PAGE CJ16
JANUARY 2013 | CAROLINA JOURNAL
Parting SHot
Chairman Parker Hails Return to ‘Normalcy’ for Dems (a CJ Parody) By seymour Green Political Correspondent
S
RALEIGH
tate Democratic Party Chairman David Parker, a Statesville attorney, said he sees no need to seek a second term, taking credit for what he calls a “substantial rebound” for key members of the party near the end of his tenure. In an exclusive interview with Carolina Journal, Parker discounted the significant electoral losses his party suffered in November, and the bad publicity resulting from a sexual harassment charge that a former male employee made against the party’s male executive director. Instead, Parker said, his behindthe-scenes efforts have helped rebuild the reputations of six disgraced democrats. “These individuals have been through some tough times, but thanks to my influence and advice, they will once again be influential and respected North Carolinians. Rebuilding their reputations is key to rebuilding the Democratic Party,” he said.
The six • Former Gov. Mike Easley, who took a felony plea on campaign finance violations involving improperly reporting campaign flights: “I helped him
Mike Easley
Mary Easley
McQueen Lanny Campbell Wilson
Ruffin Poole
Beverly Perdue
State Democratic Party Chairman David Parker feels the engineering of the “substantial rebound” of the financial prospects and reputations of in-trouble Democrats is his lasting legacy to the once-dominant state party. (CJ file photos)
get his law license restored in December, even though he still has not paid $95,000 of a $100,000 fine his campaign owes the State Board of Elections. Mike told me people have already forgotten about that fine.” • Former first lady Mary Easley, fired from a $170,000-a-year job at N.C. State University that she obtained as a result of her husband’s intervention: “I guided her though a successful settlement with N.C. State officials involv-
ing a reworked retirement scheme. Her new annual government pension jumped from $37,171 to $80,597. She was very thankful.” • Ruffin Poole, a top aide to Mike Easley, who took a felony plea on corruption charges: “After Ruffin got out of federal prison in April, I helped him buy a new Raleigh home down the street from his old boss, Mike Easley. I’m still working on getting his law license restored, and I hear he’s becom-
ing a lobbyist.” • McQueen Campbell, the former chairman of the N.C. State Board of Trustees, who stepped down after his role was revealed in both Mary Easley’s hiring and in providing Mike Easley with illegal campaign flights: “He won’t be flying politicians around for awhile, but I hooked him up with the football and basketball coaching staff at State. They like free flights, too, and these appear to be legal. McQueen say’s he’s happy as long as he is flying someone important. ” • Lanny Wilson, a major Democratic fundraiser who was involved but not charged in the scheme that sent Poole to prison and helped the Easleys get a sweetheart deal on coastal property: “I called in some favors and got the [state Department of Transportation] board to name a Wilmington bridge after Wilson. Lanny told me he is beginning to feel important again.” • Gov. Bev Perdue: “Even though people might think she doesn’t like me because I refused to step down as party chairman when she asked me to, we are actually good buddies. I helped her come up with some excuses for not sending her unspent campaign funds to the Democratic Party. She is sitting on about $1.2 million that she can use for a variety of things. She said she CJ owes me big time.”
An Investment Plan For N.C.’s Economic Recovery The ongoing debate in Washington and the upcoming national campaigns for president and Congress will offer plenty of opportunities for pro-growth politicians to craft, explain, and sell reforms of the federal budget, federal taxation, federal regulation, and federal agencies and programs. In the new book Our Best Foot Forward: An Investment Plan for North Carolina’s Economic Recovery, John Locke Foundation President John Hood tells North Carolina’s policymakers and citizens that economic policy is not the exclusive domain of presidents, federal lawmakers, or the Federal Reserve. John Hood States and localities can play critical roles in economic policy — for good or for ill. We invite you to read and share this plan for our state’s recovery with your family, friends, and co-workers. Go to http://johnlocke.org for more information.
The John Locke Foundation, 200 W. Morgan St. Suite 200, Raleigh, NC, 27601 919-828-3876 • JohnLocke.org • CarolinaJournal.com • info@johnlocke.org