10/08/2008

By GARY D. ROBERTSON  / Associated Press

Pat McCrory and Mike Munger returned to live television, sharing the stage to debate — without fellow candidate Beverly Perdue — in the race for North Carolina governor.

The Republican and Libertarian candidates prepared to meet Wednesday night for the second time at a one-hour forum that will air on the University of North Carolina Television network.

The pair met two weeks ago for a similar debate at UNC-TV at which the Democratic nominee Perdue declined to participate, saying she already had agreed to five debates. She won't attend this one either.

Her opponents criticized her at the first debate for her absence, with McCrory, the Charlotte mayor, saying her decision "disrespects the voters of North Carolina."

Perdue participated in three UNC debates during the Democratic primary against State Treasurer Richard Moore. Perdue and McCrory have debated four times on TV, the last on Sept. 19. All three general election candidates are scheduled to meet on the same stage in Charlotte on Oct. 15.

Perdue tried to grab some of the spotlight earlier Wednesday, signing an eight-point "First Day of Change" that attempts to wrest back from McCrory the mantle of the campaign's reform candidate.

Perdue said she would order state Board of Transportation members to not vote on most individual projects if she's elected as a way to reduce their political influence.

The lieutenant governor has taken heat after two transportation board members who raised money for her campaign resigned this year under ethical questions.

"I'm going to prove on day one, in a historic way, that I'm the leader who will overhaul and transform state government," Perdue said in a news release.

Perdue also said she would hold at least four live town-hall meetings that could be televised, causing McCrory campaign strategist Jack Hawke to scoff: "She can't even show up for a debate to get elected governor."

Munger, the political science department chairman at Duke University, and McCrory agreed more with each other at their first UNC debate Sept. 24 than with Perdue, finding common ground on education, transportation and offshore drilling.

They differed on capital punishment and the scope of creating education vouchers.

But more differences may emerge Wednesday night, since both candidates said after the first debate they disagreed on immigration and same-sex marriage.

Munger's Libertarian Party has much to gain from his second TV appearance.

If he receives 2 percent of the vote on Election Day — down from 10 percent after passage of a 2006 law — Libertarians will not have to collect at least 70,000 petition signatures to remain on the ballot in the next election cycle.

Perdue's reform package, which she said she would carry out on her first day of office if elected, would shift the transportation board to a more advisory and planning role and give decision-making to professionals within the department.

Board members would have to sign a sworn statement they don't have a financial interest in a project or recuse themselves in situations where a vote is required by state law.

McCrory already has called for reforms within the Department of Transportation and wants to prohibit fundraising by members of the board and choose people with expertise in transportation, land-use planning and business.

Perdue also said she would conduct monthly performance reviews with at least one agency chief and order state employees to preserve all e-mails while the state works out a long-term method to retain them.