News-Record.com

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?