Posted on 06/03/2004 7:22:23 AM PDT by Constitution Day
Republican says party leader taking sidesBy LYNN BONNER AND ROB CHRISTENSEN, Staff Writers>
Charles Taylor, a Sanford Republican, had such an unpleasant experience at the state party convention last month that he resigned from its executive committee.
Taylor says GOP political director Bill Peaslee needlessly barred him from the committee's meeting. Now he wants Peaslee to resign from his job.
Taylor found that Peaslee registered two Internet sites, www.billcobey.com and www.billcobey.org, on July 16 -- five days before Cobey, who was state GOP chairman, announced he was running for governor. They are addresses for Cobey's campaign Web site.
The party is not supposed to help one primary candidate over others. But the Web registration shows Peaslee abandoned impartiality to help Cobey, Taylor said.
"I think that's a direct conflict of interest," said Taylor, who is backing former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine in the gubernatorial primary. "I don't think it's fair."
Peaslee said he registered those domain names on his own time and from his own computer, so he did not violate the impartiality dictate. A domain-names registry says the Cobey names were registered on a Wednesday at about 4:30 p.m.
Peaslee said he doesn't remember when he registered the names, but said he didn't know at the time that Cobey was going to run for governor.
The day after Peaslee registered the names, The News & Observer reported that Cobey was considering running. Peaslee hasn't registered domain names for any of the other five candidates in the primary, but won't say what other work he has done.
"I'm not going to state publicly what I've done and haven't done and who I've done it to," he said. "I have not used my office and position in an inappropriate way, nor have I used any party resources."
Since the convention it became evident, to me at least, that the NC GOP doesn't have its act together.
Another circular firing squad?
I have known Bill Peaslee for several years through interaction at party events. Not a fan of his.
Ping
Would that be the convention of 1870 or did you just come to this conclusion recently?
Seems that way to me as well, I'm afraid.
I don't know him.
LOL!! As true a statement were never before said!
Was this driven by the Ballantine campaign?
Weird.
Lets just say that at one time I was under the spell of Harold Brubaker.
Stop being cryptic! What didn't you like about the convention, and why do you think the NCGOP doesn't have it's act together, aside from the obvious Morgan/Brubaker cancer?
Peaslee has always been Cobey's hatchet-man. People have been complaining about Peaslee for years and Cobey refused to do anything about him. I have personally witnessed at least two of Peaslee's ambushes.
If someone told me that Cobey was having Peaslee break people's legs, it wouldn't surprise me a bit.
Yet another reason that the Dems will continue to own the executive branch and half the legislative branch for another four years.
The Morgan/Brubaker problem shows that there has been a rift for a long time. Who is going to stand up and become the leader who will bring NC a viable Republican candidate for Governor?
Right, it's just been more out in the open since Morgan went bonkers. Are you blaming the NCGOP for the Morgan problem? and didn't you like the expulsions/resignations from the executive committee?
Gee....glad to see our state isn't the only one with party problems.....(well, actually, I'm not glad...)
I'm just noticing more negative press lately. Could just be it was because of the convention and the flap that happened there.
When are we going to get a viable candidate for Governor?
The really unsettling part is that he's running the show, with the passing of Debbie Beatty.
That'll have to be done absent the "blessing" (or curse) of the NCGOP.
Rifts like these will only serve to confirm the GP's perceptions of NCGOP's inability to unite Repubs and bring viable candidates before voters. Uncommitted voters will be dismayed and repelled by such news from NCGOP and will go the path of least resistance, which to them, will appear to be the incumbent. Both Taylor and Peaslee will effectively divide camps and end up affording Easily another term.
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