Carolina Politics Online

Chad Adams was the third candidate to respond to my questionnaire.  Mr. Adams has been the Vice President of the John Locke Foundation since 2006. Prior to that he served eight years on the Lee County Commission and was Chairman of the Lee County Republican Party from 1999-2002.  He lives in Sanford, N.C. For more information about Chad Adams, please visit http://www.adamsncgop.com/.

CPO thanks Mr. Adams for his time. 

As with the other candidates, Mr. Adams’ answers have not been edited.

1. Last year the NCGOP produced and aired an infamous commercial using Jeremiah Wright to attack Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue. Some Republicans, including John McCain, thought the commercial was in poor taste. What’s your opinion on the commercial? Would you have aired it?

If the dems had disavowed the comments made by Wright and taken the issue off the table, the ads would never have aired. I don’t really like “what if” scenarios, looking back I would have aired the ads. But in their review some of the rhetoric might have been tempered.

2. Why do you think Pat McCrory and Elizabeth Dole lost last year? Had you been the GOP chairman last year, what would you have done differently to ensure a different outcome?

The most critical reason that both candidates lost was the impact of early voting. The GOP must have a plan for the entire month of October, not just 72 hours. On election day McCrory overwhelmingly won, but the early voting had already changed the course of the election. There was also a clear backlash against Bush via the electorate in NC and that was also a factor. But the GOP will have a more concise, thought out plan for early voting and do a far better job in 2010.

3. The GOP has a weak candidate bench. What will you do to recruit and train stronger candidates?

I wouldn’t say the bench is weak, but the party MUST do a better job of recruiting candidates at the local level. City councils, school boards and county commissions are a great place to gain experience in the political process. Conservative republicans in those positions also save millions in taxpayer dollars through policy decisions. Having been a county commissioner through 2006, I truly want to inspire our GOP activists to not only get more involved, but run for office as well.

4. Why, in your opinion, has North Carolina been unable to elect strong Republican leaders to both state and federal office, while other southern states like Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have?

The primary reason our state has been so difficult is due to the horrendous
gerrymandering that has taken place over the past two decades. In legislative races, the majority of North Carolinians have voted for Republican leaders, but gerrymandering placed most of the Republican votes in heavily drawn Republican districts. In a fair race, the House and Senate would most likely have been Republican in most election cycles.  Power breeds income in this state and the Democrats have garnered the lion’s share of political donations because people want a seat at the table. We must sell our brand and starve the beast that feeds the inept leadership in our state.

5. Without naming names, do you think the current staff at state Republican headquarters are doing a good job? Would you keep many of them, or would you make replacements?

I think the issue really is, if you were starting a state Republican party
headquarters, what would you do? What would the positions be? How would you do it different? And that’s where my vision starts. We must be more responsive as a party. We must do a better job at getting GOP registrations and reaching into various communities with our issues. We must also have the most responsive constituency services in the state. And we must be on the ground in counties across the state. It’s about being a vibrant, energetic, conservative party!

6. The state Democrats out-raised the Republicans last year by a large margin. What is your plan to raise more money?

You must restore the faith in our party in order to raise money. That sounds glib in some ways, but consider that the Obama and Kay Hagan ran as tax cutters, yet that is nowhere to be found in the democratic platform. If the other party is defining us and claiming our issues are theirs, why should anyone give to our party? We must re-establish what the Republican party brand is (lower taxes, limited government, personal freedom, free markets) in order to restore the trust, excite the base and raise money. At that point, when our base believes in us once again, we raise the money. People will always give to causes that they believe in.

7. Looking at the other 49 state Republican Parties, which state party organizations would you would emulate? Why?

I think that Texas has done a remarkable job of understanding that the Republican party and the conservative movement have a lot of common goals. They have been successful because of that recognition. They have been aggressive in rooting out bad policies, using the courts, registering voters and a host of other programs.  There is a lot we can learn there. Several other states, Tennessee and South Carolina, are also worth looking at for some ideas.

8. The Republican Party must retake either the state house or state senate in 2010 to have a say in redistricting. What’s your plan to make that happen?

There are several factors working in our favor currently. The “voter regret” factor is taking hold as people realize that the Reid, Pelosi, Obama is really moving to expand government power and debt at a record pace. And our state leadership’s handling of the budget is sinking in as even Gov. Perdue’s numbers continue to fall. That is an opportunity to show how conservative leadership makes a difference.  Also consider that several House and Senate districts are moving toward Republican takeover like Sen. Hoyle’s in Gaston, Boseman in New Hanover and Soles in Columbus/Pender/Brunswick. On the House side there are similar demographic opportunities. If folks were paying attention to the NC Supreme Court recently, they judges had ruled that several districts across the state are so poorly drawn that they should be redrawn immediately. I don’t see that happening, but it does continue to illustrate how badly the districts are drawn and that in spite of that
the GOP will gain seats in 2010 in both legislative chambers. We have great
candidates for many of those seats.

8a. Assume for a second the Republicans take both houses. Will you push for partisan redistricting, or will you push for an independent bi-partisan panel to draw the lines?

I would truly love to see an independent panel draw the lines. With
properly drawn maps the GOP would do exceedingly well. Unfortunately, what we have seen for years are legislators picking their voters rather than voters picking their legislators.

9. The General Assembly recently passed a ban on smoking in restaurants (HB2). What?s your opinion on this bill?

This was a property rights issue although it was never openly discussed in that manner. If smoking was truly the issue then we would have seen bills focusing on reducing nicotine in cigarettes or making it illegal for kids to smoke (yes it’s legal for those under 17 to smoke, just not purchase). But instead was a bill designed to go after property owners who pay taxes and remove their ability to allow or not allow a legal product to be consumed on their property. This is the continual erosion of freedom that we see in places like California as well.

9a. If you disagree with its passage, will you take any action against the
Republican representatives and senators who voted for it?

This is a divisive question. I think it’s safer to say that the party should
clearly stake out its position on the issues and if legislators chose to run away from the party on issues then they also run away from our platform. It’s not about “taking action” as we need to all the votes we can get, but the party MUST stand on principles and elected officials need to know where the party stands. And the party should take strong stands on supporting candidates who support OUR issues.

10. On what issue do you disagree with mainstream Republicans the  most?

I think the platform is a solid one and I agree with it. I would say that I would like to see a more open minded approach as to how we transition our principles into the modern age. For too long it seems that we have not adapted and evolved as a party into the 21st century. The one issue that I would like to take on would be the open primary situation. I think that closing the primaries to Republicans only would restore more importance
to the local party and ensure that more conservative candidates come out of the primary process.

11. Do you believe that individuals have a right to make choices you morally disagree with, so long as a third party is not hurt by their actions?

That is a situational question that covers a lot of territory. People certainly
have rights to make choices that I would morally disagree with. But this question leads us down the path to abortion which I oppose and can be easily nuanced. Freedoms come with responsibilities. When responsibility is abdicated, then the government will gladly legislate the freedom away from us.

11a. Do you support legalized gambling?Is Bingo gambling? The lottery? The casino in Cherokee is, but is HEAVILY regulated and doesn’t even allow a dealer to hold cards, it’s all electronic. Either you allow gambling or you don’t, but trying to split hairs on this issue is laughable. I think there are serious consequences to allowing legalized gambling that we don’t need in our state. 

11b. Do you support the legalization of marijuana?

No.

11c. Do you support seatbelt and helmet laws?

I think the better good is served by using them, but I do not think we should require it by law.

11d. State Sen. Purcell (D) has introduced a bill banning the sale of Salvia
Divinorum, a hallucinogenic plant. Do you support this bill?

I think there are a host of products that our youth and general population abuse regardless of laws in place. I also think there is a rush to ban this plant before we even fully understand the harmful effects. What about the host of genetically altered plants to come? We should have a far more serious discussion about drug abuse in this state. More often than not, we simply pass along fines and prison terms without taking a serious approach to the impact that this is having on our society. No, I would not support the bill until I understand more about the plant.

12. CPO is running a series of articles called “Dead Republican Walking”, wherein we keep track of which state Republicans vote for bills that expand the size of government, spend unwisely, or reduce individual liberty. At the end of this session, we will encourage our readers to  support and even induce primary challenges against these Republicans.

a. If you were chairman, at what point -if any- would you look at a certain
Republican’s voting record and decide that s/he does not represent conservative values?

If the elected official is openly disdainful of the party platform and the position of the party, then is must be considered. But again, the party must be VERY clear about where it stands. That’s where the Executive Committee must come in to define what it is we stand for so that legislators know when they are leaving the party’s position on issues.

b. Would you actively encourage a primary campaign against such a Republican? If not, why not?

There are situations in which the party should encourage primaries. And yes, I would! We have, for too long as a party, looked the other way when certain elected officials were openly disdainful of our party and the issues we believe in. Such actions have taken a serious toll and left the public wondering who we are and what we stand for. We must not allow that to continue!

c. Would you actively discourage a primary campaign against such a Republican? If so, why?

Again, if the party has been clear about where it stands, it would be the candidate that is choosing to walk away from the party. If such a candidate understands what he or she is doing, then they would have to expect consequences for those actions.

d. Assume an open seat and no ideological differences between two primary candidates- should the state party intervene in this primary, or should it remain neutral?

I think the state party should stay out of such a situation. The party’s objective is to elect conservative Republican candidates in the general election and spend its resources to that end.

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