On the trail: Attorney General Roy Cooper is already campaigning

He wants to be your next governor -- and it is obvious.

But even though he has no declared opponent yet (although it is likely to be incumbent Pat McCrory), Attorney General Roy Cooper has not shied away from using his office as a bully pulpit.

And not only is that sketchy behavior for a candidate, it is unacceptable for the man who is supposed to be representing the state as its chief legal adviser.

Think of the conflict of interest -- and the potential skirmishes that will involve politics not policy.

Cooper has already started blasting the governor -- most recently for the decision not to expand the state's Medicaid rolls.

And this is just one example of why we should keep a wary eye on what he says.

Cooper is spewing out the kind of platitudes you get to spew when you aren't the one who has to balance the budget or to dig out from under the mess left behind by the previous Democratic administration.

It will be interesting to see if Cooper can answer the real questions -- and what his plan is to keep North Carolina financially stable and to bring more jobs into the state.

And he will have to be prepared to justify why this state should trust the government that has bungled Obamacare so badly to keep its Medicaid expansion promises.

It will be interesting to see if real answers are part of this campaign strategy.

Published in Editorials on November 21, 2013 10:57 AM