news-record.com

It's been a one-man show in North Carolina's 12th U.S. House District since the district was created 16 years ago.

That man is U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, the only person to represent the district that tracks Interstate 85 as it meanders from Charlotte through Greensboro.

Watt, 63, has run successfully eight times but characterizes this year as a difficult climate for those seeking re-election. He is paired against a newcomer to politics, Ty Cobb Jr. of Salisbury, a 68-year-old Republican running a populist campaign.

"It's a bad environment out there for incumbents," Watt said recently. "It just takes some explaining when you say to people, 'I tried to be part of the solution that never got put into effect.'"

Watt is making that case to constituents worried about a tanking economy and eager to end the war in Iraq.

But Cobb is saying Watt could have and should have done more.

"I think, unfortunately, the longer people are up there in office, the more complacent they become," Cobb said.

Cobb's candidacy is a long shot. He acknowledges having no money to buy TV advertising, raising less than $20,000 in campaign contributions against Watt's $452,000, according to the most recent reports by the Federal Election Commission.

Watt is concerned about the name Cobb shares with the legendary baseball player of yesteryear: It provides favorable name recognition "a lot of politicians would kill for," he said.

Born in Oklahoma, Cobb is not directly related to the baseball great. His late father was only named after the "Georgia Peach," the challenger said.

Even so, they might be distantly related because the original Ty Cobb and his own ancestors came from Georgia, candidate Cobb said.

Watt points to the nation's recent economic meltdown in offering his efforts to head off Bush administration errors.

As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, he prodded the administration to rein in "predatory lending" by the mortgage industry that helped trigger the economic crisis, he said.

"But nobody paid any attention until we got in the middle of this fiscal mess," Watt said.

Cobb counters that Watt had a catbird seat on the developing crisis but did nothing: "I'm saying, 'Where have you been? Our economy is in an absolute shambles. Why wasn't that committee proactive?'"

The Web site Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that can be altered by any individual, questions Watt's commitment to fiscal reform. It says Watt "vehemently opposed" Bush's efforts to boost supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, mortgage finance giants whose troubles helped trigger the current economic turmoil.

Watt said the entry is based on a comment he made in 2003 that was taken out of context.

Both candidates take similar positions on the $700 billion economic bailout package Congress approved for troubled financial institutions. Watt sees it as regrettable but necessary - he voted yes both times the House considered it.

Cobb said he would have voted no the first time, but probably relented after it became clear government intervention was a necessary evil.

On the war in Iraq, Watt voted against authorizing the initial invasion and thinks troops should be withdrawn as quickly as is safely possible.

Cobb, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, believes the invasion has kept Islamic radicals occupied in the Middle East instead of attacking the United States in its own backyard. But he says gradual withdrawal of all but a relatively small force is now possible.

Cobb has been a resident of North Carolina for only four years. The retired officer and former sporting-goods retailer has never held elective office, a fact he chalks up to the federal ban on political involvement by members of the military.

He does not see either factor as a disadvantage, saying he has more in common with the average resident of the district than Watt does.

"Unlike him, I am not a millionaire, lawyer and career politician," he said.

Not surprisingly, Watt doesn't see it that way, saying his experience and seniority in office provide tangible benefits to every district resident.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com