News-Record.com

Click here for Sunday's story on health care and the candidate's for governor.

Previously:

Readers views on health care.

Republican candidate's positions on health care.

Democratic candidate's positions.

Your thoughts are welcome at the comments link below.

So after all the hemming and hawing Coble comes out and endorses Romney anyway.

Boy, Ol' Howard sure can milk a story, can't he?

My Google reader has been culling stories related to North Carolina's U.S. Senate campaign over the past week. It looks like the leading Democrats are on the road.

State Sen. Kay Hagan was spotted in Florida, playing up her local connections to win a campaign in North Carolina, where she's playing up her local connection. Hagan last week was in Lakeland, where her father was mayor at one point. Her uncle, Lawton Chiles, was a governor and U.S. Senator from Florida.

"Let's just say I was born in North Carolina, went to law school in North Carolina, worked all my career in North Carolina and have three children who went through the schools there. So I can represent the people of North Carolina," Hagan said in an interview with the Lakeland Ledger.

Also on the road was Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker.

The New York Observer noted Neal would be in town at the end of January, as did Page Six, which famously decided that Jesse Helms had passed on to the great Senate seat in the sky before he actually had.

Meanwhile, Dole took a swipe at her would-be rivals last week, saying they shouldn't support the SCIP children's health insurance program at the expense of the state's traditional cash crop, tobacco.

"To fund it on the back of North Carolina's economy - and especially on the backs of the tobacco industry - when there are other funding options, is unfair," Dole said in a speech to the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina.

I was roused from my post-Super Bowl stupor last night by and ad for Crib to College, a nonprofit founded by Crumley and Associates.

The law firm is owned by Republican AG candidate Bob Crumley. The firm does heavy advertising for itself, including on the back page of the phone books.

Now, call me skeptical, but this got me to thinking and digging a little bit.

Crumley formed the Crib to College nonprofit in 2006, shortly after his 2005 declaration that he would run for Attorney General in 2008. (Yes, he's been running for nigh on three years.)

The ad for the scholarships features Crumley in a lot of the visuals and mentions his name several times. It sure as shooting looked to me to be a couple half steps short of a campaign ad. Could the foundation and its on-air advertising be taken as a way to boost his public profile around the state?

Crumley told me I'm taking the coincidence the wrong way. After 2006, the law firm realized it wasn't getting the number of applicants that it wanted for the scholarship. So in 2007 and again this year it began advertising the scholarship.

Crumley said his company has been doing public service work, such as drivers education, for years and that the formation of the nonprofit had to do with the expanding its community outreach efforts.

"Totally coincidental in terms of timing," Crumley said.

Alright. Fair enough. Still, advertising is advertising. Has he given any thought as to cutting back ads for the foundation or the law firm as he runs for AG.

Short answer: no.

"The company has been advertising for a long, long time. The company is going to continue to advertise, I guess forever...It's two separate things and the campaign will do its thing and the law firm will do its thing," Crumley said.

For those wondering if there's a law against this sort of thing, yes and no.

If you're a sitting member of the Council of State - the AG is a member - you can't do publicly-funded Public Service Announcements except in case of a national emergency, said Gary Bartlett, who heads the state board of elections.

So, for example, Democrat Roy Cooper can't do a bunch of ads for his department's fraud prevention efforts this year as a way to build his name recognition and good will.

Crumley, however, is pretty much in the clear to do ads for his foundation and his law firm.

The state can't regulate anything that doesn't have the "magic words," Bartlett said. Those would be words like "vote for," "support," "oppose," or "defeat." Anything else is, at best, an issue ad, which is dicey if not impossible for the state to regulate anyway. Advertisements for private businesses or foundation don't get close to coming into the SBOE's purview.

So there's nothing the state can do to put Crumley's foundation and business ads off the air, regardless of how they may or may not help his campaign. As for Crumley, he emphasized the foundation had nothing to do with politics.

"I don't want to see a really good program politicized for my benefit or anybody's benefit," he said.

The day on which the most delegates to the Republican and Democratic convention are at play is largely a spectator occasion here in North Carolina. North Carolina won't hold our presidential primary until May 6.

For those looking to mark up their own personal Super Tuesday score cards, you could do worse then Dan Balz's "8 Questions Super Tuesday Could Answer" at the Washington Post.

(For those looking to geek out on delegate counts, check out the NY Times' Republican and Democratic Super Tuesday breakdowns.)

The answer to Balz's second question, "What Constitutes Victory?" is different between the Republicans and Democrats but also different for North Carolina.

For the Tar Heel state, we want to see some deadlock, indecision, pandemonium. If McCain, as predicted, can come out of Super Tuesday with a convincing lead, the Republican nomination fight will start winding down. Ditto if either Clinton or Obama manages to come away with something resembling a win.

If the nominations are both settled by May, the candidates will have nothing to play for here and will likely bypass the state entirely.

And because North Carolina usually gets lumped into the "red state" column early on in the General Election, whoever is playing in the General Election will, by and large, pass us by.

That means the issues and concerns particular to one of the 10 largest states in the union will, by and large, be ignored.

Deadlock, however, on either side would guarantee at least a little attention being focused here...not to mention some fun for scruffy media types and political junkies.

Polls in North Carolina already show potential Republican primary voters showing more love to Arizona Sen. John McCain than to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

If, however, by some quirk of fate, the state were to be in play come May 6, our primary day, Romney probably just sealed his fate here. Now, my bet is things will be decided before then, but if Tar Heels do get a say Romney will be wishing for the genie to get back in the bottle.

Here's what happened:

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been bashing McCain for not leaning enough to the right. Former Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, sent Limbaugh a letter essentially asking Limbaugh to lay off McCain.

Romney was asked about this on the Fox & Friends show this morning. Romney's response, according to the USA Today On Politics blog, was:

He is "the last person I would want to write a letter for me. ... McCain's (campaign) is a lot like Bob's campaign (was)."

Yeah, why would you want a war hero, long-time senator and respected elder of your party on your side in a primary fight?

Here are the additional complicating factors in North Carolina:

• * Bob Dole won North Carolina in 1996. Handily. In a year when almost anywhere else you cared to look was breaking for Clinton.

• * N.C. Sen. Richard Burr has already been stumping for McCain and has some affinity for Dole. He sent out a statement this morning slamming Romney:
  

  "Bob Dole's commitment to the country and to the party is unparalleled. He has spent decades working for conservative causes and trying to build the Republican Party. Governor Romney's comments only work to continue to divide Republicans. It is one thing to attack your campaign opponent, but it is another to insult a well respected American hero like Bob Dole. Governor Romney should apologize."

  
  
• * North Carolina's other senator is Elizabeth Dole, wife of Bob Dole. She has, thus far, stayed out of the primary fray but one might think neutrality has just been breached.

Okay. So, who can tell me what other statewide Republican figure is out there with the kind of personal loyalty of supporters and statewide organization it takes to win a high profile political contest?

Were this 16 years ago, you might say Jim Martin, the still-popular former governor. But I think that might be it.

And because North Carolina is so late on the primary calendar, campaigns haven't really invested here so statewide allies would count for more than usual. And while Congressman Howard Coble and Congresswoman Virginia Foxx have endorsed Romney, I don't see them delivering the kind of votes that Burr and Dole can bring to bear.

It's something to watch if the GOP primary is legitimately in play past today.

Rockingham County republicans found a way nail down the duties of the hopefuls for office there: A Contract With Rockingham County. Download file

One goal of the document is more accountable local government, according to a release from the county's Republican Party. Download file

"The Contract was developed to help Rockingham County voters clearly see the positive
direction that Republican candidates want to take us," Dan Zeller, chairman of the
Rockingham County Republican Party said in a Tuesday release.

The Rockingham Republican officials said their version was inspired by the 1994 Contract with America that republicans drafted six weeks before that congressional election. Rockingham's version gives stances including supporting guidance counseling for students, handling undocumented immigrants, fighting litter and ideas on handling budgeting processes.

I am apparently way unhip, or just too slow to understand how this story in the Village Voice winds its way to talking to Jim Neal, a candidate for U.S. Senate here in North Carolina.

But it does...eventually...half way through. I think it's meant to be funny, except, well, it's not.

It's just sad, stuck somewhere between elitist and ignorant.

Here's an excerpt from the story that will give you some idea of the style:

But might Elizabeth Dole be every bit as rotten as Limbaugh- I mean Helms - was? "She's not as polarizing in terms of her stance on social issues," said Neal. "Jesse Helms will be remembered as being a very polarizing, mean person. An old-line party activist in North Carolina named Betty McCain said, 'Helms is so mean that when he was a boy, his mother had to tie a pork chop around his neck so the dogs would come play with him.' " "I thought that was to keep away the Jews," I remarked, saucily. "There aren't any!" replied Neal, laughing.

Right. Cute. Someone might want to mention that to these folks or maybe these folks. From the Temple Emanuel website:

The Greensboro Jewish community had its first permanent settlers in the middle 1890's. At this time, the earliest Greensboro members of the Cone and Schiffman families arrived and were soon joined by relatives and in-laws.

Did I mention Neal grew up in Greensboro?

I know, I know, I'm letting facts getting in the way of witty repartee and New York condescension on us backward southerners. And I'm going to do it again. More from the Voice piece:

Has Neal's out sexuality become an issue in the campaign? "You're the first person who's asked me that casually," he said, as my gay jaw dropped. "It's been very awkward for journalists. I've been all over the state like a junebug and no one has asked me once about my sexual orientation!"

Right. It's been a total non-issue except for the audio clip on this page or this story or maybe this here from Charlotte or ... well, you get the idea.

Now, I've met Neal and interviewed him both over the phone and in person. He strikes me generally as a thoughtful, temperate observer and speaker. So, I don't know, maybe he was quoted out of context. I haven't spoken to him about this story so don't know what the deal might be.

I'm not calling BS on Neal right yet. But on the Village Voice, oh yes, if for no other reason than indulging in the same ol' ugly stereotypes of North Carolina. Don't get me wrong. You'll find your share of homophobes and religious intolerants around here.

But let's document them for who they are, rather than as part of some cartoonish sketch that paints the state as some kind of backward monolith where Willie Stark might be at home. Heck, if nothing else, the story does a disservice to the North Carolina's not insubstantial pockets of progressives. (Hello, the Speaker of the North Carolina House is Joe Hackney for cripes sake.)

Or am I just over-reacting. Probably. I mean, they're just having a laugh, right?

Charlotte's Mark Johnson has done the math and says North Carolina will be mathematically in play come May 6 for both the Republican and Democratic primaries.

Mitt Romney is going to drop out of the Republican nomination hunt, according to the Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post.

I've not got time right now to ponder what this all means, but you can by way of the comments link.

Following up from an earlier story and posts, two Republican candidates for governor have offered up detailed health care proposals. That's in advance of tonight's tonight's health care debate on UNC-TV.

Bill Graham held a news conference in downtown Raleigh today to give his pitch, which focuses on creating community risk pools. Essentially, Graham wants to let churches, civic clubs, employers, etc... band together to form insurance pools that will make the purchase of insurance cheaper.

There's no online link yet (although the color booklet is very nice) but I'll post one when I get it. Update: Here's the link. (PDF)

Bob Orr made his pitch by way of an e-mail announcement that linked to his plan. As is typical for Orr, his thoughts are detailed and multi-faceted. The highlights that I've picked out so far include increasing the number of doctors and nurses available to treat those in need by working to train more medical professionals, emphasizing preventative care and decreasing the cost of insurance be reducing coverage mandates.

Coverage mandates are things that an insurer has to cover if they sell you a policy in North Carolina. The most recent addition to that list - mental health care.

Democrats Bev Perdue and Richard Moore have already offered their plans while Republicans Fred Smith and Pat McCrory seem to have some broad brushstrokes in place.

You can catch tonight's debate at 8 p.m. if you have UNC's digital channel, or at 10 p.m. on the regular broadcast.

Gary Pearce uses his blog to point out there's a difference between electoral math and calculating one's odds of success. Previously and more so.

Chapel Hill investment banker and Greensboro native Jim Neal will be in Greensboro next Tuesday. Details from a news release, after the jump:

On Monday, Congressman Howard Coble endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary. On Thursday, Romney drops out after a bad day on Super Tuesday.

About an hour ago I get a tremendously funny e-mail from a colleague who suggests: "If only Romney had given Howard's endorsement more time to work!"

I have a call in to Coble to see what's on his mind right now.

Update: Coble said he didn't first endorse anyone back when there were eight or nine candidates because his constituents were all over the map.

But he took the step of endorsing Romney Monday because it was down to two people - Romney and McCain - who he saw as having a viable shot.

"I felt not uncomfortable coming aboard even knowing that the chance of victory was slim ... I have no regrets," Coble said.

Coble attended a briefing Romney held with his Capitol Hill supporters Thursday afternoon. He said that Romney told them that he had won California on election day, but was beat by those who sent in their ballots early.

"One thing I took away from it, don't color him gone," Coble said, adding he though Romney could make another presidential run in the future.

When asked about Arizona Sen. John McCain, someone who can almost claim the title of presumptive Republican nominee, Coble said, "I'll support him. But not in the spirited way that I supported Romney. But I'll support him."

Locally, Virginia Foxx was also a Romney endorser.

By way of Lex who picked up from Schaver, the folks at MapLight are offering cool widgets that show fundraising for federal candidates. For example, here's a snapshot of the U.S. Senate race here in North Carolina.

I've been meaning to do this sooner, but I've been home with a sick child. Anyway, I finally got on the phone with Senate Candidate Jim Neal regarding the Village Voice story.

First, be forewarned: Yes, I know the Village Voice is a condescending bastion of New York humor, but I did ask the candidate respond as if answering someone (like me) who didn't quite get the joke.

Secondly, I recorded audio with Neal's permission so I'm going to give you a short form response and then you can listen to the full take if you're interested.

First up, this suggestion that there might not be any Jewish folks in North Carolina, or at least that there weren't at the time of Jesse Helms' youth.

"To say there are no Jewish people in North Carolina is pretty preposterous," Neal said. He has some Jewish ancestry himself.

Click here for that full answer.

Secondly, I asked why he seemed to be getting asked about his sexual orientation a lot outside the state, while it's kind of died out as a topic here.

"The story of my sexual orientation played out here, outside of the state when I talk to reporters, they're reporting it for the first time," Neal said.

Click here for that full answer.

I asked Neal what was taking him out of state, and he emphasized that he had only been to New York once this year. He pointed out - rightly - that anyone trying to run for national office from North Carolina is going to have to look out of state for money.

Then he made this pledge, for what would presumably be his re-election campaign:

"After I'm elected Senator, for the record, I will never accept a campaign contribution more $250, never. Because in six years, the Internet is going to displace the bundlers, and the PACs, and the special interest groups who write the bigger checks," Neal said.

Click here for that full answer.

The follow up to that question was whether it was harder for Neal to raise money in North Carolina because he was gay. This is something that I have heard, off the record or not for attribution, multiple times.

"No, I don't think so at all. I think it's harder for me to raise money from outside North Carolina because I'm from outside the system," Neal said.

Click here for that full answer.

The conversation rolled around to the potential of having a competitive Democratic primary in North Carolina and whether that would be good or bad for folks like him lower down on the ticket. He said it would be a good thing, drawing attention to the state.

He said that folks outside the state still thought about Jesse Helms when they thought of North Carolina politics.

"North Carolina today is about John Edwards, that's where most people should associate North Carolina," Neal said.

Click here for that full answer.

So, did he answer whatever questions you might have had?

During Thursday's debate among Republican candidates for governor, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said something curious.

"Mental health is one of those areas where I think the best way to do it is the trend that's been occurring in the last several years where we're transferring some of that responsibility and decision making down to the local level where it's closest to the customer and I think there has been some good trends in that area during the past two or three years including in Mecklenburg County," McCrory said.

That "trend" is what's known more broadly as mental health reform.

I don't know if McCrory is the only politician in the state who thinks that mental health reform is working, but he was the only politician at the debate who does. (For background you can read my stuff or just Google.)

The responses came quickly from McCrory's opponents. First at bat was former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr.

"Mental health reform may have worked in Charlotte but I can assure you it has not worked around North Carolina. Mental health reform has been an absolute disaster in this state," Orr said.

Then state Sen. Fred Smith: "The mental health system in state is in crisis."

Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham: "I'm glad the state has finally come to the conclusion they need to fix the problem they created in the first place...Mental health is a disaster and broken."

Now, Orr, Smith and Graham aren't exactly a namby-pamby crew. So if they're saying a social service safety net is broken, it's probably pretty stressed.

Click here to listen to the whole exchange. McCrory is up first.

For those who missed the health care debate on UNC-TV Thursday:

• * Click here to listen to the Republican side.
• * Click here to listen to the Democratic side.

I may have some more thoughts - including this exchange on mental health by the Republicans - but you can also find some good coverage:

• * From dome, who noted one of my smart aleck remarks.

• * The barkeep has also weighed in.

Plus, there will be coverage galore in the morning papers, I'm sure.

Debates stories from:

• * News & Record.
• * The N+O.
• * Winston-Salem Journal.
• * The AP. (This WRAL site also has some video, but you can listen to the full audio here.

As noted in the paper this morning, election filing begins today at noon. Of course the number of releases that I have from state and local saying so-and-so has "filed" - past tense - for office is up to three, but whatever...it's noon somewhere right?

Candidates seem pretty eager to point out their ability to file a simple piece of paper, which is really the only hurdle (along with the filing fee) to getting on the ballot. Call us scruffy media types jaded, but we're less impressed. Third graders can (mostly) turn in their homework on time, and they usually don't have two weeks to do it like candidates do.

However, the News & Record will round up those who manage to file their paperwork with the state and locals boards of election every day. Check back here to see how the scorecard is developing.

State Sen. Kay Hagan was on the stump in Greensboro this evening, speaking the Guilford County Democratic executive committee and local Dems at the Golden Corral over on Wendover. Hagan, a Democrat, is aiming to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

She played to a crowd of about 50-75 folks and was introduced by Don Vaughan, who hopes to take her state Senate seat. The short take:

• * She delivered what is apparently becoming a stock line for her: "I think we need to send Miss Liddy Dole a pair of ruby red slippers and let her click her heels three times and go home to Kansas."

• * The far better line of the evening: "My husband can vote for me."

• * Last of the read meat: Hagan said that for years, the state was represented by "Senator No," a reference to Jesse Helms. "Now we have Senator Who?...We're now going to have Senator Can Do, and that's going to be Kay Hagan."

• * Hagan spent a good deal of her speech outlining her accomplishments in Raleigh, including helping to land more Smart Start funding for Guilford County, bolstering state support for the furniture market and helping to keep payday lenders out of the state.

• * She told the crowd that a remake of her website is in the works and would be online within two weeks.

Like Kay Hagan, U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal was also on the hustings in Guilford County Tuesday. I caught up with him as he spoke to students at NCA&T.

Quick impressions:

• * Neal spoke to about 20 students, spending most of his time fielding questions.

• * Neal was asked how he could be incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole in the fall. "Sen. Dole is a very polarized figure," Neal said, explaining that he believed Dole's base to be among very conservative voters. "She is in a position to lose some of the more moderates." Neal said that he's in the better position to win over those moderates because of his experience in business.

• * While talking about bridging political differences, Neal seemed amazed at Dole's moral flexibility on basketball. Dole was photographed at the UNC-Clemson game this week sitting next to Erskine Bowles, opponent in the 2002 Senate race. "She sat next to Erskine Bowles and pulled for Carolina and she went to Duke - that's the most whack thing I've ever seen."

• * Neal got fired up when talking about economic inequities. He was talking to a room of mostly African American students, and noted that blacks were more likely to die earlier than whites and that an African American male was born with a 1 in 3 chance of winding up in jail. "You weren't born with a gene that says go to jail, die soon...We have failed a large segment of the population."

• * Neal was asked about the inequities between colleges in the UNC system, specifically those of the state's flagship campuses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The differences, he said, were visually striking when he walked onto an HCBU campus like NCA&T.

  "It doesn't look like Chapel Hill, it doesn't look like N.C. State does," he said. The problem, he said, had to do with the money and influence wielded by alumni. "Why don't we just have one endowment for the overall university system...It has everything to do with money and power and it's the same way in Raleigh as it is in Washington."

Kay Hagan has a campaign flier that she's been handing out while on the hustings. It basically highlights her accomplishments and gives a brief bio. Pretty standard stuff. One bullet point caught my attention.

"While Washington continues to run outrageous debts, Kay, as co-chair of the Budget Committee, made sure North Carolina had a balanced budget."

Hagan can take credit for a lot of things, but I'm not sure this is one of them.

Article III of the state constitution says: "The total expenditures of the State for the fiscal period covered by the budget shall not exceed the total of receipts during that fiscal period and the surplus remaining in the State Treasury at the beginning of the period."

In other words: the state is constitutionally required to have a balanced budget.

There are two Democrats officially filed to run in the 6th Congressional District according to the State Board of Elections.

Johnny Carter, of Summerfield, has made his bid official. He's been noted here before.

New to the race is Teresa Sue Bratton of Greensboro. I met her at a Democratic gathering Tuesday night. She is a pediatric allergist and says she got into the race after being aggravated by Republican incumbent Howard Coble's vote against SCHIP expansion.

She said that she was in the process of hiring on a campaign manager.

Jay Ovittore, who has announced a run, isn't on the SBOE list yet.

Jim Neal is keeping pace with State Sen. Kay Hagan in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, according to this poll by Survey USA. Hagan had 24 percent in the survey, Neal had 23 percent.

This is markedly different than the last PPP survey, which had Hagan way ahead, 21 percent to 6 percent.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the disagreement between the two surveys.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has hired Jack Hawke, a long-time Republican operative, as his chief strategist. Hawke used to run the Civitas Institute until a couple weeks ago. As well, he is a former Republican Party Chairman and has run for office himself. From the McCrory release:

"I'm hawkish on Hawke because of Jack's experience and winning record." said McCrory.

Hawke's first order of business: ensure the campaign no longer uses bad puns in their press releases.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue was in town today giving a big check to the Guilford County Health Department. She'll stick around tonight for an event at J. Douglas Galyon Depot tonight.

I mention this because she is getting the kind of free media that a candidate just has to love from our website right now (big front page picture of her talking with senior) even as she's running for office and planning a political event nearby. (I bet she makes it on a couple news casts tonight as well). Such are the perks of running as an office holder.

From the Google news alert service regarding the front-running U.S. Senate candidates:

• * Southern Political Report says incumbents rules in campaign fundraising - shock! "Democrats are beginning to raise significant funds in North Carolina, where the GOP's US Sen. Elizabeth Dole had just under $2.7 million on hand, not as impressive as one might expect for the former chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In the Democratic contest to oppose Dole, state Sen. Kay Hagan has much more cash on hand than investment banker Jim Neal, $516,000 to $139,000."

• * Bay Area Report: Neal will be on the west coast for a fundraiser. Neal tells the paper he opposes DOMA but would back civil unions.
  

  "I think that the federal government and the state has no right discriminating against anybody on any basis, period. Churches are free to marry whomever they want to, they enjoy that right as non-secular institution," said Neal. "But the state has no business. Clearly, DOMA I think usurps the constitution's full faith and credit clause."

Want to keep up with election filings? Both the state and Guilford County have websites for you:

• * The State Board of Elections lists candidates for statewide offices, Congress, legislative seats and judgeships. Once you get on their page, click "2008 State Contests Candidate Listing"

• * At the Guilford County Board of Elections page you'll find listings for county commissioner, school board, Register of Deeds and legislative seats based in the county. Click on the "Candidates Filing - 2008" link.

There's an interesting primary shaping up in House District 61, the seat now held by Republican Laura Wiley, of High Point, who is serving her second term.

George Ragsdale, 31, of Jamestown, has filed as a Republican to run against her. Ragsdale has never run for office before but you might recognize his name.

He's part of the Ragsdale political family from Jamestown. His father was a long-time mayor and council member and his grandfather served as a county commissioner. Various other relatives have also held political office.

So he gets points right off for having a brand-name, at least in southwestern Guilford County.

He's a banker and runs the Wrennovation Companies - the spelling is a play on his middle name - that re-develops properties, both jobs that put him out in the community a lot.

Ragsdale says he has no particular ax to grind with Wiley but says he thinks he can do more for the county.

"I have no quarrel with Laura Wiley at all," Ragsdale said, "I appreciate and respect the work she has done. But I know I can do more."

We talked a little about issues. Improving education is on his list, as is limiting the role of government in areas where he thinks it ought not to be.

"I'm also the greenest Republican you've ever seen," he said. We spent a little time talking about his desire to boost the use of alternative fuels by having state fleets like police cars, school buses and ferries use E85 ethanol and biodiesel.

This doesn't seem to be a challenge from Wiley's right. Wiley has been able to get some bills through the Democratically-held General Assembly, and has even voted in favor of a budget or two - because it had money for the High Point Furniture Market - something that can get a legislator in trouble with GOP hard-liners. But Ragsdale seems to be equally a pragmatist - the whole more earth-friendly fuel line is hardly a page out of the Art Pope playbook.

No Democrat has filed to run in this district and voter registration numbers here indicate that the eventual Republican nominee will have a strong advantage.

This is the second Guilford County race where an incumbent has picked up a challenger who might just be able to have some success. In Senate District 28, incumbent Katie Dorsett faces a challenge from county commissioner Bruce Davis.

One Bob Hunter already sits on the N.C. Court of Appeals. Another, from Greensboro, wants the job.

Robert N. "Bob" Hunter, Jr plans to file today. He is a former chairman of the state board of elections and anticipates taking on John Arrowood, who was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Easley in August, 2007.

Most readers, however, will know him for his involvement in several recent high-profile cases:

• * He is the lead attorney in the redistricting case that the NAACP has taken umbrage with.
• * He was Republican Trudy Wade's lawyer in her months long battle to hold her county commissioner seat against John Parks.

The other Bob Hunter, the one already on the court, is Robert C. Hunter and is not up for election this year...thank goodness, or I'd never keep them straight.

The North Carolina Association of Educators has endorsed Kay Hagan in her U.S. Senate bid.

From their news release:

Hagan has demonstrated strong leadership on public education issues while serving in the North Carolina Senate. In addition, she is opposed to school voucher proposals, supports reforming the No Child Left Behind Act, and wants to close the achievement gap for minority students.

It does not mention Hagan's opponents. Worth noting is that Hagan is a lead budget writer and the NCAE takes an active interest in the budget process. I guess they like her work.

So I have story for Sunday - click here to read it - that seemed like a really good idea when I thought it up a week ago. I'm less sure right now, in part because I ended up having to hack the substantive bit that got me interested in writing it.

The premise is this: after talking to and watching the Internet posts of progressive/liberal/activist left Democrats, it seems they are lining up more behind Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal rather than Greensboro state Sen. Kay Hagan.

Now, there is a natural danger in writing about any one group of people. First off, not all members of the group will adhere to your thesis. Progressives are even less cohesive and consistent by their nature. Also, this is a story that requires some measure of nuance, which a 30-inch newspaper story doesn't always get at real well.

That said, I don't think the thesis is completely off base.

Neal sounds more like a progressive on the stump than Hagan does. His campaign thus far has been engineered around a robust web presence and talking in front of any gathering of more than five people who will sit still for him.

And Neal tends to take more black-and-white stands on the issues of the day, while Hagan is a bit more scholarly/circumspect in her approach in exploring new issues.

A good example of this, the bit I had to cut. Check out David Allen's blog post, which started tongues-a-waggin' in the liberal blogsphere. And it lead to this:

After hearing Hagan speak about the wiretapping bill now before Congress, Allen said he could not vote for her. Among other things, the bill would give phone companies immunity for illegal acts they may have committed in cooperating with phone taps requested by the Bush administration.

Democrats, Allen said, should be pushing back against that bill.

"What I get tired of is people like Kay Hagan telling me why it can't be done," Allen said.

Interviewed Friday, Hagan did not offer a yes-or-no answer as to whether she would have backed the Senate version of the wiretap bill to which Allen objects.

"I think it depends on which amendment you're looking at, and which bill you're looking at and we've got to look at all of that and see what's best for North Carolina," she said.
Neal was more definitive when asked.

"I was disappointed that the Senate buckled on the issue of retroactively granting immunity to the telecom companies," Neal said. Allowing lawsuits, he said, would allow lawyers to probe what kind of pressure the Bush administration used and figure out why some companies felt they had to cooperate and at least one did not.

Others who I spoke to for this story agreed that the telco issue would be a big issue for progressives.

Also worth noting is there were several people - all from Guilford County - who I approached for this story who either declined to talk to me or agreed to do so if their names weren't used. Both Hagan and Neal have Guilford County connections and it seems some were afraid of offending one or the other.

Update: Tom Jensen at PPP points to a post he wrote about a Survey USA poll that showed liberals in North Carolina slightly favoring Hagan over Neal. As he wrote then, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense given the tenor of the race.

But it does jibe with something James Protzman, better known as Anglico out there on the Internets shared. He said that activist, vocal liberals seem to be favoring Neal. But the next layer, those who may share progressive values but are not as active or outspoken, are split. Maybe that's what the Survey USA poll got at. Maybe not...I've been gun-shy about polls as of late.

The Elon University Poll put its latest results out this morning.

While slightly over 50 percent of respondents give U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole a positive job approval mark, only 37 percent say they're going to vote for her.

In a written statement that comes along with the numbers this morning, Poll Director Hunter Bacot writes:

"While Senator Dole receives decent reviews from North Carolinians overall, the Bush presidency is tempering her support a bit in the state, and this could prove a liability as she runs for reelection this fall."

President Bush did get pretty bad reviews, but his name isn't going to be on the ballot. I'm not convinced that all the difference in Dole's numbers can be chalked up to Bush - maybe part but not all.

There's might be a little bit of Coble effect at play - the "those guys in Washington are crooks but my guy is okay" take voters seem to have no matter where they are.

The data, by the way, on the question "Who do you think is the best candidate to oppose Sen. Dole," is all over the map. Hagan gets the nod, but her number is in the single digits and not significantly different from Neal's. More than 80 percent answered either "Don't' know" or "Too early to tell." The only thing that speaks to is none of the Democrats have enough name recognition right now to effectively wage a campaign against Dole.

Click here for the raw feed from the poll.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat.

Let me first say I've been covering politics at some level or another off and on for about a dozen years, from towns of under 1,000 residents to Congressional campaigns. I take nothing, and I mean NOTHING, about a campaign personally. Everyone has different ways they want to go about their job, I have my way, and we see how things work out.

Now to the news of the day:

Dome reports that Kay Hagan showed up to file the paperwork necessary to get on the ballot today. Lots of candidates make this a big production and I largely ignore these little shows because: 1) everyone does them and quite frankly there's too many political critters out there for me to attend every one; 2) the candidate is displaying no more skill than those he or she should have acquired by the third grade, namely the ability to fill out a form and follow directions.

Hagan was apparently escorted by her new campaign manager, Crystal King. Dome details the following exchange:

Kay Hagan has hired a campaign manager.

And here's the first and last quote you might hear from her:

"I do not go on the record," said Crystal King, unprompted, to two reporters Monday after one of them asked her name, David Ingram reports.

King had just started to usher Hagan out of the State Board of Elections after filing as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

Not exactly a warm greeting.

Huh.

So let's flashback to last week when I was working on a a piece about Hagan, Jim Neal and progressives.

I had originally given Hagan a buzz on her cell phone in the morning and ended up talking to her later in the day. But in between, campaign spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan gave me a call to chat me up. Fair enough.

After learning what the story I was working on was about, Flanagan took it upon herself to get me a written quote. (This is another story, but when I KNOW a candidate or other live human is available to spend five minutes on the phone, I don't typically deal in written quotes. They sound phony, pre-thought-out and half the time don't address the question.)

What's relevant in this case is who the quote is from: Crystal King, who Dome says doesn't go on the record. That struck me as odd, or at least calls into question by what she meant.

So in the interest of full disclosure - and at the risk of aggravating people I would really like to keep talking to me - here is Flanagan's e-mail, which contained a quote from King, which was very definitely on the record.

Hi Mark -- good speaking with you earlier. Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Statement below from Crystal King, Kay's campaign manager:

"Progressives are an important part of the Democratic community, and their desire and energy to replace a Washington politician like Elizabeth Dole is just as strong as Kay's And the Hagan campaign is doing everything thing we can to earn their votes in the primary -- and have them as a foundation for a winning general election campaign. The issues Kay's been highlighting: changing course in Iraq and reinvesting in America, taking care of our vets, and finally getting something done to make health care more affordable will appeal to voters all across the state of North Carolina."

The quote also mentions that Hagan will be announcing more campaign staff and a re-launch of the website in coming days.

What to make of this? I'll leave that to y'all.

Guilford County released figures this past week on what could happen to the property tax rate if all or some of the bonds passed in the May 6 primary. Check out the county release here.

Keep in mind that those figures consider the property tax rate impact in a world that asks only taxpayers to foot the bill for the bonds. Which could happen. Property taxes pay for more than half of the county's annual budget. Speaking of revenue, your May 6 ballot will include another decision on adding a quarter-cent sales tax that county officials estimate would generate more than $15 million in its first year.

The sales tax can't be designated for a use until (and if) it passes, but the tax could help pay for a good number of projects.

Cue the laugh track.

In today's N&R, we ran a story on the high number of unopposed candidates in Guilford County races this late in the filing period for the 2008 election.

Yesterday I spoke with George Gilbert, director of the Guilford County Board of Elections, on how things look so far in his experience handling elections. And he's a jokester. Between all that, he also had some insights about why this filing period looks the way it does now.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat.

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I've stayed away from writing about the back-and-forth between Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov Bev Perdue in their race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Part of that has to do with the fact I'm little more fascinated (and my paper has local interest) in the Senate primary, and part of it is the constant back-and-forth is less than illuminating at times.

But, let's jump into the fray today. (More after the jump.)

We received an email from the folks in the Rockingham County Republican Party about their upcoming convention at 9 a.m. March 15 in the Whitcomb Student
Center at Rockingham Community College.

Party members will elect precinct officers, select delegates for the state convention and meet local candidates for office, according to the release.

Here's the party site. Information: info@rockgop.com

John Ross Hendrix, a candidate for U.S. Senate as a Democrat, is dropping out of the primary and endorsing Jim Neal.

"I think Jim Neal can do an effective job," Hendrix said. "He has my full endorsement and support."

A major factor in his decision to drop out was a lack of fundraising support, Hendrix said.

Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, is one of two leading Democratic contenders. The other is Greensboro state Sen. Kay Hagan.

Hendrix said that endorsing Hagan was never an option in his mind.

"I examined Kay Hagan's record as a state senator early on and decided there was absolutely no way I could support her," Hendrix said.

Hendrix said he now plans to run in 2010 against Sen. Richard Burr.

According to the clock on my wall, filing closed a few minutes ago. We'll be sorting through the races and bringing you an election snapshot in tomorrow's paper.

In the mean time, which races are you looking forward to? What do you want to know more about? Where's the big battle?

Is it the contest for Kay Hagan's old state senate seat that pits Don Vaughan against Joe Wilson? Are you looking out for the home-town kids involved in statewide races, like Eric Smith of Reidsville going for State Superintendent of Public Instruction?

Drop us a line.

With the close of the filing period, some candidates for office find they have themselves a free ride.

Republican Rep. John Blust has no Democratic or Republican challengers filed against him.

Likewise, Democratic Reps. Earl Jones and Pricey Harrison have no opponents signed up.

Although write-in campaigns are conceivable, they rarely work. That gives these three an almost clear path to re-election.

Update: Unless there's some piece of data out there right now from this morning that I don't have, it also looks like Sen. Phil Berger gets a free ride to victory. The Rockingham County Republican represents parts of Guilford County.

Likewise, Sen. Stan Bingham, a Davidson Republican who represents parts of High Point, also appears to have a clear path to re-election.

Two races on this year's Guilford County ballot should look familiar.

Olga Morgan Wright, a Republican, will take on Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat. There are no other contenders. Wright and Adams have gone at it for the past two campaigns. Adams has won the two prior run-ins.

And Republican Jim Rumley will try for the third time to unseat Democratic Rep. Maggie Jeffus. (Rumley ran in 2000 against Adams and lost.)

A list of candidates for offices to be determined in the primary May 6 and/or the general election Nov. 4.