Dohl: Liddy’s fortunes
Liddy’s to lose
The fight for control for the U.S. Senate is a close call. Last week, a sudden decline in GOP spending suggested that fortunes had shifted in Ohio, which, along with Missouri and Tennessee, constituted the GOP’s firewall. Should the Senate swing Democratic, expect the grousing about Liddy Dole to expand with gusto. Dole, who has spent more time in Montana than Salisbury this year, has already been roundly criticized for slow fund-raising.
Her debate with Chuck Schumer yesterday (Oct. 25) at the National Press club is on the C-Span homepage. She talks about Iraq, redefines Stay the Course and issues a scary warning about Iran. “Are we now going to give them the perfect situation by leaving Iraq before we’re finished?” she asks. A few seconds later she laments that Iraq is being used by the Democats as a “political football” and trots out a stability-of-the-world argument. She also notes that the president is not on the ballot.
Early 2007 will be shakeout time for challengers
The nascent vincibility of Liddy will likely cause the campaign to unseat her to kick into high gear. Speculation in this area always surrounds the intentions of Gov. Easley and Attorney General Roy Cooper, who announced in July he would seek re-election and not run for governor. But there’s also talk about Greensboro state Rep. Pricey Harrison and State Treasurer Richard Moore, who has been lining up a bid for governor mansion. Moore may just decide that taking on Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue in a primary will be a heck of a lot harder than going head to head with Liddy in the general.
Here’s hoping!
I’ve been pretty vocal about suggesting that Moore run against Dole . . . mostly because I think Perdue is already in a position to win the governor’s race. And she definitely has a better chance of beating either Smith or Graham, from where I sit, than does Moore.
With regard to Dole, the empress definitely has no clothes. She may be a nice lady, but there’s ZERO evidence of the kind of competence and intellectual horsepower this country needs right now.
One problem for Moore is that he’s raised state race money and can’t transfer the funds to a federal race. He can set up an organization with the funds that can become the heart of his Senate campaign, but the money can’t follow.
He can just set up an Art Pope style 527 organization and challenge Liddy starting right now. Just as long as he doesn’t coordinate with himself, he’s home free.
God knows the SBOE won’t care.