Pat Smathers
Even though Canton Mayor and Lt. Governor candidate Pat Smathers was unable to visit Richmond County personally last week due to a Buncombe County court case that ran late, we were very honored to have his son and law student Zeb Smathers at the 2nd Annual Morrison-Deane-Goodman Democratic Dinner & Rally. In fact, Zeb (on behalf of his father) is one of only a couple Statewide campaigns that have attended both dinners.
Zeb very capably stood in for his Dad and got right to the point with the audience of 200+ Democrats. He said that Pat Smathers would ensure that local governments and small towns are better represented in State government if elected as Lt. Governor. Even more poignant was the following point: Pat Smathers is the only candidate for Lt. Governor with military service – a Lt. Colonel in the National Guard. Given that the current Lt. Governor has led the charge in promoting the role of the military in North Carolina’s economy, Mayor Smathers insists that it is more than fitting that North Carolina’s next Lt. Governor has both military experience and local government experience.
Pat Smathers is running for lieutenant governor because he believes “empowering communities to determine their own futures creates a stronger state for all of us. By encouraging "local leadership, statewide," we can build a better North Carolina.” Zeb added this about his father, "North Carolinians deserve a leader who will meet our state’s challenges with openness, optimism and invested innovations. As lieutenant governor, Pat Smathers will honor those hometown values we all share."
I am very impressed with Pat Smathers and, regardless of the 2008 outcome, predict that we will also see Zeb’s name on the ballot one day.
Pat Smathers and any one of the Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor would make an excellent successor to current Lt. Governor and 2008 gubernatorial candidate Bev Perdue.
To learn more about the Pat Smathers campaign, check out www.patsmathers2008.org.
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Note to Reader: This is one in a series of synoptic posts about Statewide candidates who attended the Richmond County 2nd Annual Morrison-Deane-Goodman Democratic Dinner & Rally in Hamlet on November 8. Given that I serve as chair of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Executive Committee and am prohibited from making endorsements in a primary, these posts are not and must not be interpreted as endorsements of any kind other than for Democratic candidates generally. I post these for information only, and encourage friends and supporters (and candidates themselves) who are willing to feel free to post their own comments to this entry.
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