Herald Sun DA Candidate Forum Cancelled
It appears that the Herald Sun has cancelled its planned candidate forum for the District Attorney race. Last week, we reported that the Snooze Room's Bill Stagg had invited Lewis Cheek to participate in the forum. Today, we have learned that interim DA Mike Nifong has declined to participate despite being offered three alternate dates (October 23, October 26, November 1 or 2) for the event. Due to Nifong's unwillingness to attend, the Herald Sun has, as of last Friday, decided to not host the forum. It is unclear at this time whether DA Nifong intends to avoid all campaign forums or if he and Bob Ashley have split up.
Friends of Durham, No Endorsement
In other election news, the Friends of Durham political action committee has declined to endorse any of the three candidates for District Attorney after interviewing Mike Nifong, Lewis Cheek and Steve Monks. Curiously, Mike Nifong appears to have contradicted the News and Observer's assertion that he has never heard the accuser tell her story by claiming to the Friends of Durham that he has interviewed her and is confident about the case. It is unclear whether his claim to have interviewed the accuser also contradicts his assertion in court that his April 11 meeting with her did not consist of a discussion of the case.
Special Election in 2008
The mainstream media has finally picked up on the fact, first reported here, that if Lewis Cheek defeats Mike Nifong, the Governor's appointee will serve two years.
"County Commissioner Lewis Cheek was successful but said he would not accept the job, which would mean if Cheek were elected, the governor would appoint someone to fill the job until a special election in 2008."
The News and Observer is also reporting that both the Nifong and Cheek campaign's have received donations from out of town.
"A report for Nifong's campaign filed in July shows that he has received money from donors who live in Raleigh, Virginia and California. The out-of-town money represents a small percentage of the $35,800 the campaign collected from April through June."
"Beth Brewer, spokeswoman for the Committee to Recall Nifong-Vote Cheek, an organization working to have Cheek elected, said the group has received out-of-state cash contributions, many from lawyers."
10 comments:
this is a good strategy. do not dignify your opponents by appearing with them. this emphasizes that they are not in the same league as nifong. you should also print another story. on oct 9, the herald reported that the friends of durham PAC declined to endorse any of the candidates. this is bad news for cheek and monks as this is their core audience as this is a conservative pac that is largely white. the pac said the members were conflicted and interviewed all the candidates and they had questions with the way nifong has handled himself but they also asked the other two if their candidacies were not just about the duke case why did they not run before. the result was a non endorsement. another pac has endorsed nifong(the peoples alliance). the next up is the big black pac. nifong may get their endorsement but he did not get it last time as bishop was their pick.
I find it extremely ironic that Mr. Nifong has refused to appear at the only candidates forum that includes questions from the public in its format, especially in light of his new campaign slogan, "Vote Nifong: Not a blank line on the ballot or a Player to be Named Later. A Real Choice." The "Real Choice" is afraid to get real with the voters.
Poultry! Yes you, Nifong.
I hope defense demands Nifong turns the materials on his interview with the accuser over to them. Nifong told the judge he did not talk with the accuser about the case on April 11. Nifong told the PAC he interviewed the accuser. Defense should demand the materials related to those interviews be turned over to the defense ASAP.
Does it really matter WHAT the accuser told Nifong in her interview?
We already know she is lying...
The only question is, Will she lie on the stand?
Of course it matters. It's evidence.
Right---"evidence"...like Gottlieb's magic notes.
It matters if Nifong told a lie to the court saying he DID NOT discuss the case with the accuser.
It matters if Nifong told a lie to the public that he serves saying he DID NOT discuss the case with the accuser.
How much it matters depends on which statement is a lie.
kbp, thanks for clarifying...
kbp: A question. If Nifong interviewed the accuser, could he be called as a witness by the defense?
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