Peter V. Andrews: A big mistake for Cooper, Ross

I can understand why Gov. Pat McCrory and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr would not want to appear on the same stage as Donald Trump. The presumptive Republican presidential candidate is wild, woolly and unpredictable and has a very high negative rating with voters.

I cannot understand, however, why the Democratic candidates for governor, Roy Cooper, and for U.S. senator, Deborah Ross, would not want to appear with their presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ( “Clinton rally,” June 22 Under the Dome item).

Times have changed since the 1984 election, when many political observers thought Jim Hunt lost to Jesse Helms because he appeared on Raleigh’s Fayetteville Street Mall with Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic candidate for vice president.

North Carolina is now a battleground state. President Obama won here in 2008 and narrowly lost in 2012. If this election is close, as it may be, North Carolina may be one of two or three states the Democrats must win. Therefore, Democrats have every reason to pull together this time and in the years to come.

This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Peter V. Andrews: A big mistake for Cooper, Ross."