCTV site he says in his state that he supports a woman's right to choose and affirmative action.
Walter Dalton has served in the NC Senate since 1996. His daddy was a state senator as well. Dalton's Web site says he has supported the SCHIP program in the state and also worked to get funds for the UNC Cancer Center. He authored the character education bill which when I looked that up said it was all about "instilling core, ethical values." Frankly that creeps me out a bit. But then he sponsored something called the Home Protection Pilot that lets NC workers who have lost their jobs take out no interest loans to pay their mortgages and gives them 120 days to avoid foreclosure. So that is cool. I can't find any mention of women's rights issue or anything, but he does sound decent on the environment.
The final dem is Pat Smathers. A fellow capricorn, Smathers served as Mayor of Canton and was in the National Guard for more than 25 years. On his site, he doesn't go into much detail about his plans but describes each city in the state as links in a chain and each must be strong (he's a poet!). Basically he seems to want to give some power back to the local communities to try and fix their issues because they are the ones closest to the issues not someone in Raleigh.
Whew! Now the republicans.
Timothy Cook doesn't appear to have a Web site, an article in the News & Observer says he has run twice before and lost and has held no other public office. He is an industrial chemist and says he helped create biodiesel. The article also mentions he was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge, but as long as he stays out of trouble there is no judgement, he says he's innocent.
Next. Greg Dority, a widower with a young daughter (I am just going to get the heart string-factor out of the way first), has done security work with ABC News and after the Gulf War did security field work in the Balkans and Caucuses. He has brief snippets about illegal immigration and state spending under issues on his Web site, but nothing indepth. Not that I will be voting republican here, but that seems to me to be a problem.
Robert Pittenger is a NC State Senator. On his Web site he mentions his efforts to champion medical malpractice reform as well as his efforts to halt illegal immigration by banning contracts to companies that knowingly employ illegal aliens. Under issues, taxes he mentions getting rid of incentives to lure big companies to NC because of our favorable business tax climate rating. He introduced a bill that would limit the damages that could be put on health care providers for liability claims. He of course mentions the church he attends at the bottom of his About Robert page.
Jim Snyder has served as a NC state representative. His Web site details his issues, which include a right to bear arms paragraph and a section on the rights of the unborn. Sorry you know me, that pretty much ends it for me right there. You can read more for yourself if you like. And like all the other GOP Lt. Gov. candidates he seems to be still married to his high school sweetheart. Awww.
Dang! I am worn out now. You guys are on your own. Go look at the UNCTV site and get informed and VOTE on Tuesday. Or I will come after you!
No comments:
Post a Comment