GOP snipes at Perdue over Democrats' ad

Democrat Beverly Perdue should instruct the N.C. Democratic Party to return contributions from two groups that are paying for a negative ad about her Republican opponent in the governor's race, the Republican Governors Association said Tuesday.

The two groups, the Democratic Governors Association and the National Education Association's political arm, gave a combined $750,000 last month toward TV ads critical of Pat McCrory, the GOP nominee for governor. McCrory and other Republicans have criticized the groups' use of unregulated, out-of-state money, though many of those same criticisms have been leveled at the RGA.

Perdue has said she is not involved with the ad, and her campaign called the infusion of outside money "unfortunate."

In May, a state teachers' group gave the Democratic Party $4,750. In June, the DGA gave the party $50,000.

"On one hand, [Perdue] denounces the presence of outside groups and denies having any involvement with them," said RGA Executive Director Nick Ayers. "At the same time, the party she controls is taking huge contributions from the donors running the ads."

Perdue's campaign said it would not ask the Democratic Party to return the money. "Taking campaign finance advice from Pat McCrory and his allies is like taking economic policy advice from George Bush," Perdue spokesman David Kochman said in a news release.

The black turnout 'guarantee'

How much will Barack Obama boost black turnout?

That question lies at the heart of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's campaign to win North Carolina.

At a campaign rally a year ago, Obama said that he could boost turnout among black voters by 25 to 30 percent -- enough, he said, to put states such as North Carolina in play.

"I guarantee you African-American turnout, if I'm the nominee, goes up 30 percent around the country, minimum," he said, according to USA Today.

That sounds like a tall order, but it has happened before. In the 2000 election, black turnout in North Carolina went up by more than 100,000, or about 25 percent, from the 1996 campaign. And in 2004, black turnout went up again by 154,000, or about 30 percent.

To make a similar percentage jump this year, black turnout would have to go up by 166,000 to 200,000 voters.

Meanwhile, white turnout in the state has risen by a smaller percentage. In the 2000 election, white turnout went up by 379,000 voters, or about 19 percent, from the previous presidential election. In 2004, it went up by 412,000 voters, or about 17 percent.

Despite the gains, black voters still remain a small percentage of the voting population: 18.6 percent in 2004. Democratic pollster Tom Jensen said this week that black voters would need to be about 23 percent of the people at the polls for Obama to pull ahead of McCain.

Trooper's suspension disputed

An administrative law judge has determined that an N.C. Highway Patrol captain never intended to make a racial remark and therefore should not have been suspended.

Capt. Norman Goering was disciplined after a photo shoot of troopers in July 2007 in which he had said "black in back." He immediately apologized for the remark, saying he had intended to say "tall in back" but tripped over his words.

A lieutenant heard the remark and reported it, leading to an internal investigation. The investigation initially led to Goering's demotion to lieutenant, but he was reinstated with a five-day suspension.

Administrative law judge Shannon Joseph determined after a hearing that no one had found Goering's remark to be intentional and that the captain had an "exemplary" 26-year-history with the patrol. The judge said he should receive pay or benefits that were lost as a result of the suspension, and reasonable legal fees.

The State Personnel Commission will decide whether to accept the judge's findings.

GOP leader in Raleigh today

The head of the Republican Party is coming to Raleigh today.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan will host a roundtable discussion with local Republican leaders at the state GOP headquarters at 1:30 p.m.

Rich Beeson, the RNC's political director, and Bill Stepien, deputy political director for the John McCain campaign, also will be at the event.

The visit is part of the "Victory 2008 Tour" to various states to promote voter registration, get-out-the-vote and fundraising efforts.

ryan.teague.beckwith@newsobserver.com or (919) 836-4944
By David Ingram of the Charlotte Observer and staff writers Ryan Teague Beckwith and Dan Kane.