Thanks for inviting me to participate.
I intend to appoint a public relations committee. Among its duties will be press releases for all elected officials across the State focusing on those that do not have PR staffs. Moreover, as we identify new candidates I would have the PR staff begin promoting the candidate and building name recognition right away.
I will look to the public relations committee to help build relationships with media personnel (news paper editors and staff, radio producers, and TV reporters) so that we can get our media message published. Moreover, I will appoint people to target new media, with an emphasis on social media from Facebook to BlueNC.
Sometimes the simplest ideas become newsworthy, while other good ideas are never picked up. Our party must have a relevant message. People want to know what we are doing to make their lives better. As a party, that must be our goal. We must be about Putting People First. Our Repub opponents are about putting business first. I hope our mainstream media is monitoring our discussions tonight and find our discussions news worthy.

James you ask a great question. One thing I have never been bashful or shy about is asking people for money. Would you be interested in making a donation to the party? The link is: https://www.d4d.org/ncpldg.htm
Moreover, I am having a fundraiser for the Party at the Goodwin House on Hillsborough Road in Raleigh on Thursday, January 20 from 5:30p to 7:00p. Many members of the Council of State will be present along with Legislators. You are invited. I hope you will bring a $1,000 donation made payable to the Party.
In politics you ask people for three things their vote, money and time. I intend to ask all Democrats for those three things. In order to succeed and meet our goals we must fundraise. We must educate the general public about the importance of the tax check-off. We must expand our low dollar donations and methods.
We have to start actively fundraising online, through the mail, through re-occurring donations, through personal relations, and through fun, well orchestrated, high dollar events. Fundraising ultimately requires time and hard work. I intend that we win at the polls. I am committed to put in the time and the work. I want you to join with me in this effort.

Pulled or shredded. Both.

Being in the Legislature affords me a number of advantages. First is the ability to know what the Republicans are doing before it happens, when we still have a hope of stopping it. Next is being always available to the press to give instant interviews on topics with credibility, insight and force. Another value is being in a position to push forward issues that speak to core Democratic values without begging and pleading for someone to run an amendment or file a bill. Put simply, if the Party Chair is a legislator, and the members of our party want to push forward an issue that will benefit the people of this State you have the perfect advocate.

I already have cleared service as State Party Chair while serving as a legislator with the State Ethics Commission. I anticipate a letter from the SBOE before the end of the week confirming that I can raise money from everyone all the time with the exception of Lobbyist and PACs with Lobbyist while the Legislature is in Session. We do not raise much our money from these two sources but in that regard I have already scheduled a pre-Session fundraiser targeting these folks.
The goal of the Party is to elect Democrats. Legislators are always raising money not only to elect themselves but also to elect other Democrats (not just other Legislators), this is a principle job of every caucus leader and member. The President Pro Tem of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are always known for their fund raising prowess.
The NCDP to my knowledge has never disbursed money to a legislator. For that matter, the problem is that the NCDP is not even providing meaningful funding to the vast majority of county parties.
I want us to win. I want us to take back control of the legislative agenda. I want us to keep control of the Council of State. I am prepared to make the commitment and the sacrifices to get this done. I hope you will join me.

You are correct that OFA does have resources that we may not always be able to provide in terms of knowledge and resources. However, that knowledge is often based in Washington DC and is irrelevant to the experiences on the ground. As a candidate for office, and in talking to members of the party across North Carolina one theme that I have heard over and over again is that local knowledge was ignored.
We will win elections when we take the local knowledge from grassroots leaders like you and combine that with a statewide plan. It is essential that in 2012 the North Carolina Democratic Party create its own plan that complements what OFA is doing. We cannot allow them to run our state without any local input from grassroots leaders.

I have spoken with Governor Perdue, Commissioner Goodwin, Education Secretary Atkinson, Minority Leader Elect Senator Nesbitt, Minority Leader Elect Representative Hackney, numerous Senators and Representatives, Former Governor Hunt, and SEC members across this State. They all want the same thing. They want Democrats to win. They want a Democratic agenda both legislatively and administratively. All of these elected officials know me and have worked with me in the Legislature. They all believe that I can do the better job leading the party and helping all democrats across our State win election.