Fred Smith is a big guy who answers questions in a straight-forward and assured manner. When you read his campaign material and first talk with him, the impression you get is that he is a typical conservative. Ronald Reagan is the leader he most reveres; he is a strong supporter of private property rights; he is a devout Baptist. However, when you probe more deeply and question more specifically, he turns out to be a thoughtful, pragmatic individual who is a lot harder to categorize. In other words, he is not a knee-jerk ideologue; he's tough minded, but not rigid.

A clue to his individuality is his dress; he appeared in the preppy uniform of blue blazer, regimental striped tie, khakis, topped (or bottomed) off with ostrich skin cowboy boots. Now a successful developer, he's had a varied and interesting life, including being reared at the Methodist orphanage in Raleigh (where his parents were on staff), living at the Baptist Assembly on Oak Island, graduating from Wake Forest Law School, serving in the US Army, starting a law firm, running a cattle operation, and serving as a county commissioner and a state senator. I get the impression he was self confident as a kid, maybe too self confident, but his parents' tough love, hard knocks on the football field, financial difficulties in the early 1990s, and a contentious divorce have, in his words, "humbled" him, clearly sensitizing him to the uncertainties of life, leaving him likable and philosophical.

When answering questions about the coast, Smith displayed knowledge and an emotional attachment to the region. He was quick to note summers he spent at Fort Caswell on Oak Island and on a family farm near Southport. His mother still owns property on Wrightsville Beach.

We started out talking about growth and development, both in Southeast North Carolina, but also along the Inner Banks. While stating his strong support for private property rights, he quickly balanced this by recognizing the importance of maintaining the quality of life. That phrase recurred frequently in our discussion, and he made it explicit that he meant clean air, clean water and the preservation of natural beauty.

When I pointed out that Wilmington's sewer system hadn't kept up with the demands of growth, Smith stated categorically: "Developers should build their own infrastructure. I do." Furthermore, "as a conservative" he believes the primary responsibility of local government is to spend tax payers' dollars on infrastructure -- schools, roads, sewers -- not "feel good" projects. Handled properly, the senator said, growth should pay for itself, hence, his opposition to impact fees. Although he didn't say so directly, I got the impression that he didn't believe that all development was good. "We must balance the value of development with the quality of life," he said. In his developments, he not only provided infrastructure, but also space for recreation and in one case, schools. He liked some of the ideas of the "new urbanists" who favored sustainable development where people could live in a walking community with homes of varying prices.

We turned to the issue of beach renourishment and who should pay. At one point, the federal government paid for 60-plus percent, and the state had picked up the rest. For the last few years, the Feds have proved very reluctant (to put it politely) to pay their share. Sen. Smith felt strongly that the beaches should be maintained and that it was incumbent on the beach communities to come up with a plan. The state should and could play a role, but the local governments should take the initial responsibility. On the issue of whether or not the beaches should be renourished he was unequivocal. "We must maintain our beaches." He understood the arguments against renourishment, but in his opinion this was one of those cases where "philosophy met practicality."

In Smith's view there is no question the sea level is rising, and we need to prepare ourselves to deal with the issues presented. Although we didn't talk about specifics of what we might need to do, he did say that leaders couldn't be expected to be experts on everything, and that he had no problem in recognizing his limitations and bringing in experts for consultation. It also was one of his operating principles that you needed to balance private property rights with protection of the environment. Protecting beauty and investment was a balancing act where decision makers faced the tough calls -- "all the easy ones have already been made."

On boat ramps and public access to the water and the beaches, he believes this is a governmental responsibility. When reminded that this infrastructure cost money, he responded that what the public wanted to know was that money was being spent wisely. What made people angry was when they believed hard-earned dollars were being wasted. He is surely not a "tax and spend" democrat, but my impression is that he is also not a rigid "no new taxes" republican. Instead, he is in the mode of ensuring that money is spent wisely for necessities rather than the "feel good" he disdains.

I got the strong feeling that Fred Smith would be a staunch advocate for our coast.