This political ad against North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory is generating quite the buzz in North Carolina. The ad, funded by the Democratic group Alliance for North Carolina (itself funded by the National Education Association), makes three claims against Pat McCrory:
1. He opposes a raise in minimum wage
2. He supports pay increases for politicians, including his own salary
3. He opposes free community college tuition for high school seniors
Alrighty, folks. If you are a Conservative, you'll know right off the bat why McCrory opposes a raise in minimum wage and free college tuition: these are handouts (which the Dems so dearly love) that create an unnecessary burden on North Carolina government and tax payers. Nothing is free. If community college tuition is made "free" to high school graduates, then Mr. and Mrs. Joe Citizen are picking up the tab. And a raise in minimum wage may put a little more money in the pockets of hourly employees, but it takes more money away from the business owners that employ these people, thereby causing a greater financial strain on the business. And what's one of the ways a strapped company cuts down on expenses? By letting go some of the workforce. Never mind that fact that unless you raise minimum wage to $15 an hour, employees working at a higher minimum wage will still make less than the poverty line.
And speaking of wages, McCrory didn't exactly support a pay increase, and certainly did not support a raise in his own salary. The real story?
As mayor of Charlotte since 1996, McCrory's salary and expenses have risen from $24,800 to $39,900. That's about a 60-percent increase. Adjusted for inflation, however, it's more like a 20 percent raise. The Charlotte mayor does not typically vote on the city budget, which includes pay raises, but he can veto it. If he does, it takes seven out of 11 votes from the City Council to override his veto. In 1998, McCrory broke a tie, voting with the City Council's Republicans to overturn a pay raise for city leaders that would have boosted his own salary by several thousand dollars. This year, the City Council narrowly approved a pay raise for members and the mayor. McCrory did not make any public statements on the raise and did not veto the budget, but his campaign staff said Thursday that he opposed it. -News & Observer, August 1, 2008
Gasp! How dare the mayor of Charlotte make more than $40,000 a year! The fact that the mayor of Charlotte makes less than I do is surprising in and of itself. The fact that Alliance for North Carolina skews the truth so terrifically is repulsive. The ad conveniently omits the fact that McCrory voted with the Council members to overturn a pay raise in 1998, which would have increased his own salary (by a mere several thousand dollars). And of course the ad skews the fact that most recently, the Council narrowly approved a pay increase, which McCrory did not veto, even though he stated that he did oppose it.
The N&O article does a fairly good job analyzing this ad and its claims, but I don't think the newspaper hits the attackers hard enough. Alliance for North Carolina should be blasted for their biased and untruthful ad attacking the Charlotte mayor. It just shows that politics is still the same, money talks, and that the dirt will continue to fly into the face of the truth. Democratic candidate Bev Purdue may have stated a few months ago that she was going to run a clean campaign, but her cronies sure didn't follow suit. Purdue has the teachers, sheriffs and Andy Griffith in her back pocket. And if you have those organizations and supporters doing your dirty work for you, I guess you can wipe your hands and give the impression that you are running a clean campaign. And that's the truth that Perdue keeps hidden under the dirt slung by her supporters. Some "clean" campaign, Ms. Perdue.
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