Governor Cooper has been an energizing force for Democratic fundraising during his first year in office, all while keeping his approval rating higher than it was twelve months ago. Governor Cooper is setting the standard for how Democrats in the south can govern both effectively and popularly.
This morning the NCDP issued a press release announcing a record haul for the year: $2.4 million cash on hand heading into the midterms. One of the headline tags states that the “Party’s Fundraising a Sign of Gov. Cooper’s Unifying Leadership, Strong Break the Majority Initiative, Grassroots Support.” You have to take a partisan press release with a grain of salt, or maybe a whole lick, but this one is compelling.
Roy Cooper won in an election year where both Donald Trump and Senator Richard Burr garnered relatively modest margins over their Democratic opponents in the state. Without a doubt, former Governor McCrory’s acquiescence to some of the more divisive policies enacted by the NCGA dampened his approval rating. McCrory was elected to be a pragmatic, business-minded conservative, but in practice he rubber-stamped laws that received backlash both at home and across the nation.
In contrast, Cooper has governed as a pragmatist. Take, for example, his attempt to rescind the controversial and unnecessary HB2, the so-called bathroom bill. To achieve this deal in a Republican supermajority environment, compromises had to be made. By the time they did reach a solution, plenty of constituents in both parties were upset. Letters in newspapers across the state lamented how Cooper had “turned his back on the LGBT community.” To me, he made the best of what was a nearly impossible situation. Politics is inherently divisive — you cannot please everyone, but compromise is a step in that direction.
The HB2 example demonstrates how precarious governing in North Carolina can be. We are a purple state, and that means our leaders need to be mindful of how averse the general public might be to fringe, hyperpartisan governance. Governor McCrory learned this in 2016, and 2018 might deliver that news to the NCGA. Attempting to solidify their positions in power by altering maps and changing election rules does not endear them to the electorate — they should focus more effort on legislating in ways that encourage reelection by merit as opposed to mapmaking.
North Carolinians expect a realistic and pragmatic leader as their governor, and Roy Cooper has offered just that over the past year. Republican leaders in the NCGA would do well to find ways to work together with the governor, as opposed to subverting his and the attorney general’s budgets and powers. North Carolinians elected Democrats in both of those positions to counter the unchecked legislature, and to hopefully encourage bipartisanship. With that much money going into the midterms for Democrats, Republicans may have no choice after November than to seek common ground.
Up until a week ago I would have agree, mostly, with this article about Governor Cooper.
However, the Governor may have blown it badly by approving the water quality permit for the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
You may, like him, be badly under-estimating the importance of this project to the environmental community and to progressives in general inside and outside North Carolina’s borders. This is front-line battle material for the future of the planet.
For example, it may well be that Hillary Clinton lost just enough Green votes to lose the election because of her shameful silence on the Dakota Access Pipeline. The ACP is no less important and Cooper has gone beyond silence to join the other side.
Those who will make the argument that climate change and new fossil fuel infrastructure is a “single issue” that should not be the basis for choosing our elected leaders are engaging in a short-sighted, sophisticated form of climate denial. Climate Change is not a single issue. It is life or death for future generations and for the present, to many people who are experiencing rising seas, the devastation of intense and more frequent storms, fires and droughts around the world, including in America.
It’s likely the Green Party will be on the ballot in North Carolina (whether you choose to acknowledge it or not) in the coming election in many legislative districts. If the Democrats continue playing patsy with Duke Energy and the fossil fuel industry by allowing new fossil fuel infrastructure to be built, such as the ACP and the new generation of natural gas power plants Duke is planning, as the worldwide scientific community is urgently screaming that we need to begin immediately and rapidly phasing out the extraction and burning of fossil fuels to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, you will find yourselves continuing to wander in the political wilderness.
It would be wise for you to inform your favorite Democratic candidates that from now on they are going to have to compete for the Green vote if they want a chance at winning elections. The corporate campaign money they are taking from Duke Energy and the fossil fuel industry is about to become more of a liability than an asset. It’s time to grow a pair and stand up to these powerful interests.