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Erskine pondering more than Governor’s race

Post on February 1, 2012 by 10 Comments »

Given the positive poll numbers for former UNC President Erskine Bowles it’s not surprising that he is mulling a run for the Governor’s office. It looks like he would be a formidable candidate against former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

Besides the polling numbers, it helps that Bowles is a wealthy guy with wealthy friends. He can raise money fast and he can also use his own money in the campaign. And that money will increase impressively over the next few days. That’s because Bowles joined the board of Facebook last year, and Facebook, in case you hadn’t heard, is going public.

According to initial public offering documents filed today, Bowles holds 20,000 units in restricted stock. Analysts estimate a per share price for Facebook of $45 and up. That would make his stock worth around $1 million, which is not bad for a part time job.

Bowles can’t cash in immediately. His shares are restricted and will not vest until 2013. But maybe banking another $1 million will make him more willing to throw around his money in a feisty political campaign this year. Either way, Bowles is certainly thinking about more than Jones Street tonight.

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Comments (Closed):10

  1. Alex
    February 2, 2012 at 4:39 am

    I’m surprised Pelosi didn’t get in on that deal !

  2. david esmay
    February 2, 2012 at 7:25 am

    Boehner, McConnell, and Issa beat her to it.

  3. david esmay
    February 2, 2012 at 7:26 am

    Spencer Bachus is lobbying to get on board.

  4. Alex
    February 2, 2012 at 7:44 am

    CBO says today no growth and high unemployment for next two years. Obama economic policies are clearly failing.

  5. jlp75
    February 2, 2012 at 8:16 am

    Republican economic policies clearly failed. Screwed things up so bad Obama could not fix it. I love how you guys broke the system and blame Obama that he didn’t fix it over night just so you can get back in power and finish it off. Why do Republicans hate America?

  6. Alex
    February 2, 2012 at 9:18 am

    What I find is that most Democrats will never defend Obama’s record, but will always try to go back in time, and blame it on the Republicans. The truth is that we enjoyed good economic times during the Bush era, but a very flawed monetary policy by the Fed of flooding the market with low rates and easy credit along with just plain out greed everywhere from Wall St. to Main Street caused the financial crisis. There is a huge difference between economic policy and monetary policy. Obama has never understood the free market, and never will unfortunately, in addition to surrounding himself with a bunch of economic idiots.

  7. jlp75
    February 2, 2012 at 9:30 am

    What I find is that most Republicans fail to acknowledge that all of this broke down before Obama even took office and that while the pace is not as quick as we all would like, a slow recovery is taking place. I wish Republicans would understand that an unfettered free market is only good for the very wealthy and that some common sense regulations need to be in place to ensure that the market works for everyone. We can argue about how much regulation but the simple fact is there need to be safeguards to protect the system. The proof is out, regulations were removed from the financial system, with bipartisan support, and the financial system destroyed itself requiring We The People, to step in and bail them out.

  8. jlp75
    February 2, 2012 at 9:38 am

    By the way, Obama can defend his own record and I am not a Democrat. I am an unaffiliated voter who understands that both parties played a hand in getting us to where we are today. While the Democrats certainly have their own problems, the Republicans as of late are basically longing for a return to the same policies that caused the mess. All I hear from the Republicans is a willingness to double down on stupid.

  9. david esmay
    February 2, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    I refer to the Republican arguement as the “Chewbacca Defense”, to paraphrase Will Rogers,” If stupid got us into this mess, why can’t stupid get us out?” Which of course was his reaction to Republican statements and actions after the crash of ’29 and the depression that followed. Basically we are now having to pay for 30 years of debt financed growth, deregulation, the rapacious greed of Wall St. and our largest banks, welfare for the rich, and unfunded wars.

  10. Frances Jenkins
    February 2, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    David,
    If every branch of governement goes Republican, what are you going to do?