The Democratic Governors Association has started its fall ad campaign in support of Walter Dalton for governor of North Carolina. Here’s a look at the facts

“Laundry”
Sponsor: The ad is sponsored by a group called N.C. Citizens for Progress but is financed by the Democratic Governors Association. It is airing in Triangle, the Triad, Asheville, Greenville and Wilmington.

Claim: “Pat McCrory. He just won’t come clean. Refusing to release his tax returns. Or explain why even though he is not a lawyer he is being paid by a powerful law firm that lobbies for big oil, insurance and the financial industry. But what is McCrory’s spin? McCrory: ‘I’m making a living right now.’ So Pat McCrory won’t come clean on his taxes or what special interests he is working for. Why should we trust him to be governor?”

Long-time reader Ginger Nelles of Knightdale, in a letter to the editor Wednesday, says our Sunday story about sexual tension at the legislature was offensive and sexist. The story, "Power, temptation a seductive mix at the legislature," by reporter Mandy Locke, said sometimes at the legislature, the lines between work and play get blurred.

The sexual tensions are subtle yet palpable, Locke wrote: "The lobbyist who addresses a lawmaker as 'sweetie.' An arm brushed. A rear end admired. The off-color joke shared." Among other things in the story, Nelles objected to "a rear end admired." I don't know why that sentence would be sexist: It didn't say who was doing the admiring or who was being admired. It just said a rear end was being admired.

Which was true, I'm sure. Locke's story helped explain the recent news about social relationships between lobbyists and legislative staff. Anyone who spends time with legislators and their staff members (I covered the legislature for five years) knows there's a strong nightlife culture. Locke gave various reasons in her well-reported story for the sexual tension: The legislature can be an intense workplace with long hours. Legislators, many of whom have big egos, are away from home, usually with time (and many social opportunities) at night. "There is down time and alcohol and egos," said Rep. Deborah Ross of Wake County. "It's easy to see what happens."

"What happens" isn't purely social. The relationships among lobbyists, legislators and staff members can affect public policy. As one lobbyist told Locke, "If the person you know is a lobbyist and is a personal friend you are sleeping with, you are going to take their call and hear what they are doing." That's why this story was worth publishing. --John Drescher

The NC General Assembly started its short, even-year session Wednesday, which meant lobbyists started flocking to the Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh on Jones Street again. Our Wednesday story started like this:

"Swank steakhouses, stock up. Big-time lobbyists, polish up those Gucci loafers....The North Carolina legislature gavels into session today."

That prompted an e-mail from Ken Eudy, CEO of Capstrat, the communications firm:

"I haven’t lobbied in years, but it strikes me that perpetuating the lobbyist-in-Gucci-loafer myth, as y’all did today, is a slur.  Sort of like calling a person of Arab descent a towelhead.

"You guys know, or should know, that the majority of lobbyists get away from 'the building' as fast as they can to get to their kids’ soccer practice, to choir rehearsal or to the emails that accumulate when they’re out of the office.  They’re not overrunning the steakhouses.

"It was a tired, pejorative stereotype that gives your readers a false, negative impression.  Come on."

Some of our best friends are lobbyists. For sure, lobbyists dress better than reporters. But that's not saying much.

--John Drescher