Del Pietro describes Congressman Mike McIntyre: "He proves himself to be a poor leader."

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

"With all the pressing issues before us as a nation, none is more important than
getting Americans back to work," declares Congressman Mike McIntyre in a news
release. "I will be hosting a jobs summit in Southeastern North Carolina geared
towards business owners and management."

Del Pietro, a declared candidate for Congress in the Seventh District, vows he'll be there. He's looking for a job too -- McIntyre's seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives, which the incumbent has held for fourteen years.

A Democrat, 38-year-old Wilmington resident Pietro plans to keep McIntyre on the
defensive during the run-up to the 2012 primary contests. He's getting a good, early start and pledges an honest, aggressive campaign to deny McIntyre participation in the Fall general election.

Pietro is impatient with the fact that McIntyre is promoting a jobs event with such
fanfare at this late date in his career, as his home county of Robeson suffers more
than most from joblessness, poverty and lack of opportunity.

"I want to know why this wasn't done ten years ago," said Pietro in an exclusive interview earlier this week. "I don't know why there wasn't enough forward thinking to see this coming. And I want to know why our Congressman is reactionary instead of being proactive. This is too late to be holding this type of forum, to finally be getting aggressive on jobs.

"Because Mr. McIntyre didn't have that foresight, he proves himself to be a very poor leader. He does only what it takes to keep himself in public office. That's not acceptable. It wouldn't be acceptable on either side of the aisle."

The Wilmington area Job Creation Summit is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, March
29, from 10:00 am to 12 noon at the Cape Fear Community College north campus, 4500 Blue Clay Road in Castle Hayne. The event is free and open to the public.

Congressman McIntyre's statement concluded, "We must plan for the future with an aggressive economic development strategy, investment in workforce training, a strong educational system, and an entrepreneurial community that is actively creating its own innovations and businesses. All of these areas will be discussed with an eye to the future of our nation and southeastern North Carolina."

But candidate Del Pietro dismisses this as mere political rhetoric. "Even now there is no cohesive plan for the Seventh District, and this is Mr. McIntyre's personal failure."

Pietro continued: "I believe in accountability. In this congressman's own backyard, he has lived in the poorest and sickest county in this State, while being in office for the past fourteen years, and this disgrace has not improved one bit. I'm waiting for the census figures to come out. My guess is Robeson County has moved backward. That is staggering for a sitting congressman's home county."