From October 24, 2022 post
This week, the Charlotte Observer and News & Observer Editorial Boards endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate Cheri Beasley and highlighted that she “would be a capable and thoughtful leader for North Carolina in the United States Senate,” and “would represent our state with integrity and decency.”
In their endorsement, the Editorial Boards said that Cheri “has been a respected jurist for more than two decades” and her “values on important issues” “align with most of the constituents she would serve.”
The Editorial Boards noted that while Cheri “would be an independent voice who would strive to represent all of North Carolina in the Senate,” Congressman Ted Budd has been an “obstacle” on major issues impacting North Carolinians, from protecting access to abortion to strengthening public safety. Describing Budd as “inflexible” and “more conservative than current North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr,” the Editorial Boards reported that “he’s willing to be politically prostrate in exchange for Donald Trump’s support.
Read the highlights here:
Charlotte Observer: Opinion: Endorsement: The Editorial Board’s choice in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race
By The Editorial Board
October 23, 2022
Democrat Cheri Beasley would be a capable and thoughtful leader for North Carolina in the United States Senate. She has been a respected jurist for more than two decades. Her values on important issues, including abortion and the climate crisis, align with most of the constituents she would serve. She also would be an historic member of the Senate — the first Black senator elected by our state’s voters.
We recommend her.
We also know that elections these days are often less about candidates than their party affiliation. That’s true in Senate races across the country, where Democrats and Republicans are campaigning in part on what their victory would mean for the balance of power in Washington. It’s what some voters are weighing heavily, including here in North Carolina, and we believe it’s an important consideration in this race and others.
So while we believe Beasley would be an independent voice who would strive to represent all of North Carolina in the Senate, it’s fair and important to consider what would happen if her opponent wins. What would a Sen. Ted Budd mean for North Carolina — and our country?
He would be one less obstacle to a further tightening of restrictions on abortion — including a possible nationwide ban on the procedure. Budd, a Republican, co-sponsored such a ban in the U.S. House, one that would begin at just 15 weeks. Beasley supports the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify protections for abortions into federal law.
Budd also would be one more obstacle to reasonable reforms on gun ownership — including basic mandatory background checks — that Americans largely support. Budd, a gun shop owner in Forsyth County, has a fondness for campaign ads about crime but less eagerness to address the mass shootings that have plagued our country. He opposed a gun safety compromise supported by North Carolina’s current Republican senators. We should expect more of the same inflexibility with Budd’s Senate vote.
Beyond guns and abortion, Budd not only would be a reliably Republican vote, but one that’s likely more conservative than current North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr. Unlike Tillis, for example, Budd was opposed to the CHIPS Act, a significant measure that will spur semiconductor research and production in the U.S. and is poised to bring a manufacturing boon to North Carolina. Budd also voted against his state’s interests on bills regarding offshore drilling and farm reforms.
But equally as important as the votes he makes are the stands a Sen. Budd likely wouldn’t take.
He would be one less elected official to say no to Donald Trump, to the election lies the former president continues to tell, to the falsehoods his party increasingly accepts. Budd was one of 147 Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. What kind of voice would he be when Republicans, including perhaps the former president, decline again to accept election results? This is a critical moment for our democracy. We don’t know that Budd would defend it.
We also are not confident he would stand up to his party’s worst impulses — the perpetual posture of grievances and resurfacing of discrimination that we thought this country was moving past. LGBTQ communities are enduring fresh and troubling attacks. The retelling of history is under new threat. Our country needs leaders who are certain to speak up for basic principles of equality and truth instead of bowing to the hate of extremism.
We don’t believe all Republicans want that path for their party or country. But Ted Budd has already shown us that he’s willing to be politically prostrate in exchange for Donald Trump’s support. He’s already shown an unwillingness to condemn what’s poisoning his party and threatening his country. He has shown us what kind of senator and leader he would be.
North Carolina voters have a different choice, a principled leader who would represent our state with integrity and decency. We recommend Cheri Beasley.
Original source can be found here.
