Coble gets competition, despite big head start

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble has a challenger for 2008.

Johnny J. Carter of Summerfield has filed to run for the Democratic nomination in the Sixth Congressional District against the Greensboro Republican.

According to the Federal Elections Commission, Carter, general manager of Williams Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, has given his own campaign $5,000.

Still, he's going to be a long-shot candidate.

Now in his 12th term, Coble had $626,000 in his campaign account July 1 and has won his past two elections with more than 70 percent of the vote, according to CQPolitics.

Carter said he was inspired to run by Coble's votes for the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade deals.

"You've got 168 furniture factories in the state of North Carolina that's out of business because they shipped all that to China and Mexico," he said.

Carter, 59, said he is also concerned about illegal immigration and the risk that terrorists could cross into the United States from the Mexican border.

"I'm not afraid of the people coming from Mexico," he said. "I've been to Mexico, and I know the reason why they want to come here. I don't blame them. The trouble is, we want to get the good Mexicans, not some of the stuff that's come through here."

Showing up, or not

Sen. Fred Smith says Mike Easley's an absentee governor.

In his biography, "A Little Extra Effort," Smith says he has seen the Democratic governor only in the legislature when Easley comes to give a speech and twice when he has gone to the governor's mansion.

"That's my entire contact as a three-term senator with the leader of the state. Governor Easley is not engaged in making the public policy of this state," Smith wrote. "That's not acceptable. North Carolina needs a chief executive who understands the first, simple rule of leadership: Show up."

After the passage was cited in a news report, state Democrats said Smith is an absentee senator.

In a news release, state party chairman Jerry Meek noted that Smith missed more than a fourth of the votes this session because he was campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

"Fred Smith talks a big game even when his record doesn't support the talk," Meek said. "Voters deserve an elected official who will actually show up for work. Of course, given the way Fred Smith votes, perhaps voters would be better off if he had missed more votes."

Blue Devils meet Bush

The Duke women's golf team got face time with President Bush last week when team members visited the White House along with several championship college teams in other sports. The president held a brief news conference on the White House South Lawn to greet the athletes.

"The ladies of the golf team have now won three NCAA championships in a row, and five overall," Bush said. "They're really hard to beat. This spring, the team played through wind and rain to win the championship tournament by 15 strokes."

The Duke women were joined by a host of other teams: Arizona State University women's indoor and outdoor track and field, Oregon State University baseball, Johns Hopkins University men's lacrosse, University of Tennessee women's basketball, Brown University women's crew, University of Minnesota men's wrestling and University of Alaska-Fairbanks men's and women's rifle.