The scandal in Raleigh – NC Policy Watch

Response: This is a very good article.

The biggest political story in Raleigh this week has not been the debates between the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for governor. It has been the troubles at the N.C. Democratic Party.

Executive Director Jay Parmley resigned Saturday after news accounts that the party had paid a former staff member as part of a settlement over sexual harassment charges against Parmley. (More)

See related:

David Parker, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, continued to resist calls for his resignation Wednesday and said he would call a referendum on his job at a meeting June 17

Democratic Party of North Carolina

Setting the record straight – The myth of "liberal" corruption: Source – NC Policy Watch

01/30/2010

Setting the record straight

The myth of "liberal" corruption:
Understanding the real origins of pay-to-play politics

By Rob Schofield

The connection between prominent political leaders and the causes they stand for (or, at least, the causes they come to be associated with) is often very strong in the minds of the members of the general public. Sometimes, it’s as if the political leader and the stands he or she takes are indistinguishable. It’s hard to think of New Deal, for instance, without thinking of Franklin Roosevelt (and vice versa).

For those who champion a particular cause, however, these kinds of automatic connections are frequently a two-edged sword.

On the one hand, one charismatic person’s personal popularity can almost singlehandedly elevate a cause or issue well-beyond the heights to which it would have otherwise risen. Think of Ronald Reagan’s sunny charm and the way it helped advance what was really a pretty dark and pessimistic ideology about government and human nature.

The downside to these kinds of connections is that when one individual leader’s career flames out as the result of some peccadillo or other personal transgression unrelated to the actual issues he or she stood for, it can often wreak undeserved havoc with the cause. Whatever the substantive strengths or weaknesses of conservative Christianity, for example, its ultimate success or failure as a philosophy ought not to be byproduct the fact that some of its most prominent spokespeople have proved to be corrupt hypocrites.

Of Easley and Edwards

Right now, in North Carolina (aka "Corruption Central") we’re seeing plenty of examples of this kind guilt-by-association politics. With the absurd self-destructions of sometime-progressives, Mike Easley and John Edwards, it seems as if all who have ever held positive feelings about the men or any of the issues they championed are on the defensive.  (Read more… )

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