Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:
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Sept. 29
The Greensboro News & Record on former President George H.W. Bush’s election loss in 1992:
Having lost a tough election in 1992 to Democrat Bill Clinton, President George Herbert Walker Bush, who had seemed unbeatable after the first Persian Gulf War, swallowed hard and accepted defeat.
The elder Bush could cite several reasons for not winning a second term:
- Less-than-fervent support from conservatives, who did not forgive him for walking back a pledge at the 1988 Republican National Convention to “Read my lips: No new taxes.” In the end, Bush compromised with Democrats on a 1990 federal budget that did indeed, raise some taxes. Challenger Pat Buchanan hammered him with those six words in the Republican primaries.
- The effective third-party candidacy of Ross Perot, which siphoned off 19% of the popular vote, though Perot may have made a comparable dent in Clinton’s support.
- And probably most of all, a struggling economy that had seen the unemployment rate spike to 7.8%, the highest level at that time since 1984.
So here he was, following the Clinton inauguration, about to cede the White House to his victorious opponent.
But first, Bush decided to compose a parting note for his successor, neatly handwritten in cursive on White House stationery, and placed in the Oval Office. Here is what it said:
Jan. 20, 1993
Dear Bill,
When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that, too.
I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described.
There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I’m not a very good one to give advice; but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.
You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well.
Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.
Good luck - George
Upon Bush’s death, Clinton wrote in a 2018 column for The Washington Post that Bush’s note conveyed “the heart of who he was. … He was an honorable, gracious and decent man who believed in the United States, our Constitution, our institutions and our shared future.”
Bush’s letter was widely quoted before when America seemed torn asunder by deep divisions during a fierce campaign … in 2016.
We seem torn asunder again.
So, as another November approaches, it bears quoting again, for its decency and its civility and its uncommon sense of grace.
To be sure, George H.W. Bush had his imperfections and his failures.
For instance, it was his 1988 campaign against Democrat Michael Dukakis that gave us the Willie Horton ads that stoked racial divisions and played on white voters’ fears.
But Bush did seem genuinely wedded to an idea that was bigger than him: The idea of America. And of its citizens being able to disagree vehemently over some things, yet still being capable of uniting for a greater cause.
And being willing as well to respect the outcome of an election.
Bush and Clinton grew close.
“His friendship has been one of the great gifts of my life,” Bill Clinton wrote in his Washington Post column.
“From Indonesia to Houston, from the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast to Kennebunkport, Maine - where just a few months ago we shared our last visit, as he was surrounded by his family but clearly missing Barbara - I cherished every opportunity I had to learn and laugh with him. I just loved him.”
That may be why, even in the midst of his loss, Bush’s approval rating was 56% when he left office.
And it may be why he may have departed 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in defeat in 1993.
But he didn’t leave a loser.
Online: https://www.greensboro.com
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Sept. 26
The Fayetteville Observer on two Republican members of North Carolina’s state elections board resigning from their role:
The N.C. State Board of Elections picked an extraordinarily poor time to crack up, with just over 40 days to go before a presidential election where North Carolina is a key swing state.
Until Wednesday, the board had been comprised of five members - three Democrats and two Republicans. That night, the two Republicans, David Black and Ken Raymond, tendered separate letters of resignation.
At issue are proposed settlements to lawsuits that the board approved in a closed-door session. The agreements would loosen requirements on absentee, mail-in ballots.
Changes include allowing a voter to correct (“cure”) a ballot that is incomplete in some way with a signed affidavit. This cure would apply to common mistakes on absentee ballots, such as a missing witness signature or address. A judge will decide whether to accept the proposed settlement in the coming week.
The elections board, whose chairman is Democrat Damon Circosta, announced the vote had been unanimous.
But Raymond, in his letter, said lawyers in the office of N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein had not explained all the relevant implications and background before the board made its decision. Black wrote that he, too, had not been provided all the facts and said to continue to serve on the board would be “untenable.”
On Friday, the Democratic members of the board pushed back. They held an emergency meeting over video conference and authorized the release of the minutes from the closed-door session.
The board of elections had stated in a press release Wednesday that the unanimous agreement came about after all board members had heard from their lawyers and litigation attorneys, before and after a closed-door session on Sept. 15.
On Friday, Circosta said the Republicans’ assertions they were not given all the information was “simply not true.” He noted that the vote was unanimous and came after three hours of discussion.
The proposed settlement has drawn a furious backlash from some Republicans. State Senate Leader Phil Berger called it “unethical collusion” between the board of elections, Stein and the left-leaning plaintiffs in the case.
The timing of this brouhaha is not ideal.
North Carolina residents are already voting, and the state is smashing all records for mail-in ballots because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Friday afternoon, 1 million ballots had been mailed out and more than a quarter-million had been returned and processed.
How North Carolina handles that flood of mail-in ballots has national implications. President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued, without evidence, that absentee, mail-in voting is rife with fraud. Sources already suggest his campaign will challenge the proposed settlements in court if they stand.
Our state is one of the most important battlegrounds in the race between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Polls are a toss-up, and North Carolina could swing the race. Everyone will be watching what we do here.
In short: We need to get this right and the process needs to look fair.
These recent events put a big ding in that idea.
We are not ruling out that this snafu may be the result of poor communications between the board members. But decent and transparent communication is an expectation we demand of our top leaders. Friday’s release of the meeting minutes was at least a good step in that direction.
Online: https://www.fayobserver.com
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Sept. 24
The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer on a report from The Atlantic about possible post-election maneuvers from President Donald Trump’s campaign:
Could Donald Trump and Republicans circumvent the 2020 election results with “faithless” Electoral College electors who defy American voters?
In North Carolina, at least, it’s unlikely.
The Atlantic reported Wednesday that the Trump campaign is “laying the groundwork for post-election maneuvers” that might include having Republican lawmakers install electors in battleground states to vote for Trump in the Electoral College even if he loses the popular vote in those states. The plan could focus on swing states with Republican-led legislatures, including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
This is not the fever dream of conspiracy-obsessed media. When asked about the possibility, Pennsylvania GOP chair Lawrence Tabas was non-committal. “I just don’t think this is the right time for me to be discussing those strategies and approaches, but (lawmakers appointing electors) is one of the options,” he told The Atlantic. “It is one of the available legal options set forth in the Constitution.”
Could it work in North Carolina? First, a brief civics lesson. By N.C. statute, presidential electors for each candidate are nominated in August by the party of the presidential candidates or the candidate themselves. When North Carolina’s presidential winner is elected, the governor appoints those candidate’s electors and instructs them to be present at the State Capitol in early December to vote for their candidate. Electors must vote for the candidate/party who selected them - or resign.
The N.C. General Assembly is adjourned until January, so Republicans don’t have an avenue to choose their own electors. A special session requires the governor or 3/5ths of both the N.C. House and Senate to call one, former General Assembly special counsel Gerry Cohen told the Editorial Board. “So that’s unlikely to happen,” he said.
There are also questions about whether the faithless elector scheme would violate federal law. A memo from the National Task Force on Election Crises said that the law requires states to appoint their slate of electors on Election Day and that state legislatures overriding the will of voters would likely run contrary to the Constitution. Such an attempt would surely end up in the courts, perhaps including the Supreme Court and its hastily appointed new justice.
One thing is certain: It’s incredible that such memos are necessary and that such constitutional end-rounds are even being discussed. But it’s becoming clearer than ever that the president intends to create a landscape in which Republicans can question the legitimacy of the vote, then act upon those questions. In a news conference Wednesday, Trump was asked to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the 2020 election. Trump wouldn’t do so, talking instead about getting “rid of the ballots” – presumably mail-in ballots – and how the “ballots are out of control.”
Then he warned: “Well, we’ll see what happens.”
Trump, of course, has hinted at this before. He’s complained about rigged elections and fraud he seems to see in every vote that might go against him. All of which is, quite simply, baloney. But never before has our president - any president - so bluntly declined to uphold the very core of our Constitution.
The Founding Fathers crafted our country’s path largely with the assumption that the people who led it would act honorably. Our political and governmental structures are alarmingly underprepared for someone who so clearly doesn’t care what the rules are. But now, our country could face such a threat.
It’s no longer hyperbole to speculate that the president might not concede if he loses. It’s not overreacting to wonder what excuse he will invent to avoid admitting he has lost. He’s inventing it right now, a fictional fraud that could allow him to cling to power if voters say he shouldn’t. Republicans in Congress, including Sen. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, should declare now that they will not let Trump throw this election, and this country, into doubt.
Online: https://www.newsobserver.com
Online: https://www.charlotteobserver.com
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