First, let me say I have never met Jerry Meek. Second, let me say that if I'd ever met Jerry Meek and had, for a moment, given him an ounce of respect, I'd not ever admit it after learning of the decision that became public today.
Jerry Meek, the chairman of the Democratic Party in North Carolina, chose -- of his own volition, intentionally, claiming to exercise what he interprets to be his "discretion" under state law -- to exclude John Edwards from the Democratic primary ballot. And why? Meek told reporter Rob Christensen that "no one with the [Edwards] campaign returned his calls."
From his photograph in today's News & Observer http://www.newsobserver.com/... , Meek appears to be a young man. Perhaps he is so young he doesn't recall that Edwards's decades-long career in law was based there in North Carolina, and that he was elected in a Democratic primary in 1998 to run for U.S. Senate from North Carolina, and that Edwards, in fact, defeated the incumbent Republican Senator Lauch Faircloth to reclaim Terry Sanford's seat for the Democratic Party.
And perhaps Meek, who only acceded to his chairmanship in 2005, wasn't paying attention when Edwards won the North Carolina primary in 2004 -- even after SUSPENDING active campaigning -- and when Edwards indeed bested (the Electable) John Kerry by almost two-to-one in the Tar Heel state. (Facts and figures found here http://uselectionatlas.org/... )
Given these lapses in memory, surely it is the result of a transient ischemic attack or some similar inexplicable thing that Meek chose yesterday to forward a list of approved candidates to the State Board of Elections that includes Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama AND MIKE GRAVEL, but no John Edwards.
Of all the bone-headed decisions that a state party chair CAN make during his tenure in the office, this decision on the part of Jerry Meek MUST rank among the bone-headedest.
And reporter Christensen suggests it was made in a fit of pique!
"Meek, who has discretion under state law on whom to include on the ballot, said Tuesday that he had hoped to confer with the Edwards campaign before making his decision. But Meek said no one with the campaign returned his calls. Meek said he based his decision on the law, which says the ballot should include 'all candidates whose candidacy is generally advocated and recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in North Carolina'."
"Assuming that there is one voter out there for Gravel, that means he will get more votes in North Carolina than Edwards. Write-in votes are not counted in North Carolina primaries."
So Mike Gravel of Alaska -- who holds not a single delegate in his hand, and has he been seen outside Alaska since last fall? -- can collect votes in North Carolina, but former North Carolina Senator John Edwards -- who holds delegates in his hand and has SUSPENDED but not ENDED his campaign, cannot, thanks to Jerry Meek.
Who is this man? He, or a fan of his, has established a handy-dandy Wikipedia entry to answer the question: http://en.wikipedia.org/... .
"After graduating from high school, he attended Duke University. Three and a half years later, he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke, double majoring in Economics and Political Science. Meek then won a fellowship to study at the University of Notre Dame, where he completed a Masters degree in Government. In the fall of 1995, Meek returned to North Carolina to attend Duke Law School, completing his law degree in 1997.
"While in college, Meek served as a precinct Chair in the Cumberland County Democratic Party and as an officer in the 7th Congressional District Democratic Party. At age 25, Meek was elected Chairman of the Cumberland County Democratic Party, an office he held while commuting from Fayetteville to Durham to attend Duke Law School.
"With a keen interest in international affairs, he has lived in Central America and traveled to over forty countries around the world. He is a licensed pilot and airplane owner."
So this young man, with honors and titles and degrees from Notre Dame and Duke University -- even a law degree -- is responsible for disenfranchising the considerable number of Democrats in North Carolina who have voted for John Edwards many times before, and who would vote for John Edwards again this year. This young man, who rose from lowly young precinct chairman to state party chairman in a single decade, chose with the stroke of his own pen, adopting his own interpretation of the law, to block the relationship that North Carolina's rank-and-file Democrats have had with John Edwards, a man who'd already had a successful, twenty-plus-year career in law in North Carolina when Meek's diploma was being inked.
Yet Meek's interpretation of the same law led him to include Mike Gravel of Alaska on the North Carolina ballot.
Is Jerry Meek an idiot? I'd post a poll to ask the question, but asking it does insult to idiots, and I've refrained from such negativity in my posts on DailyKos.
But one measure that offers an answer is the Republican Party slate, which was forwarded on the same date to the State Board of Elections. The News & Observer reports: "Republican presidential candidates on the ballot will be Mike Huckabee, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, according a list submitted by state Republican Chairwoman Linda Daves."
I NEVER imagined that I would see a day when a Republican would exhibit better judgment than a Democrat in North Carolina, and that's a fact. If ever there was a reason to remove a man from a party office, Jerry Meek has handed one to every last Democrat in the Old North State. What a disgrace. One wonders if he is, in fact, supportive of the Democratic Party in North Carolina.
UPDATE: Wondering if there might be more to this story, I looked around a bit and found an interesting footnote.
Here's a quote from Meek's Wikipedia entry:
"In February of 2005, he was elected Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party over Ed Turlington."
And here's a little bit from the Wikipedia entry on Ed Turlington http://en.wikipedia.org/... :
"A Democratic Party activist since the age of 15 in Sampson County, Turlington served as a senior aide to Governors Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, and Lieutenant Governor Robert B. Jordan, as well as the North Carolina Democratic Party's executive director. He was Campaign Manager for Hunt's successful 1996 reelection campaign in North Carolina.
"More recently, Turlington was National General Chair of Senator John Edwards's 2004 presidential campaign and is an advisor to his 2008 campaign. He was Deputy Campaign Manager of Bill Bradley's 2000 run for the same office. He attended the 1976, 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions as a delegate from North Carolina. He served as a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC)'s Commission on the Presidential Nominating Calendar in 2005."
So Turlington served as Edwards's campaign chair in 2004, and ran in 2005 to become chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. But he was defeated by Jerry Meek. While Meek went on to run the NC Democratic Party, his former opponent went on to serve Edwards again as a campaign advisor. And yesterday, Meek chose to scratch the name of Edwards, whom his former opponent continued to serve as advisor, from the primary ballot in his home state.
I wonder if, just before striking Edwards's name from the ballot, Meek contemplated for a moment calling up Turlington -- surely the party office has Turlington's number on file -- and asking for a direct number to Edwards himself for consultation. Heck, wouldn't someone at the party office have a good number for Edwards himself anyway, rather than relying on a call to the campaign number? After all, it is the North Carolina Democratic Party. One would expect that they're able to get in touch with their statesmen when needed.
Classy.
Here's how you can reach Meek: jmeek@ncdp.org