Hunter, fr Repub pissing off Dems & Repubs

cont'd: http://www.heraldsun.com/tools/printfriendly.cfm?StoryID=743917


N.C. court candidate draws ire of both Republicans and Democrats

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer
June 13, 2006 9:01 pm

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The leaders of the state's Democratic and Republican parties have asked voters not to cast ballots for state Supreme Court candidate Rachel Lea Hunter, whose fiery rhetoric in recent weeks has included comparing the actions of a black congressional candidate to that of a slave.

"She's unstable and unqualified, and the thought of her serving on the highest court in North Carolina is scary," state Republican party chairman Ferrell Blount said Tuesday.

Blount's comments came after Hunter, a former Republican running as a Democrat, used the title "Dur Fuhrer" -- commonly associated with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler -- when referring to state Democratic party chief Jerry Meek. Such rhetoric led Meek to endorse Republican-backed incumbent Mark Martin in his race with Hunter for a seat on the state's high court.

"From my own personal perspective, I think she lacks the judgment and temperament to be a judge at any level," said Meek, who called Martin an "able and competent member of the court."

Hunter did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment. Her husband and campaign adviser, Connie Mack Berry Jr., took offense at Blount's description of Hunter as "unstable."

"Rachel Hunter will be glad to submit herself to any psychiatric evaluation, any place, any time, anywhere, by the best psychiatric personnel in the country," he said.

Last week, in a post on her Web site, Hunter criticized congressional candidate Vernon Robinson for running for office as a Republican, even though the staunch and outspoken conservative lost his bid for state GOP chair at the party's convention in 2005.

"Like a good slave, he has returned to the plantation," Hunter wrote about Robinson, who is black.