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Click here to read Andy’s response to Bob Rucho’s attacks.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Dear Friends and Supporters:
The Election is Tomorrow! Thank you for your continued and loyal support! These last four months have been rather long. But, your kind words of encouragement have sustained me as I have campaigned around South Charlotte. Victory is just around the corner and less than 48 hours away!
The Good News is that I continue to lead the Election for NC Senate, District 39. Our latest polling shows we are winning, but we cannot win without your vote! The ultimate poll is the one on Election Day at the ballot box! Leads can disappear rather quickly if we do not have a strong turnout on Tuesday! This is where you will come into play. We must have a strong turn out to win!
You are so important to our victory! I am asking you to tell your friends and neighbors about how important this race is, and why they must go to the polls to vote tomorrow.
To increase our turnout, I am asking you to take a friend with you when you go vote: a friend, a spouse, a family member, a neighbor, and/or a coworker. This simple act will double our turnout and ensure a victory for Charlotte’s Best Leadership Team to Bring Real Change to Raleigh: Pat McCrory for Governor and Andy Dulin for NC Senate!
With your help, I can help us address our critical needs here in Charlotte: fighting to reduce crime, fully-funding our state judiciary (more DAs, more technology, and more judges), building more state prisons, building more roads, improving our schools, and working to reduce our tax burden.
When I first ran for public office, I promised my constituents in—City Council District 6—I would be accessible, visible, and accountable. During my two terms of service, I have delivered on this promise attending hundreds of community meetings and neighborhood associations to speak with you and hear your concerns. Constituent Service is so important to me it is why I give out my personal cell phone (704.968.8776) so you can always reach me and always find me. This is the kind of conservative representation I will continue to give you in Raleigh.
In closing, I need your vote if we are going to win. I have been your conservative voice and advocate in Charlotte and now, I want to be that same conservative voice in Raleigh. As your City Councilman, I always asked the hard questions down at City Council to control wasteful spending and keep our taxes low. You can be assured I will continue to be an effective voice on your behalf, keeping you informed on the issues in Raleigh.
Together, we can win tomorrow! Please vote Andy Dulin for NC Senate. Thank you.
Regards,
Andy
Andy Dulin
NC Senate, District 39
www.VoteAndyDulin.com
WHY BOB WENT NEGATIVE:
Some folks on the campaign trail and around town have asked me, “Why is this NC Senate race so nasty? Why did Bob Rucho decide to negatively attack you personally?” It is a frustrating question because it takes away from the issues, but it is one I am willing to answer to set the record straight.
My campaign team tells me Bob went negative because he had no other way to beat me. Early in this race, we as a campaign decided to run a positive campaign and launch a series of campaign ads talking about why I was running, and what issues mattered to me and which issues were ones I was going to champion in Raleigh. Polling in late March/early April by both campaigns showed I had a substantial lead. Our message was resonating with the voters. The only way my opponent could crawl his way back into the race was to attack me personally, distort my record, and make me appear to the voters as someone I am not with media attacks on radio, TV, and through the mail with messages we all recognize as a collection of half-truths and misrepresentation of the facts. Bob Rucho’s decision to go negative is a shame. It deprives the voters of the chance to meet the candidates, talk about the issues, and make informed decisions about who they would like to represent them. Bob Rucho could not win on the issues so he had to engage in his failed personal attacks to try to paint me as a “tax and spend” liberal. Those who know me and my record on the City Council know I have worked hard to protect the taxpayers of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
During the campaign, we tried hard to continue projecting our message, but after four weeks of unrelenting attacks, we had to respond to Bob’s attempts to smear me. He had two reasons for doing so: (1) He was using his own attacks on me to disguise his own record in the NC Senate, and (2) He was trying to have it both ways with Pat McCrory’s base (both the voters and political contributors in Charlotte) with his endorsement in the Republican race for Governor.
First, an examination of Bob’s record in the NC Senate from 1996-2004.
His record shows a series of positions that were out of step with what conservatives believe. Bob Rucho’s record showed he had: (1) voted to RAISE taxes 30 times in 8 years1, (2) voted to NOT allow the state to recoup money from those who defrauded the state welfare system2, (3) voted to NOT allow sexual assault victims to sue their attackers3, (4) voted AGAINST funding needed juvenile detention centers4 to combat gang crime and youthful offenders who participate in them, and (5) voted consistently AGAINST both lobbying reform5 and campaign finance reform6.
Second, a discussion about Bob’s endorsement of Fred Smith for Governor.
Bob’s attacks have grown nastier against me as I have sought to inform the Charlotte voters about his endorsement and position in the Republican nomination for Governor. Bob Rucho wants to have it both ways. He claims Pat McCrory as a good friend. He implies he has his endorsement for NC Senate, and yet, he stands idly by as his good friend is savagely attacked by Rucho’s endorsed candidate for Governor: Raleigh-insider politician, Sen. Fred Smith.
That’s right, Bob Rucho endorsed Raleigh-insider politician, Senator Fred Smith for Governor AGAINST our very own Mayor, Pat McCrory who is running for Governor. He makes no apologies when asked or confronted about his support of Fred Smith in the press7. He explains his move, casually, as if no hard feelings. He made it long before his “good” friend Pat McCrory decided to run for Governor. Bob says his, “Word is his bond.” That may be true, but he needs to stand behind his word, even if it means a negative reception here in Charlotte. Instead, Bob is trying to disguise the issue for Charlotte voters. Why would he do that, you may ask?
Well, it was an attempt to expand his base of support rather easily in Charlotte. McCrory supporters were approached and asked for contributions, to display yard signs in their yards, and to vote for Bob Rucho. Bob Rucho supports Raleigh insider Sen. Fred Smith, and yet quietly courts popular Mayor Pat McCrory’s supporters!! Bob Rucho stands curiously silent when his good friend Pat McCrory is savagely attacked by Fred Smith in his print ads, debate rhetoric, interviews with the media, and through his paid political advertisements on TV and radio outside the Charlotte media market, beyond the reach and knowledge of the Charlotte voters. These attacks have been serious enough to cut into Pat McCrory’s lead and threaten his chances of winning the nomination.
Come on, Bob! You cannot have it both ways. We all knew there was a chance Pat McCrory might run for Governor. Some Fair Questions to Ask of Bob: “Why did you jump so early? And, why did you choose to stand so quietly when your good friend, Pat McCrory, began to be so viciously attacked?” Bob, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot pretend to have the support of Pat McCrory when you have endorsed Fred Smith for Governor. You cannot have it both ways when you advocate for Fred Smith, but then, you solicit unsuspecting McCrory supporters to contribute to your campaign and vote for you when you support someone that is looking to beat their favored candidate for Governor.
To conclude, I am proud to support Pat McCrory for Governor. I stand with Pat because I have seen the strong leadership and vision he has projected as Mayor of Charlotte. He will make an outstanding Governor Pat McCrory for all of North Carolina. McCrory understands the serious needs urban and suburban areas of our state face as we grow and become the tenth largest state in the nation. The problems facing Charlotte are ones faced all over North Carolina in other 12 other urban areas, incorporating over 50 percent of the population. And, I am not shrinking from declaring or lending my support to my friend and colleague as he runs for Governor. Nor, will I shy away of pointing out my opponents desire to have it both ways and endorse Raleigh-insider politician Fred Smith over our Charlotte’s Very Own Mayor Pat McCrory in the race for Governor.
I am sorry Bob Rucho decided to take this race negative with his personal attacks. However, after three or four weeks of turning the other cheek, we had to respond or risk the half-truths becoming accepted as “fact” by the voters. There is a clear difference in the race for NC Senate, and I have worked to draw that distinction for the voters of South Charlotte. I ask for your vote, and your continued support to help me help change Raleigh and bring back real solutions for our problems facing us here in Charlotte.
We can change Raleigh. A new leadership team of Pat McCrory for Governor and Andy Dulin for N.C. Senate will help advocate for what we really need here in Charlotte. Your vote for Charlotte’s new team will help us get started.
Regards,
Andy Dulin
FootNotes: The REAL Bob Rucho Record
1 North Carolina General Assembly, Official Voting Record (1996-2004).
2 North Carolina General Assembly, Session 1997-1998, House Bill 431, (H431).
3 North Carolina General Assembly, Session 1997-1998, House Bill 581, (H581).
4 North Carolina General Assembly, Session 2003-2004, House Bill 1795, (H1795).
5 North Carolina General Assembly, Session 1997-1998, Senate Bill 240, (S240).
6 North Carolina General Assembly, Session 1999-2000, Senate Bill 881, (S881).
7 The Charlotte Observer, (January and February 2008).
