Reviewing the McCrory announcement

I think Pat McCrory may have summed up his candidacy for Governor in about the last thing he said in his announcement speech: "We're going to create a vision for this state." Usually when you decide to run for Governor you already have a vision, not the need to create one. Over the last couple months as McCrory has contemplated the race many observers have wondered what his motivation is. I don't have much more of a clue after seeing his announcement speech than I did before.

Here are my observations:

-It sounded like his big issue is going to be gangs and crime. He talked about other stuff but for the most part it was cursory mentions. I don't see that as a burning statewide issue that the electorate is particularly concerned about, but I guess we'll find out if that's what he's running on.

-In an effort I think to show that he has ties to several places in the state he declared that he got his values in Jamestown, his education in Salisbury, and his leadership in Charlotte. Those places are all on I-85 and I don't see him doing very well in locations that aren't. That's certainly what our polls have been showing.

-He pretty much didn't talk about his accomplishments in Charlotte. I thought a key thrust of the campaign would be 'look at all the amazing things I did in Charlotte and if you elect me Governor I can make it happen statewide.' But there was none of that in this speech.

So I'm still not real sure what this campaign is about. But I guess we'll find out in the coming months.