Stories broken at aShortChronicle a year ago appear to have resonated with the Roy Cooper Campaign.
Last Summer, aShortChronicle broke the story regarding connections between Cintra, the NCGOP, and the McCrory Campaign in posts here and here. These posts are both top five of all posts at aShortChronicle.
During the debate last Friday after McCrory danced and deflected a question regarding the I77 Toll project, Cooper answered directly saying the contract with Cintra should be cancelled. Then he zinged McCrory for the very connections outlined in those posts. Cooper says "Governor McCrory's campaign staff was hired by this company" - meaning Cintra. If you listen closely you can hear an uncomfortable chuckle come from McCrory immediately after that line.
Check out the exchange starting at the 23:30 mark of this video from Charlotte's ABC11 affiliate.
We here at aShortChronicle wouldn't be presumptuous enough to think the Cooper campaign wouldn't have known about these connections otherwise. Finding out this stuff is Opposition Research 101 for any big time political campaign. However, it is an example how the blogosphere can be well ahead of the mainstream media on what might eventually be important stories.
It could be telling that the Cooper Campaign threw this punch right off the bat in the first debate. Did that happen only because the debate was in Charlotte? Or, do they plan to make a bigger issue of this in the campaign?
Only time will tell, but remember you heard it here first.
Showing posts with label Roy Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roy Cooper. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Roy Cooper's Political Bombshell
This past weekend the good folks over at WidenI77.org made public an Investigative Demand letter sent from AG Roy Cooper's office to I77 Mobility Partners/Cintra.
It's a very interesting read.
16 different demands for documents are made covering 3 main categoies.
All of these things have been questions/subjects aShortChronicle has been covering for months, so it's nice to see the AG's office finally catching up.
However, we want to point out something specific related to the first bullet listed above. The one related to the ads. The fifth demand is specific to lobbying and ad placement.
"5. All communications between You and Ross Communications, Mercury LLC, and any other firm engaged to advertise, lobby, or communicate to the public or third parties regarding the I-77 Express Lanes project."
Regular readers of aShortChronicle will recognize the name Mercury LLC. The firm and its "man in NC", Russell Peck, have been covered here, here, and here over the past several months.
If Peck's name is ringing a bell more recently, that may be because he's reprising his role from 2012 as Governor Pat McCrory's campaign manager.
Having your campaign manager's firm involved in an official investigation conducted by your opponent can not be a good thing!
If/when that political bombshell gets dropped on the campaign trail by the mainstream media, it will be fun to watch.
It's a very interesting read.
16 different demands for documents are made covering 3 main categoies.
- Information about I77 Mobility Partners' public communications plan. For a project that was supposedly a "done deal" the firm has been sending out a lot of ads and press releases still "selling" the plan.
- Cintra's other failed projects in North America. This would seem to be largely in reference to the issues brought up by Cornelius resident Diane Gilroy in a letter to Governor McCrory. Read the previous coverage at aShortChronicle on Gilroy's research here and here.
- Financial related questions about the project. The AG's office wants to know more about how much money Cintra expects from the state as well as communications to the ratings agencies. Read the previous coverage at aShortChronicle on the HOT lanes debt here.
All of these things have been questions/subjects aShortChronicle has been covering for months, so it's nice to see the AG's office finally catching up.
However, we want to point out something specific related to the first bullet listed above. The one related to the ads. The fifth demand is specific to lobbying and ad placement.
"5. All communications between You and Ross Communications, Mercury LLC, and any other firm engaged to advertise, lobby, or communicate to the public or third parties regarding the I-77 Express Lanes project."
Regular readers of aShortChronicle will recognize the name Mercury LLC. The firm and its "man in NC", Russell Peck, have been covered here, here, and here over the past several months.
If Peck's name is ringing a bell more recently, that may be because he's reprising his role from 2012 as Governor Pat McCrory's campaign manager.
Having your campaign manager's firm involved in an official investigation conducted by your opponent can not be a good thing!
If/when that political bombshell gets dropped on the campaign trail by the mainstream media, it will be fun to watch.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
I77 Toll Issue finally makes appearance in looming NC Governor's race
Well, it didn't take long for the political ramifications of last week's shellacking of toll road supporting politicians to make an impact on the upcoming 2016 NC Governor's race.
From Tuesday's CharlotteObserver.com story by Jim Morrill.
"I asked North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper about the tolls when he came to Charlotte on Tuesday. A Democrat running for governor, he said a statewide bond referendum offered “the perfect opportunity” to include money to widen I-77.
McCrory proposed a road bond measure, though it didn’t include money for I-77. But when the General Assembly put a $2 billion bond package on next year’s ballot, no road projects were in it.
“Strong governors can get things like that done,” Cooper said.
So expect the toll issue to continue to fester, at least as long as an I-77 traffic jam.
“It’s going to be a huge thing in the governor’s race,” Phillips says. “If they don’t do something to stop this thing, I’d sure hate to be running for their office.”" So, how should McCrory respond? He has a golden opportunity with the upcoming "summit" called by Rep Charles Jeter to turn this thing into a political positive for himself, but he has to take bold action. McCrory could show up in person at the summit, declare the State will cancel the contract based on the information handed to him personally by Diane Gilroy outlining the legal issues of the firms involved in the project. We told you about that here. The letter gives the Governor the political cover he needs to blow away one of the main reasons toll supporting politicians have been hiding behind, That "reason" is other companies won't want to deal with NC on P3 contracts if the state walks away without cause. Gilroy's letter gives the state "cause". McCrory should go on to demand the state fight any legal challenges from Ferrovial/Cintra/I77 Mobility to levy any penalties for canceling the contract. IF the contract is invalid due to the points in Gilroy's letter, the State owes nothing! Finally, he could score a few cheap political points by throwing this back at Roy Cooper and saying the AG's office should have done a better job assisting NCDOT in vetting the application by Cintra. With Mecklenburg County having nearly 10% of the registered Republicans in the state, Governor McCrory will lose in 2016 if he loses a considerable portion of voters in this key county, his home county. The Governor should think long and hard about what his next step will be.
From Tuesday's CharlotteObserver.com story by Jim Morrill.
"I asked North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper about the tolls when he came to Charlotte on Tuesday. A Democrat running for governor, he said a statewide bond referendum offered “the perfect opportunity” to include money to widen I-77.
McCrory proposed a road bond measure, though it didn’t include money for I-77. But when the General Assembly put a $2 billion bond package on next year’s ballot, no road projects were in it.
“Strong governors can get things like that done,” Cooper said.
So expect the toll issue to continue to fester, at least as long as an I-77 traffic jam.
“It’s going to be a huge thing in the governor’s race,” Phillips says. “If they don’t do something to stop this thing, I’d sure hate to be running for their office.”" So, how should McCrory respond? He has a golden opportunity with the upcoming "summit" called by Rep Charles Jeter to turn this thing into a political positive for himself, but he has to take bold action. McCrory could show up in person at the summit, declare the State will cancel the contract based on the information handed to him personally by Diane Gilroy outlining the legal issues of the firms involved in the project. We told you about that here. The letter gives the Governor the political cover he needs to blow away one of the main reasons toll supporting politicians have been hiding behind, That "reason" is other companies won't want to deal with NC on P3 contracts if the state walks away without cause. Gilroy's letter gives the state "cause". McCrory should go on to demand the state fight any legal challenges from Ferrovial/Cintra/I77 Mobility to levy any penalties for canceling the contract. IF the contract is invalid due to the points in Gilroy's letter, the State owes nothing! Finally, he could score a few cheap political points by throwing this back at Roy Cooper and saying the AG's office should have done a better job assisting NCDOT in vetting the application by Cintra. With Mecklenburg County having nearly 10% of the registered Republicans in the state, Governor McCrory will lose in 2016 if he loses a considerable portion of voters in this key county, his home county. The Governor should think long and hard about what his next step will be.
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