Time For New Leadership. With an emphasis on LEADERship.

Many say that the election of 2012 is the most important election in history. I agree. But, not for the reasons others cite. As it is with every day of our lives, the very next one is the most important one. All the others are nothing but history. Hopefully, we will have learned from the mistakes we made on those days. There will be changes with this election, as there are changes with all elections. We will either have a new president, or we will have a president who has learned, hopefully, from his mistakes, a president who has discovered that it takes more than a pretty face and some fancy words to actually get the job done. Whoever is elected will be working with new faces in the legislature. The faces belong to people who may or may not like him. In North Carolina, there will be a new governor. One term governor Beverly Purdue, earlier this year, was reading the tea leaves and decided that it was best for all concerned that she not come out for a second round. She was right in that decision, perhaps the smartest decision she has made in her almost four years as governor. The leaders of the United States and North Carolina do need to wake up. The people are beginning to. It will not be about the voters who put them into office. There will liekly be almost as many people who DON'T want them in office as there are people who do. What they need to understand is that a growing population is fed up with big government, with runaway and uncontrolled spending. We are fed up with the business-as-usual attitude. We voted, in 2008, for change. And hope. Polls indicate today that we are not happy with what's been going on. We are deeper in debt than ever, our kids are not getting the education we were promised, our nation is not as strong as it once was, our standing in the world is not even second best. I can go on and on, and I'm sure you can add to this. Our next leaders need to step up to the plate and examine, first, the people they have chosen to surround themselves with. Are these "advisors" on the payroll simply because they support the big guy? If so, they should be fired. No one man can lead the state or the nation alone. Yes, they need advisors, but they need advisors and not "yes-men". They need adsors who can look around and say, "listen up Mr. President...". In North Carolina, it's no secret that Pat McCroy, former mayor of the state's largest city, is without a doubt the next governor. He has a lot of work to do, and I feel reasonably comfortable that he can get the job done. IF he's as smart as I think he is. He has run a remarkably clean campaign. None of the snarky, back stabbing, negative stuff that has become so much of what we get crammed down our throats every day, coming at us on our televisions and radios, in our newspapers, even on our phones. I am tired of it. All of it. If I was governor, I would gather all of the elected leaders of the state's various agencies together. The insurance commisioner, the lieutenant governor, the school superintendent, the attorney general. Those kinds of people. We would meet to see what areas we need to address as a united North Carolina. No one doubts that education is a top priority in a state that has thrown a lot of dollars in that direction, with very little to show for it. We all know that we have many issues in our state law enforcment agencies, starting with the SBI crime lab, employee morale, and the like, that need to be fixed. Who isn't aware of our insurance woes. There's a problem when we have commercials on TV from insurance companies touting "safe driver rates", only to learn that safe driver rates do not apply to North Carolina drivers. This would be my first meeting. My next meeting would deal with waste. I would gather the department heads of all agencies in one big room. Perhaps a large auditorium-type of classroom on the campus of North Carolina State University. The leaders at the Department of Transportation, Crime Control and Public Safety, the top staff at the govenor's office, those from the Department of Social Services. You get the idea. It would be a semi-formal session, one where I would let one and all know that it will no longer be business-as-it-has-been, and that I never, ever want to hear anyone say "that's not the way we've been doing it". I want all to understand, as a group, that all sacred cows are being sent to slaughter, and that the state was going to be run as a profit=making business. The next session would be with EXPERIENCED legislators, not from either political party. Those folks who have been around for a while, and have recived "the peoples' choice" award for one reason or another. My address to them would be much like it was to the department heads. Waste would be discussed. I would encourage them to lead the less experienced legislators by example, and to work on reducing the you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-cratch-yours method of operation. Legislators should be encouraged to examine the needs of their own districts, of course, and convince their fellow legislators why a bill is is needed that will help the citizens of their districts. The way it all to often works now is that one of our duly elected reps exchanges his support for a fellow rep's bill in exchange for his support of another bill. And, just as "all too often", neither have a clue what the other legislation is all about, and could care less. That's the way they play politics. And, you thought this type of crap stopped when the election was over. Along with the department heads, the staff, key legislators...I would look for citizen advisors. And, I would NEVER choose one that had contributed any significant sum of money to my campaign. In fact, if he showed up as a contributor, or his family did, that person would not even be in the running. I would want to make it clear that money would buy you nothing from the governor. I would be a rather busy governor. Some things, you just sort of have to do. Like accepting a azalea each spring from the fine folks representing the North Carolina Azalea Festival. It's part of being approachable. But, I would also make sure that I was in touch with the leaders of every community and county in North Carolina. I would check every day, even if it was for 5 minutes, with a mayor, a councilman, a county commissioner somewhere in the state. It would not always be the same ones, and it would matter not the size of the community. That is the only way to keep your fingers on the pulse of this great state. Now, this is personal. But, something that might interest me, if I was governor. Most every talk radio show is available with live streaming on the internet. Why not devote a half hour a couple days each week and evesdrop on some of those shows? Talk about getting an earful. Wouldn't have to be the same ones. In fact, it should not be. Kind of like flipping channels until you find something interesting. Ok, that's how I would start if I was governor. No "let's all hold hands and make nice" crap. Not a dictatorial stand. But, one where I would definitely set the tone. One in which "this is not the way we have done it" would be the last words out of your mouth. As president...well, that's a different story. Much the same. But, on a huge scale. I'll have to give that a lot of thought. -30-