Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps took the opportunity of the conclusion of the 2002 North Carolina State Fair to try to repair her political reputation. Appearances on local television and in wrap-up stories in the print media had Phipps taking credit for what many perceived as a much-improved event (see: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-281733.html).
But her problems go far beyond those amenable to an easy media spin or two. Her decision to replace longtime fair contractor Strates Shows with the nationally known company Amusements of America was likely a sound one. Few debate that (except, I guess, the Strates people). What is at issue is how Phipps made and implemented the decision.
As credible testimony has revealed, the agriculture commissioner and her campaign accepted illegal political contributions from the amusement industry, made illegal political contributions to a former campaign opponent and later public employee, and provided officials and the news media with a contradictory and misleading version of these events.
Basically, Phipps’s political reputation is irreparable. Despite her caterwauling to the contrary, the scandal isn’t a creation of the Strates family. It isn’t the creation of misogynists or chauvinists. It isn’t the creation of a ravenous news media. It isn’t a misunderstanding.
The fact that former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham didn’t bid out the state fair contract for decades is outrageous. I originally thought that Phipps was right on the money in seeking new options and opening up the process. Little did I, or many others, guess that she would think it proper to give at least the appearance that the contract was for sale to the highest political bidder.
I mean, how brilliant a legal and political mind do you have to have to see the risks in accepting bags of unreported cash from carnies – who are one step up from New Jersey waste-management officials and two steps up from New Jersey election officials?
Taking a post-fair victory lap was an easy call for Phipps, but it won’t change the underlying facts or the general public’s perception of them.
Hood ([email protected]) is president of the John Locke Foundation and publisher of Carolina Journal.