Blue America Talks To Larry Kissell
By Howie Klein Friday Sep 28, 2007 11:30am
This afternoon at 2pm EDT (11am on the West Coast), Larry Kissell, Blue America's favorite North Carolina congressional candidate will be visiting with us again over at Firedoglake. This is the last Saturday of the fundraising quarter and we hope you'll pay a visit to our Blue America page and give Larry and any of our other candidates a hand. Last Saturday, Ambassador Joe Wilson was in Charlotte campaigning with Larry and when he got home he sent us this note:
"I had the privilege and honor to address North Carolina democrats supporting Larry Kissell for Congress in Charlotte, NC, last Saturday night. It was an easy sell. Larry, a teacher and former textile worker, is passionate for change and has a detailed command of the issues. He lost by only 329 votes to Robin Hayes in the last election and has been running again ever since.
Conventional wisdom is that if the Democrats do everything right in 08, the Republican party will be reduced to a regional party of the south and parts of the midwest. Larry is committed to ensuring this iteration of Republican finds no safe haven in North Carolina's 8th district. By all accounts he will be swept to victory. After all, his opponent is a Bush lackey, having voted with him close to 100% of the time, and plays fast and loose with the truth to his constituents. It was Hayes who as recently as a couple of years ago was arguing that Saddam was tied to Osama bin Laden.
Part of the district houses the families of special forces troops based at Fort Bragg. As has been documented elsewhere, the effects of two fronts on the special forces and their families has been dramatic. Two words to underscore why we need to elect Larry: Webb amendment. Republicans again have put loyalty to a failed President and a disastrous war above care for the troops and their families.
It should be a piece of cake, but we all know that every election is hard fought and that the Republicans will do everything they can to hold on to power. Even as I was flying into Charlotte, the NRCC was again peddling the lies about me, and I'm not even running. Does anybody still believe that the President was not misleading the country about the justification for the invasion of Iraq? The Republican propoganda machine is still pushing the big lie even though it is so last year. They take the American people to be fools, and will continue to do so until we defeat them decisively. Larry is our man to do that in this race in North Carolina.
I met several hundred wonderful democrats in Charlotte last weekend, long suffering democrats who have fought the wars for social justice on the front lines for the last fifty years, only to find themselves marginalized by the reactionary forces of Newt Gingrich, Jesse Helms and their ilk. I was so impressed with their spirit, by their tenacity and by their commitment to reviving the fortunes of progressive southerners who were, after all, the conscience of the country in the civil rights battles.
I promised them, and Larry that I will do everything I can to be of assistance, including returning whenever possible. I hope you all enjoy today with Larry as much as I enjoyed my time with him and his supporters and that you will lend your support to his election campaign so that we can reverse the radical right's gains in the South."
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No freedom fries from this North Carolinian! Frist!
"Conventional wisdom is that if the Democrats do everything right in 08, the Republican party will be reduced to a regional party of the south and parts of the midwest".
Now that is a sweet thought isn't it. Funny it doesn't seem like that long ago that that was going to be the fate of the Democratic Party - a regional northeast party. Thanks BushCo, you did your part to help turn the tide for us!
Best of luck to Kissell....That would be a sweet victory......he should win it this time hands down.I think it's safe to say that he'll find those 329 votes...and then some..
Larry Kissell's the man. I hope people can donate or volunteer for his campaign
Why can't we get a candidate like Larry Kissell in my district, NC7? Oh no, of course not. We are stuck here with the likes of Mike McIntryre, who must be one of bushco's favorite DINOs, since he votes with the rethugs on every piece of legislation that matters. His latest? Voting AGAINST children's health insurance and FOR Big Tobaccy, one of the main killers of those self-same children, should they live to adulthood.
Fort Bragg is nowhere near Charlotte. I think there is some confusion about this part of the story. Maybe family members in the district are related to soldiers at Bragg, but that is the case for much of the country.
Wow! I remain astonished that thinking people still put any faith at all in the Democratic Party, in light of daily revelations that their leaders and Presidential candidates have no intention whatsoever of withdrawing ALL U.S. forces from Iraq anytime in the next decade or longer. The same Democratic Party that is enabling the march to war against Iran and can't be bothered to stand up for free speech when one of the their own supporting organizations (MoveOn.org) calls bullshit on the Petraeus dog-and-pony show.
Replacing Republicans with Democrats will make not one whit of difference to the big picture of American imperialism and the dismantling of constitutional protections in the march to a one-party, dictatorial state. Who would have imagined we'd re-live Germany in 1928-32 just two generations later. Unfriggin' believable.
Kissell's district is HUGE it goes from Fort Bragg in Cumberland County in the east all the way into the middle of downtown Charlotte in the west. It is also, by the way, one of the top 20 poorest districts in the Country according to the Charlotte Observer. It has the counties with the highest unemployment in the State which lie between Fort Bragg and Charlotte full of empty textile mills. Larry can't raise all his money in district--it just isn't there. Please help him. Go to www.larrykissell.com
Is it just me or does Blue America look an awful lot like "white male America", with a sprinkling of white women, one African American woman and one Latina?
I've been reminded by several posters to C&L that "progressive" should not be confused with "radical" - i.e., as in moving gradually, ineluctably toward a better society versus striking at the root of the problem: our unrepresentative one party political system. Blue America is basically, in my opinion, an enabler of the status quo and represents those who hope against hope that Democratic politicians will behave differently than Republican politicians, though we have precious little contemporary evidence to support this belief.
Let's be frank: When a Democrat is elected to the White House in 2008 and Democrats control both houses of Congress, U.S. troops will remain in Iraq indefinitely and every effort by rogue Democrats to bring them home will be thwarted by their establishment leaders. Similarly, the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act will not be repealed, the Bush tax cuts will not be restored, Guantanamo Prison will not be closed, and extraordinary renditions, torture and illegal black ops against sovereign foreign states will not cease. Meanwhile, it is more than likely that an attack on Iran initiated by the current regime will be taken up and continued by the Democrats, despite the overwhelming opposition of their constituents.
And you want us to donate money to this insanity? Please.
Seen on a local NC blog....How does Mr Kissell respond to his support of the MCA last election cycle?
http://www.larrymca.blogspot.com/
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