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Larry Kissell showed that he still has the legs by riding with the Uwharrie Wheelmen's Saturday morning ride in Stanly County from Albemarle going through Richfield, New London, Palestine and Badin. Larry, despite not having very many cycling miles due his campaign schedule, hung on the climbs that included Tower Hill outside of Palestine, but rumor has it he took advantage of the over forty exemption and passed on the climb to the top of Morrow Mountain.

Larry demonstrated his man of the people touch by fitting right in with the riders and engaging all of them with the usual small talk that goes on during a ride.

Seagrove is best known as the Pottery Capital of North Carolina. With over 100 potters,(some 10th generation), located in the surrounding area, the classification is implicit

The DCCC has a vote which expires Aug 23rd. The votes will be tallied and the candidates( top3) will be added to the RED to Blue Campaign for the last quater. Heath Schuler is already on the list for NC-11. Larry Kissell, NC-08 will have to be written in under Other. Lets show the DCCC what grassroots politics is about and write in Larry's names. Last Poll of Aug 18th shows Hayes at 46% and Larry Kissell at 40%. Larry can win this seat.

http://www.dccc.org/candidate/featured_candidate_vote/

Cross posted on my blog and on DailyKos

I ran across an ad for a State Representative candidate the other day in my local newspaper's online edition. I noticed right away that there was no party affiliation listed in the ad, just a nice picture, a few words and a link to his web site. His name is Charles Thomas (R) and he is running for a seat in the General Assembly representing North Carolina's 116th District.

Yesterday's Friday Follies at NC Policy Watch put the smackdown on one of the oft-repeated lies of tax reformers here in North Carolina. Take a look, and put these talking points in y our pocket for the next time a free-marketeer starts blabbering about the economic costs of taxes.

The rabid right wing folks over at Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist’s group, will have some explaining to do the next they complain about tax rates in North Carolina.

ATR recently released a report on state tax policy across the nation and among the conclusions drawn from the report by a national conservative group was that “states with high tax burdens continually lose residents and their income to lower tax states.”

Norquist and his misguided disciples in North Carolina constantly claim that North Carolina is a high tax state and that tax rates are hurting economic development. Neither is true and now we have proof of that from their own report. The U. S. Census says that from 1990-2000, North Carolina grew faster than every other Southeastern state, except Georgia. From 1995-2000, it was the fifth fastest growing state in the nation and forecasters predict that growth will continue at even higher levels.

Welcome to the Saturday Morning Funnies - Robin Hayes Edition. Over the past couple of weeks Robin Hayes has been overshadowed by his opponent's generosity (selling gas to 500 people for $1.22 a gallon is pretty durned generous), the release of a wonderful song inspired by said opponent (asking us, "Have you had enough?") and the death of 60 adorable puppies - deaths that could have been prevented if Robin Hayes had worked just a little bit harder to move the PAWS legislation through the committee he chairs.

If Hayes, as I've alleged in the past, is so impotent that he can't move legislation through a committee he chairs and he's so arrogant he allows a first-time EVER candidate to upstage his slick professional campaign with a simple act of generosity, then what good do his years of experience do us in Washington? What exactly has he been doing with his time?

For starters, Hayes kicked off the past campaign cycle by attending the President's inauguration with his good Abramoff buddy, J.D. Hayworth ($101,000 from Abramoff and his clients). Check out that fancy scarf, big guy. What is that? Cashmere from Tibet? Silk from China? Or, it might be fabric even more rare than either of those. It might be a rare find - 8th District textiles. Rare, because Hayes has spent his time sending 8th District textile jobs to Central America.

Follow below the flip...

Today's Winston-Salem Journal has a very disappointing article: http://www.journalnow.com/...

It basically says that most NC Republican incumbents are safe because they are raising so much more money than the challengers.

That may have merit, but why play the story that way? There is no polling data to back up the claims, for one. And also, why not applaud the Democrats for their willingness to to challenge the status-quo against all odds instead of simply writing them off?

Now, I don't know much about every House campaign in NC.

I realize that Larry Kissel (NC-8th) and Heath Shuler (NC-11th- the only challenger mentioned by name in the article) have strong support, but I do know that Roger Sharpe (NC-5th) has made his funding a part of his policy.

Is it just me, or does the rest of the world turn up its nose in disgust whenever AWOL George has something, anything really, to say? Today at a press conference, the Decider decided three things, which are dutifully reported by the so-called librul media in this report.

First, the Decider has decided that he is right and the courts are wrong (surprise, surprise) on the NSAs illegal surveillance.

Second, the Decider has decided that the Israelis won the war they recently lost in Lebanon.

And third, he has decided that the economy is in great shape, despite the resurgent unemployment rate and the precipitous drop in consumer confidence.

By his own admission, ace political observer Bob Geary doesn't traffic in rumors, just well-founded speculation. So when he writes about the possibility of Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker taking on Liddy Dull for US Senate in 08, we ought to at least sit up and take notice. The story first shows up on Wake Pol, one of the N&O blogs.

I know the site is a bit fuzzy and I want to do a better post on this, but thought you would all like to know that the fake Braxton site is now under investigation by the authorities. My understanding is that is a direct action taken after the site was exposed here on BlueNC. Thanks to the original post and the subsequent site properties posted here, there was enough information to warrant formal complaints and the authorities are now investigating the site.

The Kinston Free Press has the story.