Cal Cunningham Schools Richard Burr

Plus turnout will be abysmal unless a candidate can stir up some passion. The younger voters won't likely emerge as a big factor ... mostly it'll be older, scared voters who have been swallowing Republican lies so long they think it's beef instead of bull.

It'll be interesting to see how the ground games unfold. You can bet that Art Pope and his minions will be resurrecting Republicans for a Legislative Majority with a focus on carving out some seats in the House. They'll walk right up to the line of illegal, spewing lies to beat the band ... and it'll work. Those tactics got Hairdresser Boylan elected a few years back. People will believe anything.

It'll take a charismatic alternative to Burr to oust him.

Can Etheridge do it? I doubt it. He's not very far from Burr on many policy issues ... just happens to have a D after his name. He could win the primary, I'm sure, but would struggle in the general, in my view.

Elaine Marshall? Hard to say. Her tentativeness in choosing to run or not hasn't given me a lot of confidence. She too could win the primary, though. Good name recognition ... a sensible woman.

Ken Lewis? He'd have to have a killer ground game and might just be able to pull that off. Black voters in North Carolina can raise quite a bit of noise when they want to ... but will they go to the mat for Ken in a primary? Primary turnout will be pathetic, if the past is any indication of the future.

Kevin Foy is considering ... the former mayor of Chapel Hill, but he'd have a hard time winning the primary or the general. He'd be that Chapel Hill liberal ... a plus in my book, but a negative in many other parts of the state.

Cal Cunningham? He maybe sparkly enough to stir up some enthusiasm, which would be a real plus, both in the primary and in the general.

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All that said, you're right about the national Democratic brand. Obama's star will tarnish more and more: the quagmire of Afghanistan, continuance of extraordinary rendition, billionaire bailouts. It's going to be rough.

So Burr could win?

Huh? I haven't said already like 5 or 6 times how I don't trust you already have I FoxTrot?

Not that James is a child that can be made of...just sayin'

Look above.

I read on another site that America isn't anything like Sweden or England or even Canada and that their approach to health care is not an approach that can be taken here in the U.S. On that, I have to agree. These countries have relatively few to insure as opposed to our 300,000,000 people. I may sound like a naysayer here on this, but trust me (except you, metatron), that's not so.

I believe that we must most certainly have government involvement if we are to reform health care in this country. I also believe that there is much that can be done legislatively to reign in the insurance companies who, in a large way, are running up the cost of health care in our country. And, talk about rationing care, just how many stories do we have to hear about how people are denied care and even had insurance taken away at the hands of the insurance companies? Our government can do a great deal to "reform" health insurance through government involvement. Yes, I know that's getting government involved in a private enterprise but let's be honest here, people, what works is what works and this is my opinion on how we need to approach health insurance reform. Those that cannot afford health care should be allowed to have the availability to it. We have given hundreds of billions to help with the AIDS epidemic in Africa and trillions around the world in the form of foreign aid. Now is the time to help our own people at least realize access to affordable and, yes, even "free" health care if they qualify. I believe even our republican friends will come around to that if we go about it in the right way.