Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Playing chicken in Charlotte's mayoral race

Around lunchtime today, someone came into John Lassiter's campaign headquarters and asked Perry Lucas a question: What's with the chicken?"

Lucas, Lassiter's campaign manager, went out to find a person in a yellow chicken suit parading in front of their Morehead Street office carrying a sign.

"Just Debate! Foxx is no chicken," it said.

The reference was to Monday's cancellation of a planned Oct. 27 League of Women Voters' debate between Lassiter, a Republican, and Democrat Anthony Foxx. It was to be televised on WTVI and WSOC. The League cancelled the hour-long debate when Lassiter wouldn't agree to six rebuttals, saying he wanted only three.

The person in the chicken suit -- a widespread tradition in debate politics --- was a volunteer for the Foxx campaign.

"This whole thing ... was just so ridiculous the way John was trying to take control of the conversation," said Foxx campaign manager Bruce Clark. "We thought this (chicken) was a way for the story to live on."

Said Lucas: "It was hysterical, but I was like, I cannot believe they're actually doing that it seemed a little below where I thought we'd be by now."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is exactly what Charlotte needs; bold, innovative leadership... the kind of Mayor that is beyond political agendas and is willing to push up his sleeves and ask a grown man to put on a chicken suit!

Anonymous said...

Foxx has lost his grip ! A campaign full of Chicken Suit Wearing Obama groupies !

Anonymous said...

Who backs out of debate that is already scheduled? This is not going to help his chances at all. There are only so many white males in Charlotte that will vote for him, not including myself, and disrespecting the female voters this early in the race is an easy way to go ahead and dig your political grave.

Kudos to Foxx; creative way to keep the fact that he backed out of the debate in the news.

Anonymous said...

LOL ! A campaign manager wearing a chicken suit ! Maybe Foxx can get Big Bird and Elmo to explain why we need a Trolley Car and Daffy Duck to lobby Raleigh for more road money.

Anonymous said...

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the hen house I suppose.

Anonymous said...

Somewhere, in the Foxx campaign office, a chicken is screaming !