Posted on 10/04/2004 7:07:30 PM PDT by southernnorthcarolina
CARY, N.C. - Sparring over education, Gov. Mike Easley on Monday compared challenger Patrick Ballantine's record on education to Saddam Hussein's record on civil rights.
By the end of the day, Easley's rhetorical flourish - which highlighted an hourlong debate on education issues - had Ballantine's campaign demanding an apology.
Ballantine, a Republican, came hard after Easley in a lively televised forum held at SAS Institute. He argued the Democrat is not the education governor he promised to be when he won election four years ago.
In a retort that raised eyebrows in the crowd, Easley responded: "If Patrick Ballantine is a champion of education, then Saddam Hussein is a champion of civil rights."
Easley said he followed through on a promise made in his 2001 State of the State address, when he said he would "not let a budget shortfall become an education shortfall."
On the other hand, when Ballantine served as a state senator earlier this decade, he cast votes against balanced budgets that increased education funding, while proposing alternatives that would have harmed efforts to improve education, Easley said.
"He voted against Smart Start. He voted against ... More at Four. He voted against reducing class size. He voted against teacher pay increases every year he was there that I was there," Easley said. "If we had followed (Ballantine's) path, where would we be in education versus where we are, a national leader in education?"
Ballantine said it Easley who has failed North Carolina students.
"(He) fell short," Ballantine said. "We're way behind. And I've been a champion for education long before Gov. Easley was even governor.
"I stand with teachers and parents and children. And my opponent stands with the bureaucracy," Ballantine added.
Though the debate was on one of Easley's favorite topics, the governor appeared frustrated by the format and had trouble confining his answers to the allotted time.
Though Ballantine brushed off Easley's Hussein comment immediately after the debate, his campaign later demanded an apology.
"We thought that was over the top, comparing Patrick to a mass murderer like Saddam Hussein," campaign director Bob Rosser said. "It was not only over the line, it was offensive."
No "I'm sorry" was forthcoming from Easley's camp.
"It might not have been the best example, but Ballantine calling himself the champion of education is absurd," spokesman Jay Reiff said.
Ballantine and Easley differed on nearly every issue discussed, from school testing to a proposed state lottery to who has done more to address the historic "Leandro" school funding lawsuit.
Easley repeatedly cited National Assessment of Educational Progress scores showing fourth- and eighth-graders making vast improvements in math and other subjects.
"I'm not saying we are great. I'm saying we're making great progress," Easley said.
But Ballantine said the fact that North Carolina's SAT scores still rank among the bottom 10 and the state continues to have a dropout rate near 40 percent reflects a different reality.
"We are near the bottom," Ballantine said. "He says we're near the top."
Easley said total education spending has increased by nearly $1 billion during his term, but Ballantine volleyed back with figures showing education spending as a proportion of the state budget shrinking during the same period.
Easley said that if he is re-elected, he will keep fighting for legislative approval of a statewide referendum on a lottery. He blamed lawmakers like Ballantine for failing to let citizens choose whether to have a numbers game that would fund education.
Ballantine countered that a lottery would supply less than one percent of the state's annual needs for education.
And Easley criticized Ballantine's pledge to introduce budgets that would boost pay for state employees - including teachers - by 5 percent annually and proposals to cut taxes by $1 billion, all while funding teacher training, class-size reductions and school enrollment increases.
Ballantine pointed to state budgets in the late 1990s that cut taxes and raised teacher pay at the same time as proof that such proposal can be accomplished.
"The governor on the one hand bashes me for cuts and bashes me for proposing increases for teachers," Ballantine said. "You can't have it both ways, governor."
In a new television advertisement, Ballantine argues that Easley broke a 2000 election promise by raising taxes once he was in office.
Using a grainy image of Easley, the picture narrows to just his eyes, while the ad highlights tax hikes Easley has signed into law, ranging from a sales tax increase to a tax on soft drinks.
The ad quotes Easley as saying in 2000, "I can promise you I would not favor any tax that would be balanced on the backs of the working people."
Easley responded Monday that he had no intention of raising taxes when he ran for governor. The governor has repeatedly said he had no alternative when faced with budget shortfalls that ultimately reached more than $1.6 billion in 2002.
The governor also said a million North Carolina families have benefited from a child tax credit increase and the elimination of the so-called "marriage penalty" for joint tax filers during his first term.
A second, more general debate, is scheduled for Oct. 15.
North Carolina Golf Association? Relevance?
Silly girl! Naturally Creative Goobers of America. Get it?
And just why are you associated with this organization, Steve? I'm starting to get a really funny feeling about you ...
That should be self-explanatory. Ask anyone who knows me.
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