Archive for Democrats
NCDP Hijinks in Greensboro
Posted by: | CommentsSaturday’s events in Greensboro proved it takes more than business acumen and holding elective office to control a rowdy state Democratic Party meeting. It takes gravitas, stage presence, and experience — more than just the support of top party elected officials.
When outgoing North Carolina Democratic state chairman, David Parker, resigned as promised at a meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC), the six-hour meeting dissolved into near-chaos soon after he left the room. As is often the case, there was more going on than meets the news camera’s eye.
Somebody’s Pissed
Posted by: | CommentsFilmmaker and Democratic activist Frank Eaton is running for chairman of the NC Democratic Party. The State Executive Committee member is known for the videos he’s done for the party, including his “War on Women” video. Based on the post date, he prepared the video below prior to the May 8 primary. Eaton’s not very happy with the outcome.
Raleigh City Councilor Mary-Ann Baldwin has declared as well. She also opposed Amendment One. With campaign and marketing experience, Baldwin wants to bring “new blood” to party leadership and to “Raise a little bit of hell!” along with money. Another business-person-elected-official (we had one of those recently), maybe this one knows which end of the gavel to hold.
State Sen. Don Vaughan is running for chair, too. After the Trayvon Martin shooting and weeks of fallout over stand-your-ground legislation (an American Legislative Exchange Council model bill), Vaughan waited until the day before he declared for chair to resign from ALEC after many years as a member. Not sure whose, but that cigar blew up in somebody’s face.
Which one would you pick on Saturday to represent NC at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte?
NC Democratic Party chair hopeful is active in just-ex ALEC
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From the Independent Weekly of Raleigh this morning: Vying for NC Democrats chair: Vaughan quits ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council:
State Sen. Don Vaughan, D-Guilford, the only announced candidate for state Democratic Party chair, said last night he is quitting ALEC. His statement follows below.In calling around yesterday, I heard from party sources that Raleigh City Councilor Mary-Ann Baldwin is among several others who’s been dialing for support; Baldwin is expected to announce soon that she’s in the contest against Vaughan. Baldwin didn’t return my call.
The new chair will be chosen next Saturday in Greensboro.
Payday lenders fund Rogers’ NC-11 campaign
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We received the following press release this morning from 11th District congressional candidate and our friend Cecil Bothwell, reprinted in its entirety (I take responsibility for the funny picture over there on the right).
It’s fascinating stuff. Follow the money, as they say…
From Bothwell for Congress:
For immediate release: May 2, 2012
What: Payday lenders fund Rogers’ NC 11 campaign From: Bothwell for Congress
Contact: Cecil Bothwell
Phone: 828-713-8840
Website: http://bothwell2012.com
The Bothwell for Congress campaign will accept no money from corporations or corporate PACs. Our campaign is entirely funded by individuals. (The committee donation listed on our campaign finance reports is Bothwell for Buncombe, funded by individuals for Bothwell’s local races in 2008 and 2009). Our opponent has taken tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs. The most questionable sources are payday lenders.
Hayden Rogers has accepted $17,500 from individuals, lobbyists and special interest groups associated with the Payday Loan Industry. All of these donors are from outside of North Carolina, hailing from places such as Las Vegas, Miami, and South Carolina.
They are all from out-of-state because North Carolina banned the Payday Loan Industry in 2001.
It took until 2006 to fully shut down the industry (which played a cat and mouse game exploiting loopholes, changing names, etc.). In a 2006 press release NC Attorney General Roy Cooper said: “We’ve fought payday lending at every turn and now we’re putting this industry out of business here in North Carolina. These payday lenders thought they’d found a way around North Carolina law. Now we’re showing them the way out of our state.”
Let’s Just Say It
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I recommend reading this entire article, though you’ll run the risk of having some area Republicans and equivalency fetishists gnash their teeth when you share it with them.
Thomas E. Mann is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Norman J. Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. This essay is adapted from their book “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism,” which will be available Tuesday.
We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.
The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.
When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.
“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.
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Lindsey’s Extra Awesome Voter Guide
Posted by: | CommentsLindsey Simerly sent this into my email inbox, and I thought I’d share it here. Lindsey has been involved in lots of Democratic campaigns (Jones, Smith, Newman, Reisinger, Shuler) and is currently working with the Campaign for Southern Equality as well as being Chair of the City of Asheville’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. She also ran for City Council in 2007, which is when I became enamored with her work ethic, intelligence, and boundless energy.
After the jump you’ll find her extra-awesome voter guide.
UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: “extra-awesome voter guide” is Lindsey’s title for this guide and post. Some folks made the assumption that Lindsey’s choices are also my endorsements. Hope this clears that up.
NC-10 Primary Open Thread
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As a result of the efforts of the GOP majority in Raleigh, I’m a newly minted resident of the 10th Congressional District, as are most Buncombe County citizens. Congressman Patrick McHenry has been serving for several terms after a successful stint as National Coalition Director for George W. Bush’s 2000 Presidential campaign. He’s got a Republican challenger in the primary named Ken Fortenberry. Be careful if you click that last link, it brings up his website with a mini-Ken that starts talking at you.
From an Asheville government perspective, we’re very hopeful that Rep. McHenry will be as supportive as Rep. Shuler has been in regards to securing transit funding resources as well as communicating with us about other opportunities for furthering our strategic goals.
There are three Democrats vying for the chance to unseat Rep. McHenry. Patsy Keever is a progressive standard-bearer with impeccable credentials and ethics, though it’s unclear how well her views will play with folks down the mountain. Her 2004 Congressional run against Charles Taylor was competently executed, so it’s clear she’s got the organizational chops. Keever is the strongest voice in the race for education and women’s rights, including the right to choose.
Mayor of Asheville Terry Bellamy is also running, and word is that she’s got the support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which will help her organizationally and financially. Keever and Bellamy raised roughly the same amount of money according to the most recent documents. Bellamy has demonstrated a conservative streak that she’s balanced through advocacy for affordable housing and transit services.
The other Dem in the race is Timothy Murphy, who describes himself as proud liberal. I don’t know anything about him except what I see on his campaign website.
What’s the CW on this race? Keever and Bellamy will each get a lot of Asheville votes, but who has the edge in the rest of the district? Will the Democratic nominee’s stance on abortion rights be an important issue in the general election? Is McHenry beatable? Please opine at length in the comments.
Without comment
Posted by: | CommentsI just heard about this:
Friday: http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/10980861/
Leaders of the North Carolina Democratic Party declined to answer questions Friday about reports that a junior staffer quit working for the party last fall after being sexually harassed by a senior party official.
Several party officials said they were told the party settled with the young man and that he signed a non-disclosure agreement. No financial settlement appears on the party’s finance reports.
The senior official allegedly behind the harassment is still working at the party’s Raleigh headquarters.
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Sallie Leslie, a former administrator, quit the state party six weeks ago.
A top North Carolina Democratic Party official has reportedly been identified as the accused perpetrator in a sexual harassment claim made by a former staffer.
Jay Parmley, North Carolina’s Democratic Party executive director, has been accused of sexual harassment by Adriadn Ortega, a former communications staffer for the state party, according to a report by the J.W.P. Civitas Institute.
Tonight: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/15/2003701/nc-democratic-party-executive.html
RALEIGH — The executive director of the N.C. Democratic Party resigned Sunday as calls for his ouster mounted amid questions regarding a secret agreement to pay a former staffer to keep quiet about sexual harassment allegations.
NC-11 Open Thread
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It’s a few weeks before the big primary, so I thought we could start having conversations about specific Democratic primary races in the area. Today: the NC-11 campaign.
Cecil Bothwell has been running for this seat since March of last year. Cecil’s a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who asserts that his brand of boldness is exactly what Democratic voters, tired of Blue Dog Democrat shenanigans, really want. He doesn’t accept PAC donations, and this choice leaves him in a great money deficit to Hayden Rogers. He’s received endorsements from national progressive personalities and groups, and he reports that tea party libertarians like him too.
Hayden Rogers is Heath Shuler’s Chief of Staff and has been on board the Shuler team since day one. He’s running well to the right of Bothwell, tacitly making the argument that only a conservative candidate can hope to win NC-11, the reddest district in North Carolina since the NCGOP redrew the lines. Rogers raised $300k+ in six weeks of fundraising – no surprise with the depth of network he’s got.
Tom Hill is the other guy. He got the first of his fifteen minutes by shining a light on the troubles with the Henderson County Sheriff. I don’t know diddly about his politics, but he said this in an HT-N article, “I am somewhere between Cecil Bothwell, the left, and Hayden Rogers, on the right”.
So handicappers, what’s the CW on the race?
NCGOP Leaders Having Second Thoughts on Amendment One
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dKos has a roundup of shifting momentum on Amendment One. Miles to go before we sleep, but still…
The city of Greenville, NC became just the latest to pass a resolution opposing Amendment One in a 5-1 vote.
The campaign also secured a great dual endorsement, and it’s been released on a web video (for now) seen above.
As reported by dKos, Protect ALL NC Families believes “The conservative coalition is breaking down, with many prominent, respected NC conservatives speaking out against this bill’s passage.” North Carolina Speaker of the House Thom Tillis (R) among them.
