What do you do if you're not a Fighting Dem? What do you do if you're just a hard-working public school teacher who's sweating blood to unseat a Republican sleaze bag in a race that Hotline says:
"Without [this seat], it's hard to imagine where (Democrat) pickups 14 and 15, etc., come from."
House Race Hotline on NC-08, March 2006
That school teacher is Larry Kissell. And Larry Kissell has a serious shot . . . very serious . . . at taking out Wingnut Robin Hayes in NC-8. Kissell's a smart guy with a commitment to this country that you can feel when you talk to him. He's a solid progressive. He's running a strong grassroots campaign.
But he's not a Fighting Dem.
Oh, we had a Fighting Dem in that race for little while. And Kossacks everywhere were gushing all over the guy, Tim Dunn, because, well, because he was a Fighting Fucking Dem. Nevermind that never even got his campaign off the friggin' ground. He was a Fighting Dem. And when he dropped out of the race because he couldn't get his shit together, the left wing blogosphere blinked, shed half a tear, and moved on to whatever other Fighting Dem they could find to gush about.
November 7, 2006 is not about Fighting Dems. It is about taking back one house of Congress. And if Hotline is right, we're screwed unless we win here in North Carolina.
Just to be clear, I have no relationship with Kissell or his campaign. I'm in David Price's district, and I feel like I have the luxury of focusing on the other opportunities here in North Carolina. Larry Kissell's run against Robin Hayes is one of them. (The other is Heath Shuler, who is going to take down Charles "Delay" Taylor in NC-11. I'll be writing about that race later.)
So here's the bottom line for me: We're going to need more than Fighting Dems to get our country back. We're going to need at least one school teacher, too. So it's time to put our money where our mouths are. Some of you can reach deep and give big. Please do that if you can. Some of you can only spare five bucks. Do that too. But no matter what, do it now. The end of March filings are screaming down on campaigns all across the country. Our candidates need to roll into the second quarter with as much momentum as possible.
If you want to read more about Kissell, go here and here. ANd if you just want to give money, go here.
Thanks for anything you can do to help turn North Carolina back to blue.
Comments
Anglico Has Made a Great Point! Fact!etc! Or I think so!
I first saw this post over at KOs. I agreeded with Anglico then! And still do! Larry Kissell need's our help and support in any way we can give it. Anglico ,Hope you dont care but I am posting it at The Lone Gunman Also. You, my friend have spoken the truth.Spooky
However , I ,and this is MY personal opionin, found a reply comment to your post at KO's I really took offense to! I am going to post it here with my comments. I am a Virtnam Era Vet and worked Fire/Rescue/Ems for 12 yrs before becomming disabled SO I think I have a right to address this comment. Anglico you did great work with this post! The reply comment follows;
I feel the same way. (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:Anglico I think it's a problem that this is what gives Democrats credibility on national security. I think we're buying into right wing talking points when we behave as though we think the only people who are qualified to represent Democratic ideals in a time of "war" are people who themselves support war in general, just not this particular war. DEM VET NOTE: We do not necessaraly support the war, We do support the troops in the field who have no choice in being there!
I think our buying into this contributes to the militarization of life in this country. I think we are contributing to the upward spiral that says unless you have a gun in your hand, you can't talk about how it's wrong to kill people. This is the neoconservative's wet dream that we are doing this, you realize?
While I will support the Fighting Dems because they are Dems, I have to say I would much rather give my money to people who aren't so much about the military style of fighting but the political style. DEM VET NOTE: Anglico is right, Dunn was a Fighting Dem, He droped out of his own accord because of his family comming first! As far as fighting Dems go, I consider ALL Democrats to be FIGHTING DEMS!
I don't like this jock-sniffing of the military that goes on in America, where anyone who was in the armed services automatically expects to be thought of as someone special, and 99% of the time their expectations are fulfilled. They're fulfilled by actual hawks who actually do love war; they're fulfilled by family members who either love war themselves or have to act like they do because it's the only way they can cope with the fact that their sons are killers; they're fulfilled by chickenhawks who are glad anyone will voluntarily do military service so they themselves won't be forced to; and they're fulfilled by well-meaning people like us who sniff military jock because we think it'll win us elections, either because it is supposed to appease all the aforementioned types of people, or because we ourselves also love war and just want our own people running wars, rather than theirs.
DEM VET NOTE: My friend, evedently YOU are Not a Veteran, Nor do you even understand what a Veteran is.1. We dont jock-sniff.@. We do not expect one damn thing other than that which was probised to us by the Administrations of the past both Democrat & Republican! BEING A VETERAN OF THIS COUNTRY DOSENT MEAN ONE THING OTHER THAN ,WE AWNSERED THE CALL OF OUR COUNTRY OF OUR OWN FREE WILL. AND I WOULD SUGGUST TO YOU SIR, THAT YOU NOT PUT DOWN A VETERAN UNTIL YOU HAVE WORE HIS BOOTS AND WALKED 3 MILES IN THEM! WHY? I AM A VIETNAM ERA VETERAN & ALSO WORKED IN FIRE/RESCUE/ EMS FOR 12 YEARS. I DONT WANT TO SEE WAR, NO VETERAN DOES BUT CRAWLING THRU BLOOD & MUD GIVES US THE RIGHT TO SAY WHAT WE WANT TO SAY! HAVE YOU EVER STOOD FOR A SOLID HOUR JUST TRYING TO SCRUB SOMEONE ELSE'S BLOOD FROM YOUR HANDS & ARMS. HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO LOOK AT YOUR BEST FRIEND IN THE EYE AS HE TOOK HIS LAST BREATH? MOST OF THE PEOPLE I MEET WITH YOUR TYPE OF ATTITUDE WERE CRAWLING AROUND IN DIAPERS DURING VIETNAM. ALL YOUR COMMENT IN REPLY TO ANGLICO'S POST OF THE TRUTH HAS DONE IS TO REMIND ME OF FONDA & HER F.T.A. CRAP! IF WE FAIL AT OUR CURRENT TASK TO FILL THE SEATS WITH DEMOCRATS THIS WAR IN IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN WILL TURN INTO ANOTHER 12 YEAR VIETNAM AND ALL THAT WILL HAPPEN IS THE BODY COUNT GOES UP! WITHOUT THE VETERAN VOTE HOW DO YOU THINK A ELECTION IS WON? DEMOCRATS ARE FAR FROM BEING CHICKEN HAWKS AND I HAPPEN TO KNOW SEVERAL SCHOOL TEACHERS WHO HAVE DONE WELL IN CONGRESS!
I dunno. I don't like it. I think we're buying into shit we have no business being in. It makes me feel dirty. It negatively impacts my self-esteem that we're so blithely willing to be sucked into the military-industrial complex. We're being suckered. I don't like it at all.
DEM VET FINAL-IF YOU DONT LIKE WHAT IS GOING ON ,THEN THAT IS YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHT! BUT THEN AGAIN, IT IS MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT NOT TO LISTEN TO YOUR CONSERVATIVE,ANTI-VETERAN CRAP AND LAY THE HELL OF ANGLICO!! Spooky Da Dem Vet!
by Loquatrix on Sun Mar 26, 2006 at 12:59:49 PM PDT
Thanks for getting my back, Spooky.
God knows I have nothing against Vets. I be one. I've fucking jumped out of airplanes at o'dark thirty at 600 feet for this damn country, and NO ONE gets to give me shit about my support for the military. Damn I hate Dkos sometimes. Fucking children.
I left my final post there for a while
DKos isn't worth the effort. I'm sorry, but when sending Olbermann's advertisers and gloating over outing racest Ben Domenech, the new WaPo blogger is more important than saving our national forests, I have very little hope that the DKos community is worth more than raising oh...a several hundred grand or so...spread that around and it's peanuts. I'm fed up with the fact that everytime there's a diary on dKos about an NC candidate we hear nothing. We're on our own. We need to quit trying to raise any attention there. To steal a phrase from a friend...most of the DKos community is a bunch of 20 something pajama wearing laptop toting kids with no direction and no clear vision of what the Democratic Party really stands for. Other than a handful of diarists with decent voices, it's a free-for-all with very little direction.
I won't win any friends with my last post...certainly won't make a friend out of teacher Mike. :)
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Teacher Mike
is a condescending asshole. As I told him personally, thank god I passed through school without encountering very many like him.
I'm pretty much done with K-land for awhile, too. I feel like I've given it the good old college try, but enough is enough. It's good that new blood is getting energized into the system, I suppose. But it still reminds me of middle school with all the clickety cliques and class clowns. I never was most popular. I was most likely to succeed.
Whatever. I'm annoyed, which is never a good time to be standing on a soapbox, no matter how small.
Vivla la REAL Netroots
My great grandma Ethel knows more about winning dem strategy than Corporate Markos and his bastard army of idiot offspring, and she's been dead some years now.
Thank God for BlueNC. GO LARRY! I'm in.
"I'm sure if you asked Rep. Hayes he's 'flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed' to torture, just like he was CAFTA. Too bad he voted for both."
-Larry Kissell for Congress
Rant, you're hilarious
I hadn't seen you around there much recently. So have you gotten frustrated too? I thought about trying to round you up to rec the Kissell diary, but didn't know how to reach you.
Now that the FEC has ruled about bloggers and political activity, I'm going to put Larry's Act Blue link on my blog. I need to do that tonight.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Gotta help Katie with
the hot glue gun. I refuse to help with anything but the dangeous stuff. Teachers know when Mom and Dad did junior's project. We simply aren't going there.
Be back later and then have to get the action plans ready for idea. We will have several action plans running this week guys, so get ready.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Plans Sound good!
Sounds like a winner to me, Back after I eat!
Spook
Oh I need to clarify
I have nothing against 20 somethings....I just get frustrated with the mob mentality at DKos. I know a lot of people in their 20s who are dedicated, intelligent and who have their priorities straight.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Ya mean
like Lance and Targator?
:)
Hey
I guess I should be reading all of these comments. Never know when I may be being insulted. Jeez guys. I might fire back at my elders, but I do not want to break one of your hips.
Yeah.
You two are going to make me rethink my position on social security "reform."
I just took some WD-40 to my walker
SQUEEEAAAK
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Shhhhh
No, I mean allll 20 somethings!
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
BE VEWERY QUIET ABOUT IT!
Spooky Da Dem Vet
hehehehehe
I am. I am.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
I heard that.
n/t