Posted on 09/11/2003 5:56:55 AM PDT by FernForGovernor
Fellow Republicans:
Thank you for your posts regarding my campaign. I will try to check the forum as often as possible and reply when I can. As you can imagine, I have a very busy schedule with the campaign.
I decided to run for Governor because something must be done to address our state's fiscal crisis. If we continue to borrow to spend more than we can afford, we will end up like California. I’m told their deficit is so big that if they fired every state employee (Teachers, Highway Patrol, Prison Guards, etc…) they would still have a deficit! We don’t want to follow their example of raising taxes and running off jobs.
We need a Governor that will take immediate action to reform our budget process and I believe my background as a CPA will help with that task. Most importantly, I have a plan that can help bring jobs to NC. I understand small business, which creates most jobs. I even won an award from the U.S. Small Business Administration as the accountant that did the most in the nation for small business. I also plan to focus on improving education and transportation.
I plan to address illegal immigration as a campaign issue. Were you aware that our DMV is giving out drivers licenses for illegal aliens? Governor Mike Easley has rolled out a red carpet to illegal aliens, encouraging them to come here, and it is costing North Carolinians their jobs.
North Carolinians are generous people, but we must put the needs and security of our families and our communities first. Illegal immigrants are placing a tremendous burden on our health, education, and criminal justice systems. Mike Easley’s policies make establishing a false identity easy in North Carolina and that is why we have a network that is bringing illegal immigrants, criminals, gangs, drug dealers, sex offenders, drunk drivers, and terrorists to our state.
Once again, I appreciate your interest and I enjoy reading the forum when I can. Please drop by my website at www.ForFern.com from time to time.
Would anyone here consider joining our campaign?
Sincerely,
Senator Fern Shubert Candidate for NC Governor
Great! What part are you moving to?
with regards from Rocky Mount, NC...
I said they're the highest in the REGION. Our state income tax is as high as 8.25% for some folks. The ONLY tax that is lower here is the cigarette tax, which doesn't help us non-smokers very much.
At the risk of boring other readers, let me talk about Union County, of which you are, I believe, a native, and which has been my home for five years (I'm a native of Charlotte, practically next door). Obviously, economic, social, and political change have been profound in Union County over the past decade or two. Who would have thought, even a few years ago, that our county would be represented by two Republican Members of Congress, a Republican State Senator, two Republican State Representatives, and have a 5-0 GOP County Commission and a Republican Sheriff?
Union County has nominally become a single-party county. And yet, there is a scism -- a big one, in fact, between pro- and anti-economic development interests. Frankly, Fern, the only thing that bothers me about your candidacy is the fact that many of the anti-development activists have backed you in the past. I refuse to play the guilt by association game, but some of these folks are "way out there" in terms of their opposition to economic growth of any kind, be it retail, manufacturing, or even water and sewer line extensions. I realize this has relatively little to do with statewide issues, but I, for one, would feel a lot better about your candidacy if you could somehow distance yourselves from those who want to see Union County become strictly a bedroom community for Charlotte, with all job growth and new shopping opportunities on the other side of the county line.
I've made no decision yet on the Gubernatorial primary. I like what I hear from you so far, but I can say the same for at least two other candidates. I'll keep my ears, and my mind, open. Again, thanks so much for dropping by.
The Dems have a stranglehold on state government, and our taxes are highest in the region.
I plan to move at my earliest opportunity.
In my judgment, you are either overly pessimistic, or too impatient; possibly both.
Look at the progress we've made in recent years. A majority of our Congressional delegation is Republican, and there's not a "RINO" among 'em. We have a better-than-even chance of electing our second Republican Senator next year, and we have close to a 50/50 chance of winning the Governor's chair (maybe the lady who began this thread, in fact).
And, critically, we're in striking distance of taking both chambers of the General Assembly. We're close now, but as you know, "close" means little in politics. But if we get over the hump in 2004, we'll likely stay there. There remain a lot of conservatives who vote Democratic at the local levels, because they want to be operating within the majority party. But once the Democrats lose their majority (and they are living on borrowed time now, and know it), a massive momentum shift will occur. Look at South Carolina. Once the GOP gained control of the State Assembly, a near-sweep of the Council of State races ensued. Look, for that matter, at Union County, North Carolina. Once the Dems lost their hold on the County Commission, it was over; they immediately ceased to be even competitive.
I'm a North Carolina native, and I'm old enough to remember when the only significant concentrations of Republicans were in the mountains and in upper-income suburban areas of our larger cities -- not even close to forming the basis of a statewide majority. We are close now. Increasingly, Bubba is voting Republican, and once he sees that a GOP majority is at hand, he'll stay.
It remains to be seen whether this symphony is unfinished.
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