Remember this thread where I proposed the idea that Sue Myrick might be planning to run in place of Liddy Dole? I came to that conclusion based on two things. First, Myrick came out quickly to dispel rumors that she was entertaining a run for Governor. Second, she ran hard against a candidate with no name recognition in this past election. The only reason I could think she would raise and spend so much money to run against a candidate with a few thousand dollars and no name recognition was to boost her own even higher in preparation for a run for higher office. To back my theory up, a new diarist, PhoenixDem, mentioned the same idea in a diary just a few days later.
More nonsense on the flip....
Part of my theory involved Charlotte Mayor, Pat McCrory, running for Myrick's seat. Sam Spencer made a good point [No, WAIT! I made that point!], that Pat's ego would not allow him to run for a congressional seat. Regardless, McCrory has plans for another office. The Charlotte Observer is reporting that Rick Hendrick, of mail fraud and NASCAR fame, will host a fundraiser for McCrory at his home on Feb.2. Some guests are paying as much as $1500.
For those of you who do not follow Charlotte politics, McCrory has no trouble getting re-elected. He would not need to raise this kind of money if he wanted to remain Mayor. If I'm[not Sam] correct, that ego would prevent a run for a congressional seat, could Mayor Pat have a run for the Governor's mansion in mind? In his diary from October 16, justing hints that may very well happen. He has this to say about the GOP field:
There are plenty of folks on the GOP side ready to duke it out as well, although they are lesser known. You may get to know Senator Fred Smith from Johnston County during this election cycle, as he's taken the unusual step of running ads on Triangle TV stations. This use of campaign funds seems like it may be geared more toward 2008 than his re-election campaign.You may have already gotten to know the aforementioned Graham. He's been active in self-funded campaigns on television and radio across the state this year to crack down on illegal immigration and eliminate the gas tax.
Also seemingly in the race is Sen. Robert Pittenger, a strident conservative from Mecklenburg County. All three candidates are terrifyingly to the right, but none seem to be particularly viable candidates either. Republicans may want to coax popular Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory into the race.
It's well-known that a candidate from Mecklenburg is pretty much assured a loss in a state-wide run. Is this as true for Republican candidates as it is for Democratic candidates?
What's going on in your neck of the woods? Are you hearing about any maneuvering by politicians that might indicate they have bigger plans? It's about time to check up on those FEC reports to see who is rebuilding their war chests. Ahhhh, a fresh new political season approaches.
Comments
David Young for Senate
I forgot to add in my post that we were already seeing movement in the mountains as reported by Screwy Hoolie in this diary.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Brad Miller for Senate?
Sorry, Congressman.....just had to do it. Saw you on the sidebar. I hope the first two days in the majority have been enjoyable.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Do I need a fake mustache and beard...
for when I lurk.
Heh.
We can get you one . . . or you can just log out. :)
Seriously . . . how does it feel after two glorious days of the new Congress.
On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is business as usual and 10 is wild optimism about the future, where are you today?
A solid 8.
I figure out for sure next week what subcommittee on Science and Technology I will chair. Also, Barney Frank mentioned to me on the floor he wanted to meet with Mel Watt and me and begin to put together our predatory mortage lending bill, which will be the most significant consumer legislation in a dozen years.
I know
Its not a ask Brad Miller question thread, but I wonder how many of your fellow congressmen and congresswomen read blogs.
HelpLarry.com
"Keep the Faith"
I know where there is a picture
of you with a beard. Think I should post it here? It was when you were in England getting that socialist education. LOL
ps I can't tell when you are here. I just have to check my homing device.
Lovex7
Pat McCrory
I have some trouble understanding why Pat McCrory's ego would not let him run for a Congressional seat. It's true that McCrory is mayor of the state's largest city, but Charlotte has a council / city manager form of government and the mayor is only a part time politician who serves as first among equals on a council that vests executive power in the city manager. McCrory may cut a dashing figure and have a high regard for himself, but being mayor of Charlotte is a step down the food chain from being a congressman.
I'm 56 years old. I moved to North Carolina five years ago. The previous twenty-five years I spent as a resident of Chicago's north shore and before that Wisconsin, Utah and California. I live in Moore County. My Congressman is Howard Coble, my State Sen
You might have trouble understanding
as you say.....but it might be that you don't really know much about politics in Charlotte. Knowing how the government is structured doesn't necessarily mean you know how the game has been played. I knew what my knee-jerk reaction was to your comment, but thought I'd ask someone who knows even more about Pat McCrory and the Charlotte City Council than I do. So, I called City Councilwoman, Patsy Kinsey at home on a Saturday. (OK, I call her every Saturday since she's my mother.....)
She's much more diplomatic than I am, but after translating her kind response it looks like she agrees with me.
Most of our elected officials are part-time, but many put in full-time hours. Pat McCrory has used the clout of his position to elevate himself to the national stage of GOP politics at different times. As he has elevated himself to national attention he has elevated Charlotte and has brought a lot of positive attention to Charlotte. He has and uses his veto power quite often, so obviously has some power on your council of equals. He reaches across the aisle fairly often, as well. The City Council sets policy but the city manager does not act outside that policy and certainly does not carry the power or clout that the Mayor of Charlotte does outside of Charlotte.
Basically, your "on paper" analysis of the role of the Mayor in Charlotte doesn't do the actual man justice. He is a respected leader, even if some of us look forward to someone else serving as Mayor in the near future. We accept the explanation that Easley might see being a Senator as a step down because he has been a governor and this is a very similar situation.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Charlotte's webb
I still don't get Charlotte . . . and am unaware of "positive attention" that may have been attracted. From here in the Triangle, Charlotte seems like nothing more than a bunch of white boys playing who wants to be a millionaire by gaming the banking laws.
So what gives?
Won't you PLEASE write that long-awaited series called "What's Wrong With Charlotte?" Okay, call it whatever you want . . . but really, we could all use some insight about the queen city.
So do I
I see the future: a C&D order for libel!
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks
Yikes, Sam
It was such a smart observation I thought you said it. It's probably a true observation. I'm hearing now he'll run for Lt. Governor, but I'm only hearing rumors.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
:-P
Seriously though, I don't speculate about or dis Mayor Pat online. He's never been anything but nice to me.
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks
This thread.
got me thinking of how North Carolinians got to the Senate.
Seat 1.
Alton A. Lennon - went from Senate to House, can't tell before that.
William Kerr Scott - Governor
B. Everett Jordan - looks like a mill owner.
Jesse Helms - campaign staffer
Elizabeth Dole - ....her qualifications are...being well married?
Seat 2.
Sam J. Ervin, Jr. - NC House, US House, NC Supreme Court
Robert B. Morgan - NC State Senate President Pro Tempore
John P. East - Professor at ECU.
James T. Broyhill - House member
Terry Sanford - Governor
Lauch Faircloth - hog farmer
John Edwards - successful trial lawyer
Richard Burr - House member
I'll let y'all draw your own conclusions. Mine is that North Carolinians are looking for a person they like and believe in, and not someone with a certain professional background. This jives well with my belief that almost all those voters not strongly aligned with a party are looking for someone to follow, a strong leader. Even if that leader happens to be named Bush.
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
Sheeple.
Yes, that is what I'm saying. I am betting there are only about 3% of voters that decide based on an objective look at the issues. Actually, I'm being kind, of the 100 some odd million that voted in the last election, I'll bet it was more like 1% that actually researched issues and didn't just "follow" their party or their gut.
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
Dang Robert
That's interesting. I never really looked at that.
I think Dole's qualification was simply her party affiliation, but it was her marriage that got her noticed.
Even after our brainstorming sessions, I'm still not sure we're any closer to figuring out who should run for this seat.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
I can't believe nobody is going to call me on this one
I fuss at George for putting a wand in Nancy Pelosi's hand instead of a gavel and then I suggest Elizabeth Dole didn't do anything but marry well in response to Robert's question????
Come on people. Jump to Liddy's defense! She wasn't just a little old homewrecking housewife. (She dated Dole while he was still married.) She served on the Federal Trade Commission under Nixon and was Secretary of Transportation under Reagan. She also served as Secretary of Labor under Bush(41). She was President of The American Red Cross from 1991 to 1999.
Of course, she ran it into the ground.......
But, she did more than just date a married man and eventually marry him to earn her stripes and her nomination to run for the Senate in NC.
Now, how hard will it be to research her rich disservice to our government to find tidbits to use against her in the next campaign?
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
I almost did call you on it
but you've done a very nice job explaining why I didn't.
:)
It was intentional
but I have stuff I have to get done and I was afraid I wouldn't be here to explain myself, so didn't want to leave it hanging.
I just think it's funny that very few people bring up her cabinet positions. It's time for some good opposition research.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
***************************
Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Regarding the wand...
Regarding Ms. Pelosi and her metaphorical wand, I avoided previous comment, but now I would like to say something about the perception of my political incorrectness.
It Tip O'Neill had been speaker I would have been just as likely to use a phrase that employed a wand and a congressman being magically transformed. I may be no judge of literary illusion, but waving a gavel for magical effect simply doesn't cut it for me.
None the less I appreciated your sensitivity on the matter, and the value of "the wand" was worth far less to me than the potential offense it might cause someone I cared about. Therefore, I edited it out.
Making light of politicians, their overly large egos, and the comical poses they are often forced to assume has long been a staple of political comment. I would hope that the use of humor, even humor that's designed to make someone look ridiculous and even slightly trivial, is not a device that must be reserved for men alone. That would be a form of discrimination that would do nothing to signal that women had truly arrived, and it would make political comment seem leaden and stifling.
Back in the 70's I had an African American friend with whom I went to a movie called "Shaft." It was one of those blackspoitation films where the one main hero was black, and every villain was white.
Afterwards my friend commented on what might have been the good intentions of those who marketed the film. However, he said he would know that blacks had arrived only when a black man could be cast as a villain, and the fact of his race would be as important as the color of his hair. He made a bet with me that in our lifetime we'd never see a major theatrical release with an evil bad guy who was also black.
I didn't take the bet. I knew I would lose.
I'm 56 years old. I moved to North Carolina five years ago. The previous twenty-five years I spent as a resident of Chicago's north shore and before that Wisconsin, Utah and California. I live in Moore County. My Congressman is Howard Coble, my State Sen
Set the record straight
Just to set the record straight...in my diary, quoted from in the original post, I was posting a column by the Chapel Hill Herald's progressive political columnist Tom Jensen. They were not my own thoughts.
I forgot to mention that
I actually noticed that, but got so involved in getting all the links and making sure I found as many "speculative" diaries as I could I screwed my attribution of your attribution up. Sorry, 'bout that.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
No prob.
No prob.
More on John Edwards' Dilemma
Some while ago I offered a post entitled "John Edwards' Dilemma." It proved to be provocative and won a lot of criticism. Recently Froma Harrop at "Real Clear Politics" wrote an opinion piece that dealt with the same issue of how electable Edwards might be in his own home region.
As part of that discussion she makes reference to Tom Shaller, the author of "Whistling Past Dixie."
I'm 56 years old. I moved to North Carolina five years ago. The previous twenty-five years I spent as a resident of Chicago's north shore and before that Wisconsin, Utah and California. I live in Moore County. My Congressman is Howard Coble, my State Sen
Robert P and I
discussed that very thing (Schaller's POV) a couple of days before your cited thread (http://www.bluenc.com/go-ahead-underestimate-john-edwards) so it's obviously a question in the air-- can a southern candidate really energize the blue northern and western states?
Robin Hayes for...
Governor.
Yep. I hate it when I can't quote sources. But I've heard this from two people. Here's the caveat: both sources are Democrats.
Maybe he sees the Kissell train a comin' and wants to get off the tracks.
That would be awesome.
The HAVA-CAFTA camp is all upset with BlueNC because of that Kissell thing. If Hayes wants to run for Governor, hell, I'd back him in the Republican primary in a heartbeat. With Hayes at the top of the NC ticket, the Party of Greed might indeed go flatline.
Charlotte GOP
It seems like the names from the GOP for Governor are Smith, Ghraham, and then Hayes, Pittenger or McCroy, all from Charlotte. I wonder whether there will be a consensus pick from the Charlotte region, or if all 3 will run. I hope all 3 run because I hope they hate each other, and I hope we can fill in the gaps.
In other comments, I wonder if McCroy didnt pay a lot of attention to Maryland politics this year, where the popular Mayor of Baltimore is now governor.
HelpLarry.com
"Keep the Faith"
I know I may be blowing my meanness quotient to pieces ...
but cubby, I have to ask ...
Spell much?
Hope you had a happy new year.
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks
Hi, please don't misquote me
I've said nothing of the sort about Mayor Pat.
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks