News & Record editors offer misleading look at Congressional 6th district Dem primary

The News & Record opinion editors offered their analysis of the Congressional 6th district Democratic primary yesterday. The winner will go on to face 12-term Republican incumbent Howard Coble. Vying for the chance are Teresa Sue Bratton, Jay Ovittore and Johnny Carter. The editors endorsed Bratton, but then did something very strange. They wrote that Carter "doesn’t offer voters much to distinguish himself from the crowd."

Hardly. On his website, Carter offers some unique propositions, especially for a Democrat. Among them:

• He asserts that a plan is under way to dissolve the sovereignty of the United States and says "Our elected Global elitists will seal this program with a new money called the 'Amero'."
• He proposes a year-round school schedule to allow children to "graduate" by 9th grade.
• He would, "Remove all illegal non-citizens from this country."
• He says we should "Accept no visitors from known terrorist countries"
• He claims that the Pledge of Allegiance has been legislated out of our schools.
• He says that for a church to keep its tax-exempt status, "THE CHURCH MUST NOT CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES OR BUREAUS, THE WHITE HOUSE,NEW WORLD ORDER, CONGRESS, FEDERAL RESERVE, SUPREME COURT, ANY PENDING BILLS OR LEGISLATION, WELL KNOWN PUBLIC FIGURES OR INSTITUTIONS, ORDER OF SKULL AND BONES, OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES, FAITH GROUPS, CULTS OR RELIGIONS, NEW AGE MOVEMENT, UNITED NATIONS OR GLOBALIST GROUPS."
  

Carter also says he would, "Require the U.S. Arab Community to publicly denounce terrorism of any form or else remove their tax-exempt status. It is time to evolve." I wasn't aware that the U.S. Arab community had tax-exempt status, but saying so, and doing it with the implication that Arabs are less evolved, is something that certainly sets Johnny Carter apart from his opponents.

Another thing unique to Carter: According to the NC State Board of Elections, Carter has never voted in an election in this state. The N&R apparently avoided reporting this too, even though it was brought to their attention on at least two occasions.

Why would the N&R avoid giving readers an accurate and complete picture of Carter? I cannot be sure. Comments on the editorial's shortcomings have gone unanswered. I have a theory, though. If the N&R wants Bratton to win the primary, they benefit her by endorsing her then leaving readers to think that, if not her, there are two alternatives. If they had offered an honest assessment of Carter, they would have revealed him as not viable in a Democratic primary, casting the contest as a two-person race, which would make a win harder for Bratton. Either that or they got very lazy on this one. Hard to know.