What Will Easley's Legacy Be?
WRAL’s David Crabtree talks with Gov. Mike Easley about the things for which he will be remembered.
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Natural disasters happen, and you can count on politicians showing up. But what happens when major issues are exposed in the state's mental health system?
Jack Betts has covered North Carolina politics for 31 years. For 24 of those, he has known Gov. Mike Easley.
“I like to talk about solutions,” Easley said.
Betts wrote about that different way in a column for the Charlotte Observer.
He said he is baffled by why the state's chief executive has been reserved in speaking publicly about the state's mental health problems.
“It's not that Easley doesn't work on these things, but he doesn't embrace the opportunity to meet a problem head on publicly,” Betts said.
Betts said Easley's approach may affect his legacy.
Easley brushes off the criticism and said that while he doesn't always deal with the media on their timetable, he gets the job done and believes history will judge him on what he did – not how he did it.
That includes his promise of turning around the mental-health problems before he leaves office.
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