A couple of weeks ago the American Spectator published an article about Obama’s re-election prospects and how a handful of North Carolinians in the Research Triangle could decide the 2012 election. Here is an excerpt:
Today Research Triangle hosts research centers for IBM, Dupont, Data General, Becton Dickinson, Glaxo, Ericsson, Battelle, Panasonic, Martin Marietta, Motorola, Cisco, Biogen, the Chemical Industry Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Underwriters' Laboratory, the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, plus the National Humanities Center, which moved there from Boston in 1979. The more than 45,000 highly educated employees make an average salary of $75,000.
These newly successful people have become the pivotal bloc that swings the state between Republicans and Democrats. They are not committed to either party. They are not terribly involved with social issues. Their main worry is the economy. If Republicans make birth control and separation of church and state the major issue, they will go Democratic. If the Democrats mess up the economy and produce $4.50 gas and 8.3 percent unemployment, they will swing Republican. That will probably decide the 2012 election.
What an interesting perspective. So interesting that the following report by the News & Observer lends credence to this analysis:
The state unemployment rate also has consistently been higher than the Triangle’s, where unemployment stood at 8.1 percent in January. The Triangle rate for February is scheduled to be released Thursday.
Getting the unemployment rate below 10 percent again, Quinterno said, doesn’t erase the tales of woe that have accumulated over the last three years.
“There are plenty of communities that have struggled with high unemployment,” he said. “There are families that have had long-term unemployment over that timeframe. … A great number of hardships and difficulties have occurred.”
Public-sector jobs swell
The state added 8,300 jobs in February, led by a gain of 5,600 jobs in the public sector.
Quinterno said he was puzzled by the increase in government jobs. “I’m really not sure what is going on there,” he said.
That is a good question. What is going on there?
Today Research Triangle hosts research centers for IBM, Dupont, Data General, Becton Dickinson, Glaxo, Ericsson, Battelle, Panasonic, Martin Marietta, Motorola, Cisco, Biogen, the Chemical Industry Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Underwriters' Laboratory, the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, plus the National Humanities Center, which moved there from Boston in 1979. The more than 45,000 highly educated employees make an average salary of $75,000.
These newly successful people have become the pivotal bloc that swings the state between Republicans and Democrats. They are not committed to either party. They are not terribly involved with social issues. Their main worry is the economy. If Republicans make birth control and separation of church and state the major issue, they will go Democratic. If the Democrats mess up the economy and produce $4.50 gas and 8.3 percent unemployment, they will swing Republican. That will probably decide the 2012 election.
What an interesting perspective. So interesting that the following report by the News & Observer lends credence to this analysis:
The state unemployment rate also has consistently been higher than the Triangle’s, where unemployment stood at 8.1 percent in January. The Triangle rate for February is scheduled to be released Thursday.
Getting the unemployment rate below 10 percent again, Quinterno said, doesn’t erase the tales of woe that have accumulated over the last three years.
“There are plenty of communities that have struggled with high unemployment,” he said. “There are families that have had long-term unemployment over that timeframe. … A great number of hardships and difficulties have occurred.”
Public-sector jobs swell
The state added 8,300 jobs in February, led by a gain of 5,600 jobs in the public sector.
Quinterno said he was puzzled by the increase in government jobs. “I’m really not sure what is going on there,” he said.
That is a good question. What is going on there?
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