OK, that title doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue. No matter. At least so far, many Democrats consider Erskine Bowles — the former chief of staff to President Clinton, former UNC system president, and two-time failed U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina — their best shot at defeating Pat McCrory in the gubernatorial election.
Bowles would indeed be formidable. Irony of ironies, though, Bowles has spent the last two years sounding more like a Republican than a Democrat, at least when it comes to fiscal policy and taking the national debt seriously. (Not that Republicans always practice these two disciplines, mind you.)
Take, for example, Bowles’ appearance (along with crackerjack sidekick Alan Simpson) at Duke University touting the Simpson-Bowles commission debt-reduction plan. He spent at least half — if not more — of his comments gently criticizing Democrats (and sometimes not so gently). That included President Obama.
In contrast, Bowles praised U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, for his debt-reduction plan and dismissed the notion that taxing the wealthy will shore up America’s financial house.
A scenario could unfold in which Bowles is the gubernatorial nominee, topping the ticket just below President Obama — the man who adopted none of Bowles’ debt reduction recommendations, even though the president was the one who created the commission in the first place.
That could make for some awkward moments on the campaign platform. Though not as awkward as some.
