Michele Morrow sends Moe Green to the principal's office

This has been a very sleepy, very quiet campaign season in the Tar Heel State.  There’s been a lot of fundraising. But not a lot of news.  Not a lot of forums or debates.  If it weren’t for the Don-and-Kamala Show or the Scandal-of-the-week in the governor’s race, most of the state’s voters wouldn’t even know an election is going on.

We’ve seen one debate in the presidential race.  There have been none — and likely won’t be any — in the governor’s race.  And it doesn’t appear that most of the down-ballot candidates are planning to do much of it.

It’s a different story in the superintendent of DPI race — where there have been three debates with one more scheduled here in Moore County on October 14.

An organization called BESTNC hosted a debate between Democrat DPI nominee Moe Green and Republican Michele Morrow via ZOOM on Friday.  

BESTNC is the crème de la crème of the state’s corporate world establishment.   Moderator Chris William is best known as the host of Carolina Business Review.

We have to give Mr. William kudos for doing a great job.  He was even-handed and succeeded in making it less about him, and more about the candidates.  (ABC News could learn a lot from him.)

If you have an hour to spare, you can watch the whole debate here.  Of course, you’re going to get my two cents on the whole affair.

Initial impressions.  Morrow kept eye contact with her audience (the camera and beyond) and, for the most part, smiled throughout.  Moe Green looked like he didn’t want to be there – like it was beneath him. He guzzled what looked like water throughout the affair.  Green also kept reaching for things off camera and making eye contact with someone or something off-camera.  It was as though he had people in the room coaching him.

Experience.  Green tried to hit Morrow early by harping on the “experience” factor.  He cited his roles as executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and as superintendent of Guilford County Schools.  (In a 2018 interview on a UNC TV program, Green admitted that some political insiders had to change the rules a bit so he could qualify – and be hired – for his superintendent jobs.)

Teacher recruitment and retention.   Green said he favored increasing the base pay for teachers as the best method for recruiting and retaining these professionals.  Morrow mentioned that she had found research suggesting that a great many teachers are leaving the classroom — and not returning – due to (1) a lack of respect in the classroom and (2) worries about personal safety. (Morrow has made school safety a significant plank in her platform. She even has an advisory council on the question of school security.)

 ‘Mic drop’ moment.  The moderator asked each candidate whether they favored school choice. Green said he did, but only with this condition: “public dollars to public schools.”  In other words, limit the choice to public schools or charter schools. Green used this opportunity to pat himself on the back for his “accomplishments” at the schools in Guilford and Mecklenburg Counties.

Morrow saw her opening and took it:

[…] “When we look at the history of what has happened to Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and Guilford County Schools where my opponent served years ago and he abandoned them to go and be the executive director of the most left-wing political group in the entire state, they don’t have a great success rating. They have an increase in crime — violence, drugs — the likes we’ve never seen.” […] 

Rights of Parents.  Morrow touted the Parents Bill of Rights, which she lobbied for in the General Assembly. Green countered by calling the bill’s title “a false narrative.”  Green championed a “Parents Academy” that operated during his time as superintendent.  The school system injected itself into the parent-child relationship and took on the task of teaching “character” to both of those parties.

Morrow championed the idea of making parents a partner in their children’s education.

One mean Moe.  One of the last questions of the debate was something like: “What do you like about your opponent?”

Here’s Moe:

[…] “I’ll have to give that some thought. It’s been very hard to listen to my opponent given all she has said. […] It’s hard to come up with something.” […] 

Green then proceeded to run through that tired list of things pulled off social media and parroted by WRAL and The N&O.

Then, it was Morrow’s turn:

[…[ “I like the fact that he took from my platform about the need for safety in our schools and he has also started talking about character development when the only thing he’s spoken about before this was celebrating our current system that’s failing every student in North Carolina and our teachers .” […]

I get the impression that these two will not become post-election buddies like Thom Tillis and Cal Cunningham did. (But that’s just me.)