Thoughts on the N.C. GOP debate

Jack Betts
Friday, January 18, 2008

Thursday night’s N.C. Republican gubernatorial debate gave voters more to think about now that the GOP race has Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory.

I don’t think there was a clear winner or loser; instead, I think the performance of the four probably reinforced impressions potential voters already had of McCrory, state Sen. Fred Smith, Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham and former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, and introduced them to folks who didn't know much about any of them. These boys will have to get a lot more animated before there’s enough reason to call a clear victor, but it was worth watching.

Here are a few impressions I had of each – the upside and the down:

Fred Smith’s upside: He was animated, energetic and ready to dominate the discussion. The old Shrine Bowl All-Star football player was ready for action.
Fred Smith’s downside: His willingness to prolong the conversation so he could make one more point may have left listeners wishing he’d let the other fellows talk a little more – and did he really mean to suggest he didn’t think the lines of responsibility for schools should be clarified?

Bob Orr’s upside: He knows more about North Carolina law and how government really works than any of his opponents, after having helped Gov. Jim Martin and serving in the judiciary for 18 years. And he showed his sense of humor, gigging McCrory with an observation that McCrory must have hacked into Orr’s Web site on one issue – a play on a McCrory staffer’s claim that someone must have hacked into his Web site and deliberately misspelled governor as “governer.”

Bob Orr’s downside: He looked pretty grim at the forum’s outset; a smile and a friendly nod would have helped soften the image of a stern magistrate.

Bill Graham’s upside: He was cool, detached, clearly positioning himself as an outsider who thinks the political establishment in Raleigh has fouled things up thoroughly.

Bill Graham’s downside: He didn’t have as much to say about the issues as the other three and may have given the impression he wasn’t as well prepared.

Pat McCrory’s upside: Relaxed and almost jovial, McCrory smiled some, ticked off the points he wanted to make on specific issues and went out of his way to mention cities around the state that he thinks would benefit from his brand of leadership.

Pat McCrory’s downside: He may have come across as the big city pol with all the answers. McCrory does have a lot of answers, but the tightrope he has to walk is avoiding the impression that he has them all.