Every other year, a handful of the same old faces resurface to lay claim to the six officers (electable) seats of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
This year is not all that different.
Running for Party Chair are two well-liked democrats:
- David Parker, a Democratic National Committee member and NC super delegate
- Bill Faison, a NC House legislator
Insiders know David Parker is the front runner since his announcement on the heels of current NCDP chair David Young's announcement not to seek re-election. Young knew better than to run for another term after the devastating losses Democrats suffered statewide on Young's watch during the mid-term 2010 elections and the county elections. David Parker has the support of the majority of congressional district party chairs due to the tax-check-off debacle squabble over sharing funding that David Young tried to prevent.
Insiders know who's actually responsible for picking one of the worst state party boards in the NC History. David Young presided over the democratic party after being hand-picked by the out-going NCDP chair Jerry Meek. Was Meek seeking to prop up a weaker chair to make himself look good? All we know is thanks to Jerry Meek, the NCDP handed the NC Legislature over to the Republican party, giving the Republicans the upper-hand and voting majority for the FIRST TIME in 100 years!
Bill Faison seems to be a nice guy. Like David Parker, he's an attorney. Both have held elected office. But there are differences. Faison, recently elected to a fourth 2-year term to the NC House, has absolutely no experience running a political party which is a very different animal compared to running a campaign 1/100th in size of the party's responsibilities. Democrats have to ask themselves if Faison is going to have the time to continue running his law firm, serving in the legislature and deal with a nasty divorce that's been dragging on for nearly 2 years.
According to Lindy Creech, Faison's wife, Faison has stuck her with feeding and tending the 30 horses he bred and half the tax bill on the family residences. In September 2010, Mrs Faison filed a post-separation document with the Orange County courts seeking recourse to his "intentional infliction of emotional distress." Until recently, the 55-year old homemaker and mother of his six kids handled Faison's law firm advertising, leaving her with no visible income since their split. In his defense, Faison issued a press release two months ago claiming his soon-to-be ex-wife believed him to be Bill Gates, not Bill Faison. Nice. Real nice.
Why would a sitting legislator want to run the state democratic party? It's known Faison's district will evaporate under the new redistricting plans Republicans are drafting. This leaves Faison out of office and irrelevant. Running the state party would give him leverage and a way to maintain influence inside the party once he loses his legislative position. Another democrat seeking party office to stay in elected office? He wouldn't be the first one or the last to pull this sad approach.
Bottomline, the NC GOP is quietly laying in wait for the NC Democrats to screw up again. January 29, 2011 is D-Day for Democrats. That's when State Executive Committee members, super delegates and elected officials will converge in Raleigh to vote for the next leader of the NC Democratic Party. After a spate of negative press and ugly ethics accusations, Democrats need a leader who won't make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Democrats, wake up and smell the coffee! No more intraparty conflicts. We can't afford to stroke egos while voters elect republicans. Make your vote count on January 29th and vote for David Parker for NC Democratic Party Chair.
As long as Jerry Meek and his wife, Rep. Tricia Cotham, try to control the NC Democratic Party, the Republicans are going to control NC.
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