Observations on the Carter/Hamby race & Boone debate

[appal_jack]

Hi NC DU'ers,

I am typing this up in a hurry, and probably too late to really be articulate, but wanted to offer-up a few quick and dirty observations about the recent(4/28) debate for the 5th District Congressional seat between Roy Carter and Diane Hamby.

First and foremost, for a real article on the debate, see Kathleen McFadden's article here:

http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2008/05-01-08/carter_hamby.htm

I really admire Kathleen's skills as a reporter. She is an asset to Democracy 'round here.

Anyway, here are just a few additional points that I can voice since I am not a real reporter, and do not have to try to be objective, etc.

1) Carter is definitely the more charismatic of the two. Deep voice, down-home/aw-shucks speaking style, and a comfortable presence at the podium that I imagine comes from his years of teaching and coaching. Hamby is clearly intelligent and articulate, but for the first 30 minutes or so, she shifted back and forth from foot to foot behind the podium, and seemed generally uncomfortable. Her voice is a little nasal, didactic, and rougher on the ears. This certainly does not influence my vote, but I wonder how she would fare in debates against Foxx in the GE (Foxx is no charmer on the voice/charisma front either though, and she is of course further hampered by her continuous spewing of rw-corporatist-class-war-lying-criminal-trash).

2) As Kathleen reported in the linked article above, Carter and Hamby really do agree on a lot. However, there were a few important differences. For one, Carter bragged about his work improving morale at one of the schools at which he worked, and one of the strategies he alluded to was starting a DRUG TESTING program for students. This is bullshit: public school should not be a dress rehearsal for martial law, no matter how much Carter thinks it can help with the happy faces. Also, the scuttlebutt 'round these parts is that some of Carter's immediate family are big time potheads. I have no problem with herb-smoking, but lots of problems with hypocrisy. Carter should be pushing for harm-reduction and decriminalization (following Obama's excellent if subdued lead on this front), and I can only interpret his regressive position on this as pandering to the law-and-order crowd.

3) Another important difference came to light when a somewhat more-obscure issue was raised. All audience questions were read by the moderator from WATA, and the candidates had no warning of what was coming. About mid debate, the question, "Do you think corporations should enjoy the same rights as American citizens?" was asked. Carter tackled this one first, and kind of hesitated, spluttered, and then said basically, "Of course they should." Hamby showed some better ability to think about an issue on her feet by at least noting that foreign-owned (and American) corporations can and often do use legal protections to cause harm to consumers and avoid liability. She then noted that it is necessary to regulate corporations for reasons of safety, pollution, etc., so, "No, they should not enjoy all of the same rights." Not exactly radical stuff, but an answer I can live with.

4) The debate was very poorly attended. I urge all you NC DU'ers to do what you can to get out the vote.

-app