I was thinking again about the debate I had with my opponent the other week.
My opponent likes to talk about how much overlap we have on policy, but honestly, our two visions for the office of Treasurer couldn’t be more different.
He spent the debate talking about how the Treasurer needs to do less and be quieter. To “stay in his lane.”
I say he has a different vision for the office, but to tell you the truth, it’s not much of a vision at all.
My opponent believes that our retirees are little more than a budget shortfall—even going so far as to grossly misrepresent how much we spend on them each year in the state budget.
I believe that our retirees are lifelong public servants who’ve given everything to our state, and we owe them a debt of gratitude and a great retirement.
My opponent believes the same tired, old Republican ideas about how we can get spending under control if we just tighten the belt.
I have a little more experience with public finance than he has, so I know that sometimes you ought to spend more today so that you aren’t forced to spend much more tomorrow.
My opponent believes in handing his power over to the entrenched leadership in the legislature and basically hiding under his desk for the next four years.
I believe in a Treasurer who gets out to every community, educates people on what’s happening with their tax dollars, and uses the bully pulpit to help North Carolina hold our elected officials accountable—even when that includes me.
In other words, there’s a lot at stake this year.
We can either elect the candidate of the bare minimum, or we can elect a candidate who will actually make life better for our people, who believes in them and their potential, who will help North Carolinians see what’s possible and invest in them so they can make our future happen.
But it’s how I’ve been saying for months now—we can have the greatest message and vision of all time. Maybe we do. It doesn’t matter if people don’t hear it.
I just had a meeting with my television consultants on Monday, and they delivered the bad news that I was afraid of when I emailed you on Saturday: slots are disappearing and prices are going up. I need your support now if we’re going to stay on the air and make sure every voter who needs to hear about this campaign does.
If you can spare it, I’m asking you to please make a contribution of any amount to my campaign today. When we get our message out there, we know we win—so let’s make sure we have the resources we need to fight like hell.
