Speaking to a Rotary Club audience in North Carolina on Tuesday, Democratic Governor Bev Perdue made jaws drop when she seemed to suggest suspending Congressional elections.
“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” she said. The governor continued, reasoning “You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”
According to the News & Observer, it was unclear whether the governor was serious. They did note that “her tone was level.”
During her remarks, Gov. Perdue seemed to ask those in the audience for support, saying, “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”
Her office later sought to downplay the controversial statement. “Come on,” spokeswoman Chris Mackey wrote. “Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve.”
There has been rampant speculation recently by some in the Democratic party that Congressional Republicans indeed do not wish to see any improvement in the economy. They point out that the GOP seems more interested in impeding the president’s agenda than presenting any reasonable economic solutions of their own.
GOP leadership has certainly seized upon Perdue’s comments. “Now is a time when politicians need to be held more accountable than ever,” Republican spokesman Rob Lockwood said. “To suspend an election would be removing the surest mechanism that people have to hold politicians accountable: the right to vote. Does the Governor not believe that people of North Carolina have the ability to think for themselves about whether or not the actions of elected officials are working?”
