Posted on 07/22/2004 12:50:22 PM PDT by Prospero
RALEIGH,N.C. -- Richard Vinroot announced Thursday afternoon that he will not call for a runoff in the GOP Gubernatorial election, thus handing the Republican nomination to primary winner Patrick Ballantine.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
MKM
Vinroot said it was in the best interest of the party to concede defeat and give Ballantine an extra month to work on his campaign to unseat incumbent Gov. Mike Easley in the November general election.After 3-4 tries at this, he's just throwing in the towel for the good of the party. Yeah right. I wonder what the real story is. There's a scandal buried in this somewhere."I believe the right choice, the right thing to do is to get our party behind the person who won the most votes Tuesday night as soon as possible," Vinroot said.
Anyway, good riddance.
Go Pat GO.
Please...let's keep that to GO PATRICK GO!!
I'm beggin' ya!
That is one of the most beautiful children I've ever seen, and I'm talking about my grandchildren, too!
It's hard NOT to stare at her when she's around.
Somebody told me this at work this afternoon. What a surprise! And what class on Vinroot's part. He fell on his sword for the good of the party.
The wife is attractive, in a pointy-nosed way. My 4-year-old is much cuter; maybe he'd like to rent her for the campaign ...
Richard Vinroot said Thursday he will not seek a runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, leaving Patrick Ballantine as the nominee to challenge Gov. Mike Easley in November."I have made a spiritual decision in this case. ... My decision is to not call for a runoff," the former Charlotte mayor said.
...
Though he had attacked Ballantine at a news conference Wednesday morning, Vinroot said he spent that night Wednesday thinking and praying.
He said he informed supporters of his decision not to seek a runoff at his Charlotte campaign office Thursday morning, then drove to Raleigh to announce it.
Vinroot, 63, said his decision is designed to give Ballantine, 39, an additional four weeks to run against Easley, who is seeking a second term.
"This young man's message is right," Vinroot said. "This old man's going to step aside."
...
The decision came as a surprise to party officials as well, who unsuccessfully scoured the headquarters office for a Ballantine campaign sign to put on the lawn as soon as Vinroot finished his announcement.
"I think it's one of the most noble acts I've seen in politics in some time," executive director Bill Peaslee said.
...
Results of Tuesday's election are unofficial until next Tuesday, when all of the state's county election boards will recheck their figures.
But Vinroot didn't want to wait that long.
"If we wait until next week, we're down to 23 or 22 (days)" before a runoff, he said, leaving less time to "get down to the real goal of defeating Mike Easley."
Analysts had noted that an extra month of GOP campaigning could play to Easley's advantage, allowing him to sit on the large amount of money he has raised while the Republicans beat each other up.
This is the MOST WONDERFUL thing that has happened in NC Republican politics in a very very long time. Thank you, Richard Vinroot! God bless you, Sir! Go, Patrick!
Wonderful news!Go Patrick!
The higher up "Someone" is God. Richard Vinroot made the decision after a night of prayer.
WOW! To think I didn't vote for Ballentine. I did ask someone here at FR to help me with decisions for who would be the best to vote for in different races but they never responded.
Mr. Vinroot, thank you for dropping out of the race! Now we can get behind and do something for Patrick!
Ok Ballantine! Maybe my learning to spell his name correctly is doing something for Mr. BALLANTINE! lol
He is in good health.
He gets overheated, otherwise he usually looks OK.
He probably needs to drink more water.
As far as I'm concerned, this makes Vinroot a class act and team player. Now Republicans can get on with defeating Easley, instead of beating ourselves up for several more weeks.
May God bless you Mr. Vinroot
Glad to hear it. I hate to see a man with a young child looking poorly.
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