A quick search for information about Lloyd Scher—who may run against ethically challenged Republican incumbent Robin Hayes in NC's 8th Congressional District in 2006—reveals that during his time on Mecklenburg County's Board of Commissioners, he often stood in opposition to the politics of Commissioner Bill James.

For instance, when James wanted to make sure that school counselors couldn't discuss sexuality with students unless the parents were notified, Scher was one of the commissioners who voted "no." When James floated a "proposal to eliminate county funding to any agency that provides information about homosexuality and other 'crimes of nature,'" Scher was one of the bare majority that defeated it, saying: "This isn't about homosexuality. The main purpose for this is to do a scoreboard . . . to determine who's really a Republican and who's not."

I still don't know much about whether Scher is qualified to represent the 8th district, but standing in opposition to Bill James looks to me like a pretty good place to start. That, and he started the UNC Hockey team; take that for what it's worth.

One more link: here's Bill James's own "14 Point Plan" for a better Charlotte, including:

• a Sherriff-run boot camp for kids who miss school too much or just "have a weak or non-existent parental family life or where strong male supervision and direction is needed";
• penalties to make sure that gays and other unmarried couples can't adopt; and
• a three strikes law for Charlotte like the one that (watch out for sarcasm:) is working so well in California.