Part 1: Meek, Faison launch Smear Campaign on Parker for NCDP Chair

In his speech tonight at the Arizona memorial service for the Loughner shooting victims, President Barack Obama urged Americans to "not turn on one another" and to demand civil discourse return to politics, replacing heated debates that have digressed into smear campaigns and harsh rhetoric inside the political arena.

Here in North Carolina, few democrats expect  Bill Faison and Jerry Meek will ever proactively return to civil discourse as President Obama urged. Case in point:  Faison's  statewide teleconference on Tuesday, January 11th.  During that teleconference Faison who is  running for Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party launched into a blanket smear campaign disparaging his opponent, front-runner David Parker.  

Meek, a former NCDP chair quickly recruited Faison upon learning of Parker's candidacy in December 2010. Meek has since taken a very active role in Faison's campaign and this blanket smear campaign has Meek's fingerprints all over it.  Faison and Meek are collaborating to discredit Parker's record and influence the state party's 800-member executive committee to elect Faison instead.  This is a prime example of the anti-social behavior that defines party in-fighting and is just another continuation of the uncivil political discourse President Obama spoke out against during Wednesday night's memorial service.

It took a little research to get the dirt on mudslinging, how it's done and why some people choose to do it. It's best defined as a....

Smear Campaign: (noun, idiom) An effort to damage or call into question somebody's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda.

Here's are the basic elements to creating your garden-variety smear campaign:

Who:  A weaker candidate will use a smear campaign to distract and confuse voters about the opponent's reputation. Smears are considered to be a low, disingenuous and unethical form of discourse.

What: A smear is a simple attempt to undermine the opponent's credibility. A smear campaign is multiple attempts to ruin another's reputation. The #1 tactic is fabricating an alternative record for the opponent and filling it with distortions, half-truths or even outright lies, and unverifiable rumours, better known as baseless gossip. 

How: In politics a "blanket smear campaign" takes multiple issues that don't really have any direct connection to each other and compiles them into talking points to blanket the opponent in negative statements. The goal is to get people to question the target's ethics, capabilities and accomplishments. 

   When the facts contradict the smears, the attacker will ignore them and shift gears to  statements that cannot be easily refuted and referencing "witnesses" or people from the target's past to sound more credible and appear to be "common knowledge." When the target disputes this alternative record, the attacker will claim "where there's smoke, there's fire" to give the impression there must be some truth among the multiple smears.
   Caveat: "Don't blink and don't blush." An attacker must stick to his guns when publicly busted for smearing his opponent. He will then need to rely on being nebulous and evasive when pushed to produce evidence or name names alluded to in the smears.

When: The best timing for using smear tactics is whenever an opponent is presenting an effective argument, case or campaign. Trial lawyers know this tactic is extremely effective in undermining a witness's credibility.

Why:  Political smear campaigns, mud slinging, whatever you want to call it, all boils down to deliberate attempts to malign another's reputation. The motives for engaging in smear tactics are usually personal, financial or revenge.

Most importantly, a smear campaign requires enlisting stupid people to support and perpetuate it. You know the type. People who enjoy besmirching others.

That brings us full-circle to Bill Faison, a trial attorney selling his soul (and integrity) to win the state party chair election on Saturday, January 29, 2011.  Now that you know how a smear campaign works, we'll detail the differences between Parker and Faison and how they're conducting their campaigns.  

Read Part 2's follow-up article here that reveals Faison's unfounded attacks and specific smears with links to irrefutable facts and evidence we located online and that anyone can veri-google. This fact-check article is a must read for anyone voting in the NCDP's January 29th party election in Raleigh.

Bookmark NCDPpolitics to find out the inside story of NCDP's back-room politics.

June Mabry running for NCDP office?

The field of candidates is growing in the election races for the North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Board.  June Mabry, 53, is listed among the candidates attending the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party Candidates Forum and Meet & Greet in Charlotte on Saturday, January 22nd.

As of January 11th, Mabry is one of six candidates confirmed to attend the forum.  Insiders are betting on Mabry to challenge Stella Adams for the First Vice Chair seat. The forum will run from 4 pm to 6pm at the Carole A. Hoefener Community Center (610 E. 7th Street) in Charlotte. 

Mabry is the 8th congressional district chair and a resident of Albermarle. Check back here for confirmation and more details on Mabry's candidacy.

Is Bill Faison telling the truth?

Bill Faison is banking on Governor Bev Perdue's endorsement in his run for Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. In fact, Faison alludes to Perdue backing him in that sly language some politicians use all too often -- saying it in so many words without actually saying it.  The point being to get you to believe it.

On January 10, 2011, Bill Faison participated in a "live blog" between 9 and 10 pm on BlueNC.com to answer questions posted earlier by readers. One person specifically asked Faison "have you met with Governor Perdue regarding this (chair) position? If so, has she expressed her opinion about your candidacy?"

Faison's answer was incredibly unclear. Here's his response, verbatim:

"I have spoken with Governor Perdue, Commissioner Goodwin, Education Secretary Atkinson, Minority Leader Elect Senator Nesbitt, Minority Leader Elect Representative Hackney, numerous Senators and Representatives, Former Governor Hunt, and SEC members across this State. They all want the same thing. They want Democrats to win. They want a Democratic agenda both legislatively and administratively. All of these elected officials know me and have worked with me in the Legislature. They all believe that I can do the better job leading the party and helping all democrats across our State win election." 

 - Bill Faison

Is it just me or is Faison purposely sidestepping the question by being vague? I don't see a straight answer from him as to whether Perdue is or is not endorsing Faison. Instead he uses an unverifiable yet suggestive phrase claiming to know what Perdue and other elected officials "believe"-- that he's the guy to do a better job leading the party.

Well, who  couldn't do a better job in comparison to the current state party chair David Young's performance?  In case you haven't heard by now, two years ago the outgoing NCDP chair Jerry Meek worked like a rabid dog to find someone to run against David Parker who was the front runner for the state party chair seat.  Meek then blackmailed the gubernatorial candidate Perdue into backing David Young over David Parker. It worked. And then things didn't work.

Perdue sided with Young to appease Meek during a tough election while Meek was still chair. Then the state party began its sad descent into handing over most elections to republican candidates over the next two years. Sadly, David Young has done a poor job which contributed directly to our democratic candidates take a major "shellacking" across the state.  Now, Jerry Meek wants Bill Faison to chair the state democratic party.

By now you've got to ask yourself  can we really afford to have another Meek-pick in the most important job of the North Carolina Democratic Party? Yeah, I don't think so either.

Meek's reasons for backing Bill Faison have nothing to do with Faison and everything to do with scrambling again to find a challenger to David Parker who announced his chair candidacy first on the heels of Young's announcement he would not be seeking a second term. It's widely known Meek has a chip on his shoulder where Parker is concerned.

It's also widely known Bill Faison's district is likely to disappear once the Republican majority gets through redistricting this year and consolidating democratic districts to further reduce the democrats votes in the House. Faison's political career is certifiably vulnerable and Meek knows it which is why he chose Faison, like the sacrificial lamb slated for slaughter.

But folks, don't take my word for it. Just look around. Our state and our nation are in dire straits with the Republican takeover after the disastrous mid-term elections which can only blame a small part on the Tea-Party tidal wave of momentum. A big part of our losses here in NC were due to a weak effort to get democrats to the polls and an even more feeble result in raising funds to support those democratic candidates.

We can not afford to sit back and hope for the best. It's time to pay attention and think this through and make up your own mind, instead of running with the herd of sheep led by Meek promising progressives whatever it takes to keep their confidence. For what it's worth, Meek never did make good getting the Progressive Democrats that elusive auxiliary status inside the party.

Now, do you really think a sitting legislator like Bill Faison is going to have the time to run his law firm, fulfill his duties as a legislator, meet with his constituents while running the state party (a 60-hour work week, minimum) and regularly visit the 100 counties in order to raise the much needed party funds rather than for his own re-election campaign? And what happens when the legislature is in session? Who'll run the party and making the trips needed to glad-hand donors, meet activists and solicit funds from PACs? Faison says don't worry, he's a high-energy guy. Yeah, right. He's 63. And there are only so many hours in the day. Most of his are already filled.

Meek's mission is simple. Based on his own personal issues, he is working hard to rob the North Carolina Democratic Party of the solid, proven leadership of David Parker who's a full decade younger than Faison and far more experienced in party-building and party leadership. And Parker knows how to win elections, too, both as a campaign manager and as an elected official (2002-2006). Check out his bio. As for endorsements, a clear majority of the 13 congressional district chairs are solidly backing Parker and are listed along with SEC members and officials on Parker's endorsement page on his website, www.voteparker.com for some time now.

Meanwhile, the Faison website's endorsement page is completely blank and still unmarred by a single name.

Timing is Everything!

Being "in the right place at the right time" is the key to success. But getting that opportunity is pure luck. 

"Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves." - Larry King 

"Anyone who pretends that some kind of luck isn't involved in his success is deluding himself." - Arthur Hailey 

So is the case of Jerry Meek, former chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. Lucky to be in the right place at the right time, Meek benefitted immensely from the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign's aggressive grassroots efforts to turn North Carolina blue for the first time in 34 years. However, progressive democrat and elected official, Dan Besse, took this NCDP Insider to task on BlueNC's website yesterday for poking holes in the Meek Myth.

"All I can tell from his/her blog is that he/she detests Jerry Meek and blames him for everything wrong with the NCDP. Which, if nothing else, certainly overstates Jerry's degree of influence," said Besse. "And, of course, it doesn't provide much in the way of coherent narrative--since two years ago while Jerry was chair a Democratic presidential candidate won NC for the first time since 1976. Personally, I don't credit our chair party at any given time with magical powers for either good or evil, but let's be consistent."

Okay. If you grant Meek credit for turning the state blue, then you have to grant Meek credit for the state party's failures, too.  Were it not for the Obama campaign opening 52 field offices throughout NC in 2008, a presidential election year where turnout is expected to be higher, NC would have remained a political "red state."

The fact is of the 4.3 million votes cast in NC, a mere 14,177 more people voted for the democratic presidential candidate over the republican one.  That's less than a third-of-one-percent (.003 %). Those 52 field offices diligently registered new voters and it paid off. North Carolina had the highest increase in voter turnout in the country, growing from 57% to 65%.  For that the Obama campaign deserves full credit, not Jerry Meek as some might want to believe.

"The essential ingredient of politics is timing." - Pierre Trudeau, former Canadian Prime Minister

Many a great idea that failed initially was labeled as ahead of its time, a polite way of saying "bad timing." Conversely, when things work out well, it's because the timing was right.  And that brings us to Meek who had the good fortune to chair the democratic party at the right time -- during a historic presidential election year with unprecedented turnout and democratic-momentum. That's not to say that Meek didn't contribute to the state democratic party's success in some ways.

Most democratic candidates who won their 2008 races did so on the coat-tails of the Obama candidacy's excitement and enormous democratic voter turnout. Even Meek admits he didn't do anything phenomenal. "I don't know that we did anything different than in other states, but the magnitude was so different," said Meek. "We were the only state in the country with a nationally targeted presidential race, gubernatorial race and Senate race."  And that fact brings us to back to why the Obama campaign opened those 52 field offices in North Carolina. They weren't counting on the state party to get the job done.

So where did Meek screw up? Consider his bullying the 2008 gubernatorial democratic candidate into supporting Meek's personal choice for state party chair, David Young, in an overt effort (and some say personal vendetta) to block contender David Parker.  By hand-picking an ineffective successor, Meek is fully responsible for setting up the party's candidates to fail in subsequent elections. Today, Wake County, the state's largest county, has new republican majorities on both its school board and county commission after democratic candidates got slaughtered at the polls.

Then there's the money excuse. Republicans raised way more money than Democrats since 2008 and out-advertised them as well.  But that's not the real reason democrats lost recent elections. The NC Democratic Party slipped into cruise-control after the presidential election, smugly expecting the newly registered voters to just show up at all future elections.

That didn't happen. By letting voter engagement dissipate, the party had to reactivate the base, and that didn't happen either. As a result, Democrats lost ground and control of the state legislature to Republicans for the first time in over 100 years. 

Then there's the state party's 2010 US Senate primary debacle. Covertly, Meek coalesced the progressives democratic base to support the untested, "camera-ready" candidate Cal Cunningham to challenge an older, female, established and proven candidate, Elaine Marshall (the NC Secretary of State) for Republican Senator Richard Burr's seat.

Republicans gleefully watched as egotistical democratic party leaders, here and in Washington DC, tried to force Cunningham on voters and ended up imploding the democratic candidates' war chests. Slyly, Meek eventually endorsed Marshall publicly after polls showed Cunningham's numbers dropping weeks before the primary run-off.  Like a rat escaping a sinking ship.

For those who insist on wearing rose-colored glasses, it can be hard to see the facts clearly.  Still, nothing is as obnoxious as taking credit for others' work and results, nor as transparent as the denial of pure dumb luck.

Dannie Montgomery running for NCDP Chair

Correction: This post was updated to correct an inaccuracy concerning Montgomery's 2009 bid for Chair, not first vice chair as previously mentioned.

Dannie Montgomery has joined the race seeking to become the next Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party.  You may remember Dannie Montgomery. She was the First Vice Chair of the state party for six years, four of those alongside former party chair Jerry Meek but that ended in 2009.

Montgomery and Meek had a falling-out at some point and tension was clear between them when Meek's would neither back nor endorse Montgomery in her 2009 bid for chair. Instead, Meek backed David Young. We haven't heard much from Montgomery since then but that changed yesterday when Montgomery emailed her campaign announcement to hundreds of "executive (party) members" seeking their support and votes.

"I am passiionate (sic) about the Democratic Party and your support in my campaign will be priceless to the state of North Carolina. My greatest strength lie in my blending of leadership styles that incorporate what are seen as traditionally male and female traits: vigor, hard work, kindness, rigorous discipline, integrity, creativity, inspiration, and much more." Montgomery adds, "I am available for a meeting, forum, or conversation at your convenience and look forward to discussing the future of the North Carolina Demoratic Party and your endorsement. We took a "shulacking" in the 2010 election and 2012 will not be a repeat performance."
- Dannie Montgomery

The Anson County democrat and teacher listed her numerous positions served in various democratic party   ranks (county chair, 1999-2005, 8th congressional district chair in 2004, lost a run-off election for county commissioner, Larry Kissell campaign team member, etc.) and her awards (3x teacher of the year at her school). No real specifics on how she'll engage or activate the party's base.

Montgomery's pitch did point out the failures of the mid-term elections as belonging to the current state party administration. "We have a problem.  You and I are the solution. The NC General Assembly is in Republican hands after a century of Democratic leadership and the attacks have already begun. This takes place at a time when we have a Democratic Governor and a Democratic President leading our state and country. Now is the time to address the challenges of the 2010 elections with new leadership, vision, skill, and renewed determination to place NC government back in the hands of the people who have a proven record of success for the people of North Carolina."

Unfortunately, Montgomery's candidacy could cause more harm than good.  By running as a late-entry and third option, she could be an election spoiler and hand her "frenemy" and nemesis Meek's candidate a narrow victory. Then again, the backlash against Meek is palpable inside the party. People are fed up with his egotism that he actually controls the party.

Still, politically savvy insiders know Montgomery has plopped herself into a strategic and favorable position. By entering the race now, Montgomery knows that should she come in third place (and she will), she is perfectly poised to be courted, caucused and a**-kissed by her fellow chair candidates for her endorsement before the next voting round.  If Montgomery's as smart as we think she is, she'll plan to drop out early and throw her support (and her supporters' votes) to David Parker, the stronger leader of the two candidates.
And wouldn't that be a cold, hard slap in the face to Meek?

Montgomery should consider dropping out of the chair race and instead run for her old job against Stella Adams who's record of success is anemic at best.  Better yet, Montgomery might want to challenge second vice chair Delmas Parker for his seat. Either way, Danny Montgomery is going to impact this party election one way or another.

Lets hope it's for the better.

OMG. There's Nerve, there's Gall and then there's Stella Adams.

Stella Adams with Gov. Bev Perdue, 2010

Stella Adams,  the first-vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, wants your vote again after a lackluster term as a party officer while a Republican slaughter of democratic candidates took place in the 2010 mid-term elections.  Adams, first elected in January 2009 along with party chair David Young (both with the full support of former chair Jerry Meek), promised to keep the presidential momentum going. Well, that didn't happen. 

"I was devastated by our losses in November and after a great deal of self-reflection I believe that there are critical issues facing our Party moving forward and I commit to help pick up the pieces and rebuild from our True Party base and constituencies," Adams states in her email plea to party voters.

"I hope I have earned the support of those who are better acquainted with my record," said Adams in her email announcement.  Record? What record? 

Adams claim she's done plenty for the party using social media by -- get this -- tweeting 700 NC democrats regularly. The same ones who can vote for her to retain her office. The rest of us didn't hear diddley squat from her. Adam's idea of working for candidates? She states she "promoted them through (her) Facebook page." Uhm. Yeah. Do you believe this?

Adams claimed she "deciminated" party positions. I have no idea what that means. Decimated them? Disseminated, maybe? I don't think she knows either.  Sorry, Stella, but your track record of "protecting the environment" and "defending the weak" and "speaking truth to power" did nothing to get out the vote in 2010 or rake in the contributions.

Still riding the Obama Campaign coat tails, the sly Adams planted a picture of Obama in her email and mentions how many young people and African Americans joined the Democratic party before admitting "we failed to keep them active and engaged." Nowhere does she mention how she'll fix this or get these voters engaged.  Still, if we re-elect her, Adams wrote, "I promise to re-double my efforts to involve and engage these voters in PARTY activities."

I guess that means twice as many tweets. 

Stella Adams, Back in the Day.

Stella Adams just doesn't get it. The problem is we need party leaders who know how to get out the vote and bring in the money.  Instead, Adams is all about "platforms" and "core constituencies" and other party buzz-speak that doesn't mean a damn thing while Republicans are taking the oath to office that Democrats once held.  "I am willing to stand firm," says Adams. 

Willing to?  No, thanks!

That sly ole Adams won't even use a current photo in her pitch for re-election votes. This glamor shot Adams included in her email is a few years old. Very different from the picture shown at the top of this blog, taken from Adams' own Facebook album this past year. 

Sometimes it's the little things that tell you as much about a person as the big things. 

Who's running the NCDP into the ground?

The North Carolina Democratic Party will elect new party officers on January 29, 2011 in Raleigh unfortunately the choices are stale as Thanksgiving croutons. Would you believe that most of the current NCDP party officers are seeking re-election?

I know! Stop laughing. It's true.

Stella Adams, 52,  is seeking re-election as the NCDP's First Vice Chair.  Delmas Parker, 73, wants to hold onto the Second Vice Chair job, again. And Tony McEwen, 31, actually wants to keep his Third Vice Chair position.

These are the same people who sat on their bureaucratic backsides while the NC legislature flopped into Republican control for the first time in over a 100 years. At least current NCDP Chair David Young had the good sense (of shame?) to announce early he won't be seeking re-election after the piss-poor results of the mid-term elections across the state. The race is now between David Parker, 54 of Statesville  and Bill Faison, 64 of Efland.

According to the state party's Plan of Organization, the First Chair must be the opposite gender of the chair. Presuming no new names come up for Chair, women candidates are sorely needed to oppose Stella Adams who wants to retain her office. C'MON, ladies. Line up! We need some new blood infused into the party! Stella Adams has a history of abusing her position. Just ask the Africa-American Caucus of NC.  These days, no one knows who's actually the bonafide leader since the elected president wasn't one of Adam's minions so she instigated a coup to replace the elected leader with her own puppet, Michael Lawson.

Tony McEwen did help pull together a new state auxiliary group, the Hispanic Democrats of NC. While that's all very well and good. No news as to how he might have actually helped elect any democratic candidates.

Kathy Knight is following David's lead and moving on by not seeking re-election as party Secretary. That's good news since Knight hasn't bothered to send out any meeting minutes in months.

There are some not so new names coveting the secretary's post. Both Melvin Williams, 69 of Beulaville and Kevin A. Smith, 34, of Durham, want the job.  Melvin Williams is a long-time supporter of Jerry Meek, the "genius" who handpicked David Young, the current NCDP Chair.  But back to Melvin, the 7th Congressional District Chair. Wonder if he'll resign that job to be secretary? This is not Kevin Smith's first run for party office. In 2009, he lost his bid for state party's Third Vice Chair despite an admirable speech.  This race should prove to be interesting.

Treasurer Muriel Offerman has done an excellent job of maintaining the books and keeping the budget tidy. She hasn't announced her interest in seeking re-election. If she does seek re-election, she'd get my vote mainly because of who she endorses for chair.

The current state party officers should be embarrassed to ask to be re-elected. Their track record has been abysmal having handed over the  NC legislature over to the Republicans, a first in over a century.  Lets rethink who runs the party and elect competent officers focused on electing democrats, not securing their own influence.

Who should be the next NCDP Party Chair?

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.