People in Politics

People In Politics

Thursday, 02 June 2011 23:00

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This week, a political earthquake as former North Carolina senator and presidential candidate John Edwards is indicted on campaign finance violations. The six counts relate to money allegedly provided by wealthy donors Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and Fred Baron to hide Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter from the public. We hear Edwards’ comments after he pleaded not guilty in a Winston-Salem courtroom, and we hear from Edwards’ attorney Greg Craig about his view of the prosecution’s case against his client. That’s followed by reaction from former federal prosecutor Kieran Shanahan on the arrest warrant that was issued for Edwards and what’s ahead in the legal maneuvering. We also hear from North Carolina political watchdog Joe Sinsheimer, who has closely followed the case for two years. For additional analysis, host Donna Martinez is joined by Rick Martinez of the N.C. News Network, SGRToday.com, and NewsRadio 680 WPTF in Raleigh. Then we focus on the second major political story of the week – defections of legislative Democrats to the Republican budget. Will this handful of Democrats give the GOP the upper hand with Gov. Perdue? Josh Ellis of SGRToday.com joins Donna Martinez to analyze the political chess game and the pressure on Democrats to stick with their party on a budget Gov. Perdue has denounced. Then we look at legislative efforts at ethics reform with Jane Pinsky of the N.C. Coalition on Lobbying and Government Reform. Pinsky tells Donna Martinez about progress made this session on so-called pay-to-play politics and the possibility of redistricting reform. Turning to the 2012 election, Tom Jensen of Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling discusses the latest data on a Beverly Perdue/Pat McCrory re-match. And finally, North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes comments on his party’s effort to oust Perdue and President Obama from office.