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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT
WHQR will host and broadcast four candidate forums as part of the 2012 Election Season in the MC Erny Gallery, 254 N. Front Street, #300.Each forum will feature two local journalists asking prepared questions during the first half of the event. The second portion will be dedicated to questions from voters. A live studio audience will be invited to ask questions during this segment. We'll also use questions sent in from listeners.If you have a question for the candidates, please email us (newsdirector@whqr.org) or submit via Twitter with the #whqrforums hash tag and tell us which slate of candidates you'd like to address. We reserve the right to edit the questions for clarity, brevity, and objectivity. Each question must be addressed to all candidates in a particular race. If you can't attend the live event, Tweet along while you tune in or listen or watch the webcast online at 7 PM each night to hear the candidates! (WWAY will also broadcast the forums live on Time Warner Cable. RTV is channel 106, on ATMC, channel 903, on Charter Cable, channel 145 and over-the-air at 3.2.)Tuesday, Oct. 2, 7 PM- New Hanover County CommissionersJonathan Barfield (Current Vice Chairman)Beth DawsonRobert MurrayDr. Derrick HickeyWoody WhiteRob Zapple Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 PM- NC House District 18Representative Susi Hamilton (D)Louis Harmati (R) Monday, Oct. 8, 7 PM - NC Senate District 9Senator Thom Goolsby (R)Deb Butler (D) Thursday, Oct. 18, 7 PM - NC House District 19 & NC House District 20 NC House District 19Ted Davis, Jr. (Current NHC Commission Chair)Emilie Swearingen (Current Kure Beach Councilwoman)NC House District 20Rick Catlin (Current NHC Commissioner) (R)Tom Gale (D)

NC Senate District 9 candidates on politics as usual

At the North Carolina Senate District 9 Candidates’ Forum at WHQR last night, Republican Senator Thom Goolsby and his Democratic opponent Deb Butler accused one another of hypocrisy, lying, mud-slinging, and complaining.  So when panelist Cacky Catlett asked how they would talk to families who aren’t interested in politics as usual, the answer, as WHQR’s Rachel Lewis Hilburn reports, quickly turned into -- well, politics as usual.

It started with an acknowledgment from the candidates: 

“Well, I tell you, you know we have suffered horrible division – political division like no other in my lifetime. And it is so regrettable.”

“I have put politics aside for the last two years in working hard to pass legislation that actually helps everyone across the board.” 

And then the gloves came off. 

“I find it interesting that my opponent… who described her race in the very beginning as a bare-knuckles brawl and has done nothing but attack me the entire time and offered up absolutely no solutions…” 

Case in point, says Goolsby:  Butler’s website offers little, he says, in the way of specifics.   And Butler herself, says Goolsby, spends most of her effort going after Republicans. 

Butler says it’s the Tea Partiers and ultra right-wingers who create the perception of a serious division between parties.  She says nobody likes higher taxes or restrictive regulations.  But somehow the Tea Party has co-opted those notions and made people think, according to Butler, that they’re the only ones with those concerns. 

And when it comes to hypocrisy and wasteful spending, says Butler…

“The Senator went to Raleigh suggesting that he was the jobs senator and talking about eradicating wasteful spending.  But among the first things he did was re-name a highway up here that cost thousands of dollars.  And I’ll tell you right now – it’s nice to re-name a highway and honor our veterans.  That’s great.  But I’d rather honor them with a job when they get back.” 

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.