Morse: The Accidental Candidate ­—Cagle

BITS AND PIECES

AS THE countdown to fall elections begins, we present to you the curious case of one Stan Morse, recruiter and consultant to the printing industry. His Twin Oaks Team operates out of Raleigh, NC.

Morse is also the Democratic challenger to incumbent Marilyn Avila for the North Carolina state legislature in District 40. Nothing strange about that, obviously. The fascinating part is Morse’s journey to the District 40 House of Representatives race; one that really shouldn’t include him. But sometimes fate takes hold of the wheel for an unexpected ride. Now, Morse is enjoying it.

It all began earlier this year when Morse feared that Avila, the first-term Republican, would run unopposed in the fall. So he decided to do his party a favor and enter the election fray. What Morse didn’t know was that fellow Dem Sam Brewer had also thrown his hat into the race, which resulted in a primary match up.

No big deal, Morse thought; he’ll just endorse—and campaign for—Brewer. He submitted a concession speech the day before the primary and even camped outside a polling place, asking people to vote for Brewer. As fate would have it, Morse cruised to victory by about a 10-point margin and will square off against Avila in November.

“Let’s face it, I’m an amateur,” Morse—who pondered not running against Avila before acknowledging the primary win—told the News & Observer. “But the voters of the 40th district should have a true representative, not one who is bought and paid for by one giant special interest group. My campaign will show that big money will not keep informed voters from seeing the truth.”

Morse doesn’t intend to accept endorsements or campaign contributions from PACs or special interest groups, according to the newspaper. He plans to print up his own signs on an antique press. His consumables will be recycled placards and discontinued inks.

While fate seems to be steering Morse toward the state house, the odds are stacked against him. District 40 has a distinct Republican flavor, and Avila will likely exploit his lack of experience and question his commitment after Morse seemingly quit prior to primary election day.

One thing’s for sure: I wouldn’t want to bet against a candidate who essentially campaigned against himself. Stay tuned.

MISSED A SPOT: Occasionally, we’ll write on a subject and overlook a qualified interviewee. Well, maybe other writers miss stuff. Speaking for myself, I tend to be flawless. Why just the other day, my wife uttered, “Must be a terrible burden to be right all the time.” Or something along those lines. Yes dear, there are those of us who must shepherd the unaware.

Anyway, Dan Freedland of Primary Color in El Segundo, CA, dropped us a line recently to make us aware of another printing museum. I’ll let him pass along the info:

“I enjoyed reading your ‘Old World Craft Lives On’ piece in the 50th Anniversary issue of Printing Impressions. Unfortunately, I must tell you that you omitted from your article an institution that is probably the nation’s leading printing museum: the International Printing Museum (IPM) in Carson, CA. The superb collection is among the finest in the nation, but it is only one component of IPM.

“Mark Barbour, the museum’s curator and president, has developed an outstanding education program, as well. The ‘Museum on Wheels’ travels to schools throughout California, Arizona and Nevada, teaching primarily fifth and eighth graders about the history of printing, literacy, inventiveness, patriotism and American ingenuity. The museum’s Book Arts Institute holds frequent classes on letterpress, paper making, typography and other subjects.

“You might want to visit the museum’s Website, www.printmuseum.org . There is also an excellent DVD available that features the Hewell Howser TV show, ‘California’s Gold,’ highlighting the International Printing Museum.”

P.S.—Another astute reader, Don Tucker, correctly pointed out that the State Capital Publishing Museum is in Oklahoma, not Texas, as the article incorrectly stated. Mark that an E-6 on yours truly. “Texas,” Tucker wrote, “could only hope.”

SIR SPEEDY WHEELIE: While tooling around town the other day, I spotted one of those Sir Speedy company vans. Nothing so odd about that, but what caught my eye was the trailer it was pulling. On the trailer sat a four-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle. Hey, you never know when the quick turn delivery will require you to go off-road.

HOLY MATRIMONY, BATMAN! Allegra’s Darryl Buchanan reports that his colleague, Tina Virga, got married this spring in front of roughly 450 delighted guests. Talk about a capacity crowd. Hope the wedding venue had stadium seating. Congratulations to Tina and her new husband.

Speaking of formal occasions. . .

Rémi Marcoux, founder and executive chairman of the board of Transcontinental, was invested as an Officer of the National Order of Quebec by its Premier, Jean Charest. Mr. Marcoux is also a member of the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame.

Congratulations, Sir! PI

—Erik Cagle