State Senator Fred Smith dropped by Don Reid’s long-running Thursday morning munch bunch to press his case for being the next governor. This was on the heels of a stop in Cornelius Wednesday night for a BBQ event where Smith picked up the endorsement of state Rep. Thom Tillis.
Smith was introduced Thursday morning by state Sen. Eddie Goodall, who called Smith one of the hardest working men he’s met as well as very influential in the GOP caucus.
Smith himself very much came across as a savvy businessman looking to transfer his executive skill set to the executive branch of government — think Mitt Romney but more real. However, Smith stepped on a landmine when he refused to completely rule out the use of economic incentives by state officials. That sounded like more of same to some in the audience tired of Raleigh’s wheeling-and-dealing. Smith doubled-back to stress he opposed the Google, Dell, and Goodyear corporate welfare packages, a stance he would do well to lead with on this explosive topic.
In fact, in-as-much as Smith reported that “honest government” was the issue that overwhelming came up with his audiences across the state, the connection between incentives and trust cannot be overlooked. Right now the people of North Carolina do not trust their state government to do the right thing. The Jim Black gang broke that bond. Until it is put back together, folks are not particularly keen to see more deals get done. That is not remotely Fred Smith’s fault, but it is reality.
In light of that, maybe the best position for Smith to take on incentives is a mortorium until the current criminal element in Raleigh — all of it — is safely behind bars. In other words, talk more about trust and less about deals.
Otherwise, Smith presented an attractive package to conservative primary voters. He stressed that government spending is out of control and that he would not hesitate to veto spending increases that exceeded population growth and inflation. Smith recognized that the heavy hand of Raleigh bureaucracy torments our teachers everyday, preventing them from doing their best to educate. He called for exploding the cap on charter schools and overall focusing less on process — the wormhole the education status quo fixates on — and more on results.
Plus — and this cannot be oversold — as a business owner Smith completely understands the economics of health care from a consumer perspective. Smith related cases of folks actually shopping for medical care on price, the lost element of far too many discussion of health care policy.
In short, this should be a very interesting race for governor with Smith in the fray.
