Being the Incumbent Has Advantages

Writing a Letter Earns Press, Call Halting Stop Signs Doesn't

Representative Jimmy Love wrote a letter to Raleigh opposing treatment center for troubled teens planned for Hawkins Avenue and got front page coverage (click here to read article) for doing so in the Sanford Herald. According to state officials, they will still have to follow the applicable procedures for approving the facility despite the letter.

But this kind of coverage must be frustrating to Love's Republican opponent who can't so easily generate publicity. Being an incumbent has advantages--incumbents can do things for individuals, groups, and organizations that challengers can't do.

And not all of them are publicized because they are best done behind the scenes.

For example, according to the Sanford Herald, "Planned in­stallation of a four-way stop at the intersection of Lemon Springs and St. Andrews Church roads was put on hold by the North Carolina Department of Transporta­tion." (click here to read article) What was not publicized was that what had put the brakes on the project was a telephone call from Representative Love to the right state official.

Representative Love's letter about the treatment center may not carry the same weight, but it didn't hurt him at all to send it. It made the front page.