Talking to democrats throughout the 8th district and throughout NC the strongest argument that has been made for Kissell is that he is better than a republican, and that Nancy Shakir will be weak candidate in the general election.

With the mailer he sent out this past weekend Kissell showed that Dems in NC ARE better off with a Republican in the seat! The reason is because Kissell’s re-election strategy is going to hurt other democrats! Kissell’s district shares many of the same media markets as congressman Bob Etheridge. What will it do to Etheridges re-election efforts if Kissell is airing fear mongering ads that say voting for HR 3950 was a vote to force seniors between buying food or medicine? What good does it do keeping Larry Kissell if we lose Bob Etheridge in the process? The same holds true for whoever our Senate candidate is. How are they going to campaign in this crucial swing district if Larry Kissell is giving credence to Richard Burr’s lies that “if (insert Cunnigham, Marshall, or Lewis name here) had been in the Senate instead of me they would have voted to destroy Medicare.”

If we learn anything from Republicans it is that to win campaigns a party has to remain unified and ON MESSAGE! Kissell destroys our chance for a unified position against the Republican lies in the fall. To say nothing of the fact that if Kissell wins re-election he will make things difficult for President Obama when he campaigns for re-election in NC in 2012.

In contrast, If Nancy Shakir is our nominee, even if she loses, she will help our statewide candidates. She will do this because her strong ties in the African-American community will increase African-American turnout. This increase in turnout will help our statewide candidates, all local democratic candidates in the 8th district, and all the state legislature candidates that have are from the 8th. In contrast, having Kissell as the nominee may actively hurt turnout as African-Americans will choose to stay home rather than come out and support a party that will stand unified behind our president.

How can Shakir win the primary at this late date?
With pollworkers! Usually I am not a big fan of having election day pollworkers, but consider this. According to the latest PPP poll over 65% of the Dem primary voters in the 8th district support healthcare reform! Only about 25% are opposed to it, with the rest undecided. (BTW this is the reason for the Kissell mailer, he is trying to drive DOWN the approval numbers for the Democrats health care reform!)

One of the things Kissell is counting on is the fact that many voters are not aware that he voted against healthcare reform. A Jan. PPP poll showed that over 40% of Dem primary voters thought he voted FOR the healthcare bill!

Shakir’s path to victory is simple. Have volunteers at every poll informing voters that Kissell voted against healthcare reform. If everyone who votes tomorrow is aware of the fact that Larry Kissell voted AGAINST healthcare reform there is no way he can win!

It’s too late to make this happen! I talked to Nancy’s campaign manager the other day and he said they already had most of the polls covered, there where just a few more that they needed covered! Take tomorrow off of work and go work a poll in the 8th district. Even if you can spare only a few hours to work a poll it can make a difference. Contact Shakir’s campaign and they will tell you where to go. If you can’t work a poll ask Shakir’s campaign to e-mail you call lists, so you can call into the district and educate voters to the fact that Kissell voted against healthcare reform!

Remember, “An informed voter is our best ally!”.