Elegy for 2 public introverts

This month two of North Carolina's leading elected officials, Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, will leave office.

Both are smart, experienced, savvy and conscientious public servants. But in the view of many, neither reached full potential.

A major reason is that they lacked visibility.

Jim Hunt, the former four-term governor, once shared an insight with me. As a young man, he had spent two years as a Ford Foundation adviser in the Himalayan nation of Nepal living with his family in a foundation-provided house with mud walls.

One lesson Hunt learned was that an effective leader must move among his people to be successful. Hunt was constantly on the move when he was governor.

North Carolina's other modern political giant, Sen. Jesse Helms, didn't travel as extensively as Hunt. But he was constantly reaching out to people in telephone calls, personal letters, meeting with groups on Capitol Hill or helping people with his exceptionally effective constituent services.

Neither Dole nor Easley did that. Sure, they made public appearances. But not enough of them.

Neither Dole nor Easley is a natural politician, and both have complicated personalities. Dole can give a great speech. Easley has the best sense of humor of any political figure I've ever known.

But Dole was essentially an administrator and policy wonk. She said her husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, was the politician in the family.

In the Easley family, it was first lady Mary Easley who shined in public. Both Bob Dole and Mary Easley are extroverts. Mike Easley and Elizabeth Dole are more intense, private and introverted than their spouses.

Being visible takes many forms. It means making public appearances. It can mean meeting with delegations of constituents or people with grievances. It means making oneself available to talk about the questions of the day with reporters, who really are little more than conduits between elected leaders and the public.

Neither Dole nor Easley seemed comfortable in the public part of their roles.

Both Dole and Easley brought great resumes to their offices. Dole had been transportation secretary under Reagan, labor secretary under the first President Bush, president of the American Red Cross and a presidential candidate. Easley had been a fearless, crusading prosecutor and a two-term attorney general.

Both made major accomplishments while in office. Dole played a role in the federal buyout of the tobacco program and helped protect North Carolina's military installations from base closures. Easley had innovative education ideas such as his pet program More at Four; he introduced the lottery; and he showed political guts in raising taxes to keep school budgets from being slashed during the recession at the beginning of his term.

Both Easley and Dole had the bad luck of following Hunt and Helms, to whom they were bound to be compared.

Think Bill Guthridge after Dean Smith. Or Les Robinson after Jim Valvano.

Neither went out on a high note.

Dole was defeated for re-election amid controversy over her "Godless" ad.

Easley, who was ineligible for a third term, has received a barrage of press criticism for not getting out in front of the mental health and probation problems.

Both are better than their exits.