McCrory 2.0
2014-01-22 - by
From a message point of view, the rollout of McCrory 2.0 was a mess – and a missed opportunity for the Governor.
McCrory might have heeded his “mentor” Jim Hunt and called for a sustained three-year effort to raise teacher salaries to the national average. Instead, he vaguely promised some kind of pay raise for this year only, gave no details and refused to endorse Hunt’s plan.
Whew! Democrats dodged a bullet.
Instead of a bold, focused stroke that seized public imagination and reshaped the political landscape, McCrory opted for a multi-themed “2014 PrioritiesPalooza!”
He offered a laundry list of government-speak: teacher pay raises (for some teachers), fracking and offshore drilling (gee, what could go wrong there?), revamping Medicaid (ditto), fixing DHHS, reining in puppy mills, less drugs and alcohol on college campus (but more guns), nicer state government buildings and “art on the move” (paintings, not Pope).
The choreography was odd. He, his Cabinet and senior team sat around a table in the ornate Executive Mansion, with an elaborate chandelier looming behind the Governor. From one camera angle, he was in front of a plush love seat that looked like a throne.
For Democrats, McCrory offered up a smorgasbord of political targets. But, most of all, they’ll say he’s not doing enough to get teacher pay out of the national basement. And they can say his happy talk about the “Carolina Comeback” ignores people who can’t find jobs and can’t make ends meet.
Then there was his somewhat baffling question: “Is DHHS too big to succeed?” Well, it’s clearly not too big to fail.
In the end, the whole production mattered very little. Only one thing does: What does Senator Berger want?
McCrory 2.0
2014-01-22/
From a message point of view, the rollout of McCrory 2.0 was a mess – and a missed opportunity for the Governor.
McCrory might have heeded his “mentor” Jim Hunt and called for a sustained three-year effort to raise teacher salaries to the national average. Instead, he vaguely promised some kind of pay raise for this year only, gave no details and refused to endorse Hunt’s plan.
Whew! Democrats dodged a bullet.
Instead of a bold, focused stroke that seized public imagination and reshaped the political landscape, McCrory opted for a multi-themed “2014 PrioritiesPalooza!”
He offered a laundry list of government-speak: teacher pay raises (for some teachers), fracking and offshore drilling (gee, what could go wrong there?), revamping Medicaid (ditto), fixing DHHS, reining in puppy mills, less drugs and alcohol on college campus (but more guns), nicer state government buildings and “art on the move” (paintings, not Pope).
The choreography was odd. He, his Cabinet and senior team sat around a table in the ornate Executive Mansion, with an elaborate chandelier looming behind the Governor. From one camera angle, he was in front of a plush love seat that looked like a throne.
For Democrats, McCrory offered up a smorgasbord of political targets. But, most of all, they’ll say he’s not doing enough to get teacher pay out of the national basement. And they can say his happy talk about the “Carolina Comeback” ignores people who can’t find jobs and can’t make ends meet.
Then there was his somewhat baffling question: “Is DHHS too big to succeed?” Well, it’s clearly not too big to fail.
In the end, the whole production mattered very little. Only one thing does: What does Senator Berger want?