Rory Blake's election fears
In case you haven't heard, Rory Blake is the Democratic candidate running against Republican U.S. Rep. Howard Coble in North Carolina's 6th District.
You may not have heard because, by Blake's own admission, he's running an "under the radar" campaign. But he promises it will emerge before the election.
If there is an election.
Blake surprised me in an editorial board interview today by saying, "They could cancel the election."
"They" being the Bush administration.
I had to ask him to repeat that to make sure I heard correctly.
"I wouldn't be surprised," he said, adding: "I could see a situation where someone could declare martial law."
Then there are the 35 states equipped with Diebold voting machines -- the implication being they're rigged to favor Republicans.
Rory Blake seriously distrusts the Bush administration.
He's also waiting for an October surprise. The possibility he mentioned is an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, carried out by Israel but supported by the U.S. military.
Blake had a few things to say about Coble.
On the Mark Foley situation: "Coble's worst mistake was voting for Dennis Hastert as speaker."
On trade policy: "The worst mistake I think Howard Coble ever made was voting for NAFTA."
On civil liberties: Coble "personally appropriated $481 million for domestic internment camps. Who are they going to put in there?"
Blake actually found some solid ground in criticizing Republican blunders, ineptitude and unpopular policies. I just couldn't follow him where he was going with some of his worries about martial law and all that. I mean, does it make sense to cancel the elections when you've got all the voting machines rigged?
Blake is a nice guy, and he gave me an autographed copy of his book, "The How and Why of Market Democracy." He ran for Congress several times unsuccessfully in the 9th District and really isn't doing enough here to attract voters' attention. One problem is he has practically no campaign money.
And to make matters worse, if it looks like he's gaining on Coble, "they" just might cancel the election on him.
Comments (7)
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Did Blake wear a tinfoil beanie while doing the interview?
Did he keep looking out the window for black helicopters?
Posted on October 4, 2006 4:47 PM
Doug,
It's interesting that you spend most of your blog time on poking fun at a democratic challenger and only give any of his positive thoughts a perfunctory notice. I think that if he had been a republican challenger, you would have written a very different blog. I guess that oblectivity isn't a trait that you like to actually exhibit.
Posted on October 5, 2006 6:45 AM
I'm not poking fun. In the post, I focused on the most unusual and interesting comments Blake offered -- unsolicited, I would add.
Posted on October 5, 2006 8:16 AM
Thanks, Doug:
Everythings fine...just re-read your last sentence, again.
I never said that, nor inferred anything close to it...
I actually hope we can laugh together ...after the election ...about the martial law business.
Bush approval is in the 30's, Cheney's and third in succession Hastert's are both in the 20's.
What do you think they'll do to maintain power?
Without control of the congress, some of the abuses of the Constitution could potentially backfire on Bush & company.
We are truly "on uncharted waters" here.
Posted on October 6, 2006 10:14 PM
Thanks, Rory.
You did bring up the issue of the election being canceled. It's my extrapolation that it would have anything to do with Blake vs. Coble.
Have fun and good luck.
Posted on October 9, 2006 12:50 PM
Rory, I wish you would have run a serious or at least a token campaign against Coble. With the tide turning against the Pubs who knows what might have happened? I realize that the sixth district is a Pub gerrymandered district and that Coble has won many elections but do something, post some yard signs, make a campaign appearance, anything to get some real support.
Best of luck over the next three weeks.
Posted on October 17, 2006 12:41 AM
Challengers have a very tough time mounting an offensive against a moderate conservative like Coble but Rory Blake takes his flying under the radar campaign to a new level. Subterranean is more accurate. I too wish he had run more aggressively. Coble’s position on a number of issues is at least worth questioning ; Energy Policy, Campaign Reform, Social Security, Health Care and Medicare are all important and worth challenging in the campaign. I would also add that public comments on many issues are few and far between from the incumbent. Perhaps the local newspaper should ask more questions of Congressman Coble about these important issues.
Posted on October 27, 2006 3:01 PM