Pants on Fire: The N&O keeps the hits (against GOP candidates) coming

South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson wants to have a word with N&O staff writer Austin Baird. 

It’s pretty typical for the media to wait until the weeks before a big election before doing profiles on the candidates.  The Raleigh News & Observer newsroom takes it a step further by publishing stories that look like they originated from the press office of the featured Democrat candidate.

Today’s victim is Ed Goodwin — the GOP candidate for secretary of state facing off against incumbent Democrat Elaine Marshall.  N&O staff writer / lapdog Austin Baird likely earned  a nice pat on the head from the Marshall campaign:

[…] First elected to her current role in 1996, when she defeated Republican hopeful and NASCAR legend Richard Petty, Marshall is fairly well known in the state. She was a member of the state Senate before that, and a lawyer before politics. She also lost a high-profile U.S. Senate bid in 2010 to Richard Burr.

Goodwin, who defeated three GOP primary challengers, is running on his biography. He served in the Air Force and retired from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service after a couple decades as a special agent. In campaign forums, he claims to have served on presidential protective details, hunted terrorists around the world and worked as a diplomat. He was awarded an Airman’s Medal for his service. […]

Goodwin “claims”?  That suggests he might be lying about his record.  Any evidence to warrant suspicions about that, Austin?   I see that we did not say Marshall “claims” to have served in the state Senate and worked as a lawyer.

Austin downplays Goodwin’s law enforcement experience — which would be a big plus in the secretary of state’s office.  Investigation of securities and other types of business fraud is an important part of the job.  In the news recently, we’ve seen stories about two record-breaking Ponzi scheme busts in North Carolina by federal agents. Elaine and her team were  conspicuously absent from news media accounts about the busts.

Austin also neglects to mention that Elaine’s Harnett County constituency — upset with her leftist antics in the legislature — threw her out of her Senate seat in 1994.  She lost to a barely-known unemployed sign painter who did little more than pay the filing fee. Austin also neglects to mention that Elaine ran in the 2002 Democrat primary for U.S. Senate.  She’s  run for higher office TWICE in the last ten years.  Sounds like she’s bored in her current job.  Read On:

[…] Goodwin is quick to criticize Marshall, particularly for her attendance at an Occupy Raleigh event and words she offered in support of the protesters. He said the group “advocate(s) for the overthrow of government,” which isn’t exactly the case, and he also claimed he was “disrespected and disgraced” as a veteran by Marshall’s attendance. […]

Really, Austin?  What do you think the Occupy movement is all about?  The web site for the Occupy movement describes the movement as a “protest for world revolution.”  What do you think revolution means, Austin?  The very nature of the term “occupy” suggests taking over something by force.  You guys in the newsroom are still letting her get away with saying that she was greeting the Occupy rally as an official representative of North Carolina government — and that she did the same for a Tea Party rally.  Why won’t you guys let your readers see the video of her speech to the Occupy crowd?  I’ll gladly do it for you.   In the linked page, you will see a quote from one of Elaine’s campaign workers saying THIS:

[…]There are a lot of politicians trying to cozy up to Occupy Wall Street – but very few are actually hitting the streets to stand with them. That’s why I’m proud to be working for North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall – someone who hasn’t just embraced the OWS protests, but has actually joined with them on the streets of Raleigh![…]

Facts are soooooooo inconvenient when you are trying to spin in favor of your beloved leftist pol.  Read on:

[…] Goodwin also is trying to bring national issues into the race. His campaign website slams federal health care law, abortion and taxes, and he talks up the right to bear arms – all topics not directly related to the post he is seeking.

Goodwin disagrees: “People ask me all the time about these issues, and businesses do think about the whole picture when they’re thinking about relocating somewhere,” he said.

Marshall dismissed the criticism in a recent interview. “I can’t say I’m surprised,” Marshall said of Goodwin’s decision to bring the issues into the campaign. “But (it) doesn’t have anything to do with the office whatsoever.” […]

Actually, that’s NOT TRUE.  The secretary of state has a vote on  The Council of State, which sets a lot of the day-to-day operating rules and regulations for the state bureaucracy.  For instance, the council has a lot of say on the administration of the death penalty for convicted murderers.

Elaine used her campaign twitter feed to rally opposition to the marriage amendment to the state constitution. Her twitter feed also makes a big deal about her opposition to domestic violence — which is nice, but has little to do with the job of secretary of state. Here she is repeating a feminist movement falsehood in attacking Mitt Romney.

It’s a lot of work campaigning for the US Senate, promoting the Occupy movement and the Democrat Party, and running for reelection.