Easley Races for Election Advantage
Eric Dyer, News & Record
April 25, 2004

RALEIGH -- Democrat Mike Easley has made many pronouncements as North Carolina governor, but none probably resonates with many of his constituents more than what he uttered a year ago after crashing the No. 48 Chevrolet at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"I was pushing, and the car was running tight and it got loose on me," he said in assessing his accident at the track near Charlotte. "And I wrecked."

Easley emerged from the crumpled vehicle not only unhurt but armed with a potentially important edge this campaign season. Republicans will savage his record, but the governor alone has appealed to voters in this NASCAR-happy state as a man of the people by driving a race car 160 mph into a retaining wall and walking away with a grin.

As he guns for a second term, Easley -- former prosecutor and state attorney general before going to the Executive Mansion -- needs every advantage he can find. Southern voters lately have been tossing out their Democratic governors when they seek re-election.

An economic downturn has darkened Easley's administration and handed fodder to Republican opponents to criticize him. Tighter state revenues prompted tax increases, budget cuts and money withheld from local governments. Thousands of workers lost their jobs.

The electorate should look beyond these difficulties when judging his performance, Easley said in an interview earlier this month with the News & Record. Instead, he said, they should concentrate on accomplishments such as cleaner power plants, higher student test scores and greater prescription-drug assistance that he mustered even as the state slogged through a rough patch.

"We're expected to handle floods, droughts, recessions, even terrorist attacks. That's what governors do ...," Easley said in a ready defense of his tenure. "But the question is, do you meet adversity and still make progress? And we've done that."

Republicans not only have seized upon the tax hikes and higher unemployment to attack Easley, but they also blast his style. They indict the generally low-profile pol as a lousy chief executive who is detached and lacks leadership skills.

Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, brands Easley as "asleep at the wheel." Added another contender, Durham resident Bill Cobey: "You might as well put a vacancy sign outside the governor's mansion."

They are among a large field of candidates expected to register for the Republican nomination campaign when the filing period opens Monday.

Other likely hopefuls include former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine of Wilmington, insurance man George Little of Southern Pines and Sen. Fern Shubert of Union County. Dan Barrett, a Davie County commissioner, and chemist Timothy Cook of Browns Summit also are running.

Incumbents in trouble

Each Republican wants to make history. No North Carolina governor has lost re-election since voters amended the state constitution in the 1970s to permit consecutive terms.

Regional trends in recent gubernatorial elections offer them hope. Democrats in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina were ejected after a term. The executive branch also changed partisan hands in Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia as states nationwide coped with fiscal crunches.

"We'd like to see that trend continue, obviously, in North Carolina," said Harvey Valentine, a spokesman with the Republican Governors Association, which eyes Easley as a vulnerable incumbent.

One matter that could hurt Easley is joblessness. The state's unemployment rate rose from 4.4 percent when he took office in January 2001 to a high of 7 percent in 2002.

On the plus side for him, the rate is sinking and, as of March, fell below the national average. And every county in North Carolina added jobs that month -- the first time that has happened in a decade.

Easley blames federal trade policy for draining off old-line manufacturing industry. Only officials in Washington can control that, he said.

Many Republicans have criticized Easley's reliance on targeted tax breaks and grants to entice economic development, as he did to land a Citi Cards call center and its 1,000 jobs in Guilford County. They say taxes on all businesses should be lowered to spur growth.

Easley does not apologize for his approach: "The only thing I hate worse than incentives is hard-working North Carolinians not able to get a job."

But Easley recently has pushed for a general cut in levies on business profit. That may have less to do with creating jobs than erasing memories of his support for higher taxes on sales and top-level income when Democrats in the General Assembly approved them.

Those hikes were needed in part to bring stability to state finances, Easley said, noting that though the budget picture in North Carolina is brightening, others remain mired in massive money messes.

Agenda largely fulfilled

Gripes about how he has handled economic and budget matters seem to chafe Easley less than barbs that he is a do-nothing governor. He counters with a list of achievements that includes:

. $43.1 million in fiscal year 2003-04 for his prekindergarten program. Currently, 10,900 children are enrolled in More At Four, which targets disadvantaged children.

. $78 million this year to reduce class sizes in kindergarten, first and second grades.

. a prescription-drug benefit paid for with money the state received from its share of the national tobacco settlement. About 34,000 people 65 and older are in the program, which covers heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes.

. legislative passage of protections for patients when they deal with their health insurance companies.

. the Clean Smokestacks Act he helped broker. It mandates cuts in pollution from coal-burning electric plants that contribute to ozone and smog.

Easley also persuaded lawmakers last year to enact his $700 million N.C. Moving Ahead initiative. It is aimed at widening roads, replacing bridges and enhancing public transit services.

"I did everything I said I was going to do," Easley said.

The governor, who is not given to schmoozing much, accomplished these things despite a cool relationship with the legislature that further chilled last summer when he threatened to veto a budget bill he disliked.

Yet Easley failed to persuade lawmakers to give him a lottery that finances education expenses. Polls regularly show high support for it, signaling that on this issue, he stands with popular opinion.

More than his position on the lottery, Easley could connect with voters based on his commonness. This ability to come across as a down-to-earth guy rather than a stuffy statesman is something his campaign undoubtedly will exploit; look no further than its Web site, www.mikeeasley.org , for proof.

An online page titled "Just Mike" includes an audio clip from Easley's appearance on the popular "John Boy & Billy" syndicated radio program, pictures of him hunting quail with his son and video from his racing experiences.

"He doesn't ... seem and feel like a traditional politician," Easley political consultant Mac McCorkle said in describing a selling point for the governor.

Or, as political analyst Ted Arrington at UNC-Charlotte put it: "He's quirky, but the public loves it."

None of Easley's potential GOP rivals, Arrington added, "really have any color at all."

Acting gubernatorial

As the sitting governor, Easley has a record that he must defend from his foes' attacks. But incumbency also affords him the prestige and platform of his office.

Easley infrequently held public events during the first half of his term, but most weeks now are filled with such appearances -- announcing a grant to combat methamphetamine labs, sending supplies to N.C. National Guard troops in Iraq and attending rallies to herald a new batch of jobs.

Contrast that to the Republicans. Easley gets to act gubernatorial while they are locked in a competitive nomination battle. It will drag on to the primary election July 20 or even later since the crowded field could require a runoff.

"Mike's really upset that we've put off the primaries," Arrington said with requisite sarcasm. "There's just no way -- I know they want to -- but (the Republicans) can't focus on Easley until they settle on the nominee. And the public can't settle on them until they have a nominee."

Republicans hope President Bush can turn the tide in their favor by winning big among North Carolinians over his Democratic opponent, John Kerry. That, so the theory goes, would spill over into the governor's race and propel the GOP nominee to victory.

The only problem with this plan: Bush carried the state in 2000 at the same time that Easley won.

"Let's not kid ourselves," Ballantine, one of the Republican candidates for governor, told Republican activists this month. "It's not going to be easy to beat Easley."

Contact Eric Dyer at (919) 832-5549 or edyer@news-record.com