Howard Coble needs a serious challenger

3-28-04

By Edward Cone

News & Record

Somebody needs to challenge Howard Coble, the 10-term incumbent congressman from Greensboro. I had hoped to do it myself, but for a variety of personal and professional reasons, that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Local Democrats haven't bothered to field a candidate against Coble since 1996, allowing the Republican to run unopposed or to rack up close to 90 percent of the vote against under-funded Libertarians, year after year.

That leaves a good-sized chunk of the republic with one party that enjoys a permanent hold on power. There is no meaningful public debate or conversation on the issues every other fall. It's ridiculous. It's un-American. And it's the Democrats' own fault.

The Democratic powers-that-be in Raleigh have redrawn the electoral map to give the 6th District to the GOP. That way, the Democrats get other seats for themselves, including the 12th and 13th districts that now divide poor, gerrymandered Guilford County with Coble's personal fiefdom. The last Democrat to run against Coble got less than 30 percent of the vote.

Coble, a one-time proponent of term limits, has long since put that quaint notion behind him. The seat is his as long as he wants it, and he's gotten very comfortable in it. Too comfortable. The citizens of the 6th deserve a chance to see him work for the job.

Beating Coble would be a tremendous long shot. Not only are district demographics stacked in his favor, he's got more than $800,000 in the bank to spend on a campaign. Two decades in office have made him a household name, and his affable nature and focus on constituent service have made him personally popular.

But anybody who runs should run to win -- times are changing, and positive thinking brings its own momentum. The growing Hispanic population of the 6th District, almost nonexistent in Coble's earlier races, is up for grabs. That said, one thing I would have brought as a candidate was a willingness to get creamed to make a point.

Some ideas I had that I hope other potential candidates will consider, too: no personal attacks on Coble; a pledge to carry on his legacy of accessibility and community involvement; to represent everyone in the 6th District; and to listen to them whether they voted one way or the other. Accepting money from corporations or industry groups is a good thing to avoid, and I would have pledged myself to a limited number of terms.

One thing I hope any candidate -- including Coble -- would do is to run as transparent a campaign as possible, writing regularly for the public on the Web, both as a candidate and a member of Congress. It has been suggested to me that this is a dangerous course. "Politicians don't have opinions -- they have issues," warns a friend who has worked on campaigns.

But I think voters are ready for a candidate who goes beyond the typical buttoned-up, buttoned-down demeanor and really communicates with them.

There are some issues to discuss. One is the regional economy, which has suffered serious blows during Coble's time in office. He's not responsible for globalization and other big-picture trends, but he's also not particularly dynamic on economic development issues. I see a real need to move discussion of our economy into the current century.

We should be talking about some recent legislation Coble supported, too. This month, he co-sponsored a radical bill that would undo some of the critical checks and balances of the Constitution by letting Congress overturn certain decisions of the Supreme Court. His response to the influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants to our area has been to support legislation stripping protections for non-English speakers from the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Another issue starts with technology, but it's really about the rights of individuals versus the privileges of large corporations. Coble has accepted tens of thousands dollars from the Hollywood entertainment industry as a member of a key House committee on the Internet and intellectual property. He then co-sponsored a bill that would have given these private companies unprecedented power to disrupt Internet service -- endorsing vigilantism by big corporations at the expense of everyday people.

None of which may be enough to make people oust a guy voters have been sending to Washington since 1984, but all of which would be useful and interesting to talk about with Howard Coble.

Since originally posting the idea of running on my weblog, I've learned that two other people have made similar overtures to local party officials. I hope that they and others will consider the race seriously and that a viable candidate emerges.

I'm disappointed that I cannot throw my hat in the ring -- I have a demanding job, two young children, and obligations as a community volunteer. It's not yet my moment. But somebody has to challenge this rigged system and get the conversation started again.

Edward Cone writes a column for the News & Record most Sundays.

www.edcone.com efcone@mindspring.com