Break It Down!: The Pope of North Carolina: Changing the Electoral Process with Ca$h!

It's time to Break It Down!

Americans are beginning to focus on the upcoming 2012 Election cycle. Before turning the page completely, humor me, and let’s review where we are, and to some extent, how we arrived there.

The times, they are a changing! The 2010 mid-term elections signaled a seismic shift in electoral politics. Just two years earlier, in 2008, Democrats had fashioned what can still rightly be called an impressive sweep, claiming both Houses of Congress and the Presidency. It was a victory so satisfying that I still recall Democrats in some corners giddily feeling they had established a new method, created a new math, and secured a new Blue Map that would carry them through 2012.

Then came 2010; stop the presses. Shortly after President Obama was Inaugurated in 2009 a new player, the Tea Party Movement burst upon the scene. The group cast itself as channeling the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, which I’m sure you recall involved Bostonians destroying three shiploads of tea. The initial dust-up was sparked by a disagreement of taxes on tea, which lead first to the development of a black market, and smuggled tea, and ultimately to the Revolutionary War, which began near Boston in 1775. OK, that’s enough of the history lesson.

The present-day Tea Party Movement fancies itself as a group of patriots, knighted to oppose new taxes, decrease the size of government, and perhaps most important, defeat President Obama. Denizens of both the Tea Party Movement and the slightly more encompassing Republican Party have stated pointedly their number 1 objective is to “Make Barack Obama a one term President!”

That brings us back to the 2010 mid-term elections, and the cataclysmic renunciation of an agenda the GOP-Tea Party painted effectively as out of touch with the American people. Republicans, in effect, conducted a scorched earth campaign that virtually burned Democrats at the political stakes. Their victory was so complete and all-consuming, President Obama, the day after, referred to it as a “Shellacking,” of Democrats.

Lots of words have been used since then to describe the events of November 2, 2010. The simple one-word descriptor I would choose is “historic.” How so you may ask? The GOP-Tea Party victory was huge. How big was it?

· It was so big, Republicans picked up 680 seats in state legislatures

· It was so big that the total number of seats gained eclipsed by 208 the 472 seats Republicans picked up in the big GOP wave of 1994

· It was so big that the total number of seats gained eclipsed by 52 the post-Watergate era record 628 Democrats amassed in 1974

· It was so big, the GOP gained majorities in 14 state house chambers

· It was so big, the GOP now has unified control (both houses) of 26 state legislatures

· It was so big, Republicans now hold both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship in 15 states

· It was so big, the GOP also now controls the Nebraska governorship and the unicameral legislature, taking the number up to 16

· It was so big, they hold both chambers in North Carolina, for the first time since 1870 (140 years), where incidentally, the governor, a Democrat, does not have veto power over the redistricting proposal

As I said; it was huge!

These developments clearly have implications nationally. But do not overlook the fact there are fundamentally significant ramifications right here in North Carolina. The practical possibility for the huge turn-about on Election Day, 2010, was greatly enhanced by a January 21, 2010 Supreme Court decision. The High Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.

In North Carolina, one of the most fervent activists for using the leverage provided by this decision is James Arthur “Art” Pope. In an October 10^th article appearing in TheNew Yorker, Jane Mayer says, of Mr. Pope, “A conservative multimillionaire has taken control in North Carolina, one of 2012’s top battlegrounds.”

Most people concerned about elections in this country being tainted or overly influenced by corporate cash are familiar with the name Koch Brothers. Mr. Pope, CEO and Board Chairman of Variety Wholesalers, Inc., which includes Roses, Maxway, and Super Dollar stores, has direct involvement in a number of entities that funneled money directly into battles for legislative control, including here in his home state.

North Carolina is an integral element in a larger plan for the GOP to take over state legislatures, which in turn positions those legislatures to control redistricting efforts in those states. This larger plan, according to Jane Mayer, an investigative journalist who writes for The New Yorker, is called RedMap. If 2010 results are any indication, RedMap can be termed a rousing success.

How you see Mr. Pope’s endeavors may depend upon where you sit. One argument is, to the extent the rules dictate, it is perfectly legitimate for an individual to spend his or her money however he or she sees fit. That’s fair!

Another vantage point, in the case of Mr. Pope is to consider how he came by his money. The Pope family amassed their fortune, largely, via the efforts of Mr. Pope’s grandfather and father. Variety Wholesalers is a conglomerate of what are commonly known as Dime stores. They are most often located in low to moderate income communities that tend to have at least 25% African American residents.

The irony here, depending upon your perspective, is that this means much of Mr. Pope’s money stream is derived from purchases made by people most likely to be negatively affected by the policies promulgated by these brand new Republican legislatures. This includes the one in North Carolina.

In this state, new rules governing voting will shorten Early Voting periods, reduce the number of voting locations, and institute requirements for picture I.D. Purportedly, this last measure is expressly intended to reduce voter fraud; this despite the fact there have been no significant instances of fraud identified, even though numerous investigations have been conducted.

Mr. Pope has direct involvement in at least three groups that engage actively in this battle for legislatures. The three that stand out are:

Real Jobs – a 527 nonprofit based in Raleigh, started by Mr. Pope. So far, it has spent $1.7 million on legislative elections. The group has paid for attack ads on Democrats; $200,000 was contributed by Variety Stores. The largest share of money has come from the Republican State Legislature Committee. The organization has contributed at least $850,000, and its donors also include Reynolds American of Winston-Salem (the largest donor), Bank of America, and Time Warner Cable.
Civitas Action, Inc., the advocacy arm of the J.W. Pope Civitas Institute, a Raleigh think tank, is another group that Mr. Pope was instrumental in creating and funding. This group has spent $202,000 so far. The funding stream includes $190,000 from Variety Stores.
Americans for Prosperity is a national group, of which Mr. Pope is one of four board members. This group has spent $282,783 so far, and is also spending $100,000 in an independent campaign against Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre.

An entity known as Real Facts NC has emerged in response to the various Pope-driven efforts. The group has raised $239,000 to help Democratic candidates. All but $14,000 was raised from the N.C. Association of Educators, a teacher advocacy group. All things considered, this sum is just a drop in the bucket, compared to the avalanche of Pope-funded initiatives.

While Ms. Mayer has taken Mr. Pope to task, his efforts appear to be unfolding, with little tangible resistance. There have been some suggestions of boycotting Mr. Pope’s stores; an idea which he all but dismisses. He insists he will not be intimidated by those who oppose him, and warns that such threats are actually not aimed at him, but designed to scare others who might be susceptible to such threats. I suppose, if you had his millions, you could understand his tendency to be dismissive; his track record to date doesn’t hurt either.

So it is, “The Pope of North Carolina: Changing the Electoral Process with Ca$h!” I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Pope

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141078608/the-multimillionaire-helping-republicans-win-n-c

http://www.artpopeexposed.com/npr_fresh_air