Patterson, Keadle blast McHenry

As fast as Congressman Patrick McHenry shot off an opening round in the battle for the GOP's nomination to run for re-election, his opponents fired back with a double-barreled blast.
The skirmish may be the first of many in a war from now until the May 4 primary.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, McHenry's chief of staff, Parker Poling, sent out a news release from the congressman's Washington, D.C., office. It announced McHenry's proposed legislation, H.R. 4705, to replace President Ulysses S. Grant's face on the $50 bill with President Ronald Reagan's.
The release quoted McHenry as saying, "Every generation needs its own heroes. One decade into the 21st century, it's time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy."
Both Democratic presidents, FDR's face is on the dime and JFK's is on the half-dollar.
McHenry also said, according to the release, "President Reagan was a modern-day statesman, whose presidency transformed our nation's political and economic thinking." In an afternote, Poling said Reagan "consistently outranks Grant" in polls of presidential scholars.
A response from one of McHenry's opponents came within four hours. Scott Keadle, a Salisbury dentist and Iredell County commissioner, accused McHenry of "pandering to voters."
Morganton businessman Vance Patterson's campaign sent out its own blast a day later, saying, "To use a great American like Ronald Reagan to get votes in an economically devastated district is nothing short of shameful," and adding, "13.6 percent of our neighbors don't have a $50 bill to look at because they are unemployed."
Both Keadle and Patterson questioned McHenry's priorities in a congressional district where nearly 14 percent of the workforce is unemployed.
Keadle's statement, delivered via e-mail, said, "As much as we all admire President Reagan, I seriously question why Mr. McHenry thinks this is a priority when nearly one in five people are out of work.
"While President Reagan certainly deserves to be memorialized, I doubt whether he would have focused on this issue when we have such urgent problems facing North Carolina's workers and families.
"This is another example of a career politician who is out of touch with the needs of the people he should be representing. McHenry should focus on the economy and the unemployment rate instead of pandering to voters."
According to the release from Patterson's office, the candidate said McHenry's announcement is typical of "the old tricks 'professional politicians' play in election years."
"At election time," Patterson said, "they suddenly descend on the voters with emotional appeals and irrational actions. Well, 10th District voters know when a politician is grandstanding rather than leading to improve the district and the country."
Whether it's an "old" trick is subject to opinion, but the idea of putting Reagan's likeness on U.S. currency is nothing new.
Soon after Reagan's death in 2004, Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell flew the idea of putting Reagan on the $10 bill, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California suggested using the $20 and Rep. Jeff Miller proposed putting Reagan on the 50-cent piece.
Miller is among 13 House members who joined McHenry in introducing H.R. 4705. Like McHenry, he faces opposition within the GOP for a re-election bid in November.
Two other bill sponsors, Kay Granger and Kevin Brady, both survived challenges in the Texas GOP primary. Another co-sponsor, Rep. Zach Wamp, is in a heated three-way battle for the Tennessee GOP's gubernatorial nomination. And veteran House Rep. Elton Gallegly of California is in a once solidly Republican district targeted by Democrats because President Obama won there in November.
Reagan was California's governor from 1967 to 1975 and 40th president of the United States in 1981-89.
He is credited with popularizing the GOP's "11th Commandment:" "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
McHenry's bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.