Complete text of Pat McCrory's landmark speech at 2011 N.C. Republican Convention in Port City

Verne Strickland Blogmaster  /  June 7, 2011

 When former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory took the podium this past week-end at the North Carolina GOP convention, he was ready to do business.

McCrory, who is expected to be in the 2012 gubernatorial race challenging incumbent Democrat Beverly Perdue, got it all said in a rousing oratory gem that had delegates on their feet cheering repeatedly during the Saturday afternoon program. 

I was as impressed as everyone else, and mentioned in an earlier post that I would pass along the complete text of McCrory's stem-winder of a talk, which has all the makings of a superb stump speech for his anticipated campaign. 

Here it is: 

In 1998 when I was 32 years old, my boss came into my office at Duke Power and handed me a “package”. The package meant my job position no longer existed along with 1,000 other layoffs that same day. It was a punch straight in the gut. The pain of that day for me will never be forgotten.

In North Carolina since 2008 over 300,000 thousand jobs have been lost ALL in the private sector. Your friends, neighbors, colleagues, relatives, and even many of you also had the same gut punch of losing a job.

We now have NC college graduates returning to their parents' home with no job prospects in sight. We have small business men and women barely hanging onto keep their doors open.

And yet what is our Governor doing . . ? Attending Kentucky horse races, a fund raiser in New York and Chicago. . . raising money from unions and trial lawyers against tort reform, and money from the gaming industry.

What is our Governor doing? Saying she won’t raise taxes and then raising your sales tax, your income tax, and business and corporate tax . . . forcing small business to either leave our state or shut down.

What is our Governor doing? Joining the team of Easley, and Edwards by having to raise and use campaign funds to hire high-priced lawyers because of FBI investigations.

        
It must be hard to find a good defense lawyer in Raleigh today. They are all taken by our ex and current governor and senator. What a shame and embarrassment!   

 What is our Governor doing? Implementing a psuedo “Government job freeze”, hiring defeated U.S. Congressman Bob Etheridge, hiring a new executive chef,  and hiring Obama Chicago political consultants on the state payroll .This is her jobs program.

Perdue is growing government positions faster than 47 other states!

 It is time for you, and for me, to call our Governor out for her absolute lack of leadership. We have had enough, Governor, while you have used Tax Resources to go on political "job and education" tours, while you demagogue and mislead, create Executive orders out of thin air, while you lose your temper, stomp your feet and become spitting mad, while others in our state capital are making the tough decisions and leading.

        
Governor – YOU have made yourself irrelevant -- at a time when our state desperately needed your leadership.

        
Now I will tell you who has NOT become irrelevant. Those state Republicans who the people in this audience helped get elected in 2010. Tom Tillis and Phil Berger are leaders who did not stay on the sidelines! They formed a bipartisan coalition. They trimmed the fat of the bureaucracy. They cut taxes as promised.

They have begun reform of education, and NOT accepted the status quo – not accepting being ranked 43rd in the nation for high school graduation rates. They have helped small business.

Now let me warn each of you here today -- Perdue and President Obama will not go away quietly. They want to hold on to their political power at any cost. In 2012 - MILLIONS of dollars will pour into our state from Big Labor Unions. Thousands of ACORN-style of workers will move to North Carolina. They will fight voter ID. They will try to change our “right-to-work” laws. They will bring “Wisconsin” style political behavior as we saw in our own state legislative chambers this past week.

Ladies and gentlemen these are not conservative Democrats coming to North Carolina. These are the radicals… in fact they are bringing the National Democratic Convention to our doorstep.

Now, I am pleased to report that Chairman Hayes is instituting a grassroots program. We will knock on doors, we will Tweet, Facebook, and Text. We will reach out to Independents and Democrats who want to change the status quo. In 1988, after I lost my job, I thankfully landed back on myfeet and got a new job in the private sector.

That is our goal for everyone.. – to rebuild our economy through the private sector –  quit living on personal credit cards and a government credit card. We will not accept Governor Perdue's so-called  "New Normal".

We will make the tough decisions, so the next generation can continue the great quality of life in North Carolina. It is time for “Serious and Strong Leadership”.

Now that means there is ONE person who must lose their job, and she lives in a Mansion in Raleigh.

GOP congressional candidate Ilario Pantano attracts supportive crowds at N.C. Republican Convention.

By Verne Strickland / Saturday, June 4, 2011

"There is real excitement for the conservative movement and the Republican Party here in North Carolina," said GOP congressional candidate Ilario Pantano of Wilmington today.

Pantano was interviewed as the NCGOP convention moved into its second day at the impressive new Wilmington Convention Center. The state Republican event is in Wilmington "for the first time in recent memory," according to GOP leaders here.

"President Obama has helped to accelerate the urgency we feel by his choice of Democrat convention being in Charlotte," said Pantano. "The result is Republicans are not wasting any time, and they’re mobilizing with great speed. The turnout here at our 2011 convention feels more energized than it did in the convention prior to the recent election."

This Republican State convention has drawn over 1,650 Republican faithful -- an all-time attendance record, said NCGOP State Chairman Robin Hayes, who won re-election to the post today.

Pantano, who is steadily gearing up his re-election effort, is enjoying enthusiastic attention at the meeting, which has provided considerable opportunity to address the crowds on hand.

"This convention in an off-year is more amped even than in the last election, and its exciting to see. It's taking place in our congressional district, so there's a great crowd of our supporters here," Pantano said. 

He shared the stage during the opening night banquet on Friday with popular conservative Congressman Allen West of Florida, and noted that West "was very supportive of my candidacy in his speech."

During his own turn at the podium, Pantano said his remarks were devoted to honoring U.S. military men and women serving in harm's way.

"We need to remember the principles they are fighting for, and to protect those principles, because they’re giving their energies and their lives, dying and bleeding everyday for principle. We must honor those same principles here at home in our belief system, and that starts with our trust and love of the Lord. If we abandon that, we abandon jeopardize the social fabric of this country that has made America exceptional."

In closing, Pantano said American citizens "should put men and women in office who are worthy of leading our fighting forces. These young people are America's sacred treasure. We fail them if we don't have strong, honest leadership at all levels of government."

The 2011 North Carolina Republican State Convention concludes on Sunday.

USA DOT COM will be on point June 3-5 at NCGOP convention in Wilmington.

HOMETOWN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ILARIO PANTANO WILL PLAY PROMINENT ROLE.IN THIS HISTORIC MEETING.

By Verne Strickland May 23, 2011

Looking forward to covering the NCGOP convention June 3-5 here in Wilmington, where conservative Republican candidate Ilario Pantano will join a star-studded speaker's roster at the Opening Banquet on Friday night, June 3, at the Wilmington Convention Center. 

Our Wilmington hero will be in good company, as the banquet headliner is United States Congressman Allen West, known for igniting conservative faithful. Also on the evening program are Whitney Deann Jezek-Power of Semper Fi Fund, John Falkenbury of USO-North Carolina, and NCGOP Vice Chairman Tim Johnson. Get all the convention highlights at USA Dot Com.

Please turn out to support the NC Republican Party and our stellar cast of candidates!

Go to the NCGOP official website for complete registration and convention details: 

http://www.ncgop.org/