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Pat McCrory's stump speeches and debate performances make a good case for his candidacy. But his record as the longest-serving mayor of North Carolina's largest city makes an even better one.

McCrory, 51, a Republican who grew up in Jamestown, has won seven consecutive terms as Charlotte's mayor.

You don't receive that many votes of confidence without doing something right.

In a city, which unlike Greensboro, holds partisan elections for its leaders, McCrory has worked effectively across party lines to get things done on a majority-Democratic city council. Also unlike Greensboro, where the mayor is merely one of nine equals, Charlotte's mayor wields veto power to go with the title.

On McCrory's watch, Charlotte's downtown has become a model for other cities. On his watch, city voters resoundingly backed a sales tax increase to create the first light-rail system in the state. McCrory has favored mass transit for years, as well as sidewalks and green spaces.

Success in Charlotte

Obviously, McCrory can't take all the credit for Charlotte's prosperity. It has had many champions over the years, among them a formidable banking industry.

But he has helped keep the city moving forward and reaching higher. And he has remained front and center as Charlotte copes with the uncertain future of one of its major employers, struggling Wachovia Bank.

McCrory also was the founding member of the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition, which unites mayors from towns and cities to work on common issues, including street gangs.

McCrory's Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, 61, points to her own impressive resume as an educator and a legislator.

Before becoming lieutenant governor, she spent two terms in the state House and five terms in the N.C. Senate. During the latter part of her Senate tenure, she served as one of the state's chief budget writers. As lieutenant governor, she lobbied to keep North Carolina's military bases open and was chairwoman of the state's Health and Wellness Trust Fund.

She has been a relentless advocate for public education.

But McCrory is steadier and more assured on the issues. He takes a more meat-and-potatoes approach to leadership, a pattern that has played out more often than not in Charlotte. That's what the state needs in its next governor.

McCrory pledges to bring Democrats and Republicans to the table. That definitely won't be as easy to manage in Raleigh as it has been in Charlotte. But so many of his proposals make sense that it should be hard for either party to say no.

For instance, McCrory calls for a 50-year state transportation plan and rightly suggests that North Carolina's transportation projects should be based on need, not politics. Even though he pressed hard for Charlotte's nearly 10-mile-long new light-rail line, he rightly adds that such a system isn't the solution for every North Carolina city.

He recognizes the wisdom of fighting gangs not only with tough enforcement, but with preventive efforts.

He favors lower corporate and income taxes over incentives and sees a more assertive role for the governor in business recruitment.

And he questions whether the state's community colleges are straying from their core mission of vocational education, a fair question.

Forward-thinking and forthright

McCrory is willing to step forward and defend his positions. Even as Perdue chose not to take part, he debated the issues last week in a televised forum with Libertarian candidate Mike Munger, 50, chairman of Duke University's political science department. This was the second time Perdue bypassed a debate with her two opponents.

Not that we agree with everything McCrory has to say. For instance, he overshadows the crying need for alternative energy with an almost single-minded focus on offshore drilling. And his message on immigration reform is too shrill and alarmist.

But the governor is rarely a cultural warrior in North Carolina, nor should he be one. McCrory's skills and experience are best suited to provide what Raleigh needs most right now: a broad view, a clear plan and an ambitious vision.