Etheridge gets a challenge
Submitted by Huh on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 2:43pm
I know Bob took some hits from the the Progressives here a while back and I'm his big defender here so I thought I'd let you know about a challenge he will be getting in 2010. Remember Bob has supported our President and health care reform despite getting raked over the coals from the right and the left. He is a highly ethical man, that is truly a public servant, character traits that seem hard to find these days.
I'm wondering if this new challenge is an Art Pope recruit? I don't think she can win in the second but it may well be a tough year for Democrats in general and the district is very conservative. Given Bob's support of progress for our nation in areas like health care it's not going to be a shoe in. If Art Pope's money and organizations jump in it could get dicey. If you are not aware Bob won the seat about 14 years ago from David Funderburk, a Campbell professor, Helms disciple, and just plain right wing nut.
Here's a little on Renee Ellmers announcement to run from the conservative newspaper, The Dunn Daily Record. The article doesn't say it but she and her husband traveled in the Americans for Prosperity bus across the state and that is where she started making her speeches to the crowds. I have to wonder about the Pope's puppets connections.
Dunn Resident To Challenge Etheridge
By BRIAN HANEY
Of The Record Staff
Dunn resident Renee Ellmers has announced she will run as a Republican candidate against seven-term U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge of Lillington for the U.S. House District 2 seat........
Between health care, Cap and Trade and the stimulus plan, Mrs. Ellmers said the current administration’s goals are “having a devastating effect on our country and we need to turn that around.”.......
And she said Rep. Etheridge has voted for all of those initiatives.
“He is in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and the far left,” she said.
At first, she said a run for Congress was not part of her plans. It was the health care issue that brought her to town hall meetings and rallies. She and her husband started speaking out against what she calls “misinformation ... about how the health care field felt about government-run health care” at those meetings.........
Mrs. Ellmers said much of the pending legislation put forth by the Obama administration is “geared to harm our country, but health care to me right now is the most detrimental because it will mean such a huge growth in government.”
Instead of a public option and other ideas being put forth by the Democratic Congress, she said tort reform and insurance portability would be two more effective methods of reforming the current system.
Fear of lawsuits, she said, “causes physicians to practice defensive medicine” when they should be free to “rely on the skills that they learned in medical school in diagnosing disease.”
She said people should be able to take their health insurance with them when they change jobs and purchase coverage across state lines.
“We need free market solutions to health care reform,” she said.
“He is in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and the far left,” she said
What an idiot. I'm guessing the Congressman isn't all that worried.
Most of the comments I remember about Etheridge were focused on whether he should run for Senate. I'm glad he didn't, and I hope he keeps his seat.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Yeah I don't remember too much
being said about Etheridge, other than he was the DSCC's top pick (maybe after Copper?).
There were a great deal of
There were a great deal of negative comments after the abortion issue came up with health care, around the same time there was discussion about a possible senate run. He was getting slammed pretty badly here being portrayed as a blue dog. Meanwhile the right wingers were labeling him as a Pelosi lap dog. If you guys don't remember it that way great. He should be able to defeat either Mansell or Ellmers but you never can take anything for granted. Help him out any way you can.
I'm a moderate Democrat.
You're right
That seems accurate upon reflection.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
If only this were true
It seems Mrs. Ellmers is out of touch with reality and Congressman Etheridge's actual voting record.
Would that he were more in lockstep with Pelosi, but Etheridge didn't even support Pelosi's run for Speaker.
What does it take for a little research and critical thought to get into a news report these days?
Did the reporter print this Ellmers news release wholesale or bother to check a single fact?
The Dunn Daily Record is the
The Dunn Daily Record is the exception that proves the rule about the "left leaning media" ha ha Hoover Adams and his son Bart (Owners, publishers, editors) are very nice people but they are about as far to the right as you will find anywhere. Hoover and Jesse were tight as ticks.
I'm a moderate Democrat.
Thanks for writing this,
but I need you to tweak it a little bit, Huh. I've embedded a link to the article already (must have it), and now I need you to choose about a third of that quoted content to keep and delete the rest. If you need help doing this, just holler. Thanks.
How is that scharrison? If
How is that scharrison? If it's not enough let me know. I guess it's a copyright issue? Thanks for the link. I need to learn how to do that sort of stuff.
I'm a moderate Democrat.
Much better, Huh
And yes, it does have to do with copyright concerns, but I'm interested in more than just the (sometimes confusing) legal parameters.
Intellectual property, be it a masterpiece or an insult to the refrigerator magnet displaying it, holds a value for the creator, and we should respect both equally. I know that sounds naive and altruistic, but it's one of those "good habits" to develop, if you know what I mean.
The linking part is rather simple (I say that now, but it took me a few swings to get it right). If you click the "edit" tab at the top of your diary, you can see the html code I used. I would type it for you, but every time I do that, the code goes active and disappears. ;/
As far as how much content to quote, just think of it as a loaf of bread cooling on some stranger's windowsill. If you're hungry and it smells good, just tear off a couple of bites-worth, and leave the rest for the baker. There might be some starving children there, or the baker might be right on the edge of a psychotic breakdown, but if you just take a small portion, he probably won't chase you too far. :)
The Americans for Prosperity Bus
I think a lot of people will vote for Etheridge because of how obnoxious that bus was at the State Fair.
The article doesn't say, but it seems she is running as a Republican in the general election.
Etheridge needs a "Pelosi-liberal" to primary him from the left. There is a good debate to be had about what will need to be changed in the health reform bill that Obama signs. One that might draw in some small-l libertarians and could move the debate in a populist direction.
Mrs. Ellmers's astroturfed populism is her biggest vulnerability (aside from name recognition).
50 states, 210 media market, 435 Congressional Districts, 3080 counties, 192,480 precincts
Unfortunately there are lots
Unfortunately there are lots and lots of people in the 2nd that think that AforP bus thing was just the best. Dan Mansell who ran the last two times as the republican candidate has said he will run again so if he does there will be a Republican Primary. Enthusiasm for Mansell is pretty much nonexistent among Republicans here and I don't know how they feel about Ellmers. I think she has been pretty much an unknown but I suppose they will welcome a fresh face.
I'm a moderate Democrat.
Not sure PatieLion, regretfully
That "populist direction" can be argued successfully, hopefully. I hope that democrats can overcome the polls that say that the health care bill as is understood is not what the majority of the people in america want. There is a lot that will change in the reconcilliation process, of course. Most of us here on BlueNC do want there to be meaningful health care reform and hopefully if and when we do get it, the conservatives will not change what we have fought so hard for in the years to come.
Thanks, PatieLion. Good things always prevail. I believe that in my heart.
Lest we forget
Let's not forget these wing nuts ran everything from 2000 to 2006. We are just now getting started on cleaning up their d**n mess.
The essence of trade unionism is social uplift. The labor movement has been the haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden, the poor.--A. Phillip Randolph
Bob is the right fit for his district
I think this challenge is just a mis-reading of the political tea leaves. Somehow people have the idea that Democrats are going to lose across the board in the mid-terms. I think there are some vulnerable Democrats who won in red districts. But, Bob is not one of those.
While I agree that a defeat
While I agree that a defeat of Bob by either of these two challengers is remote we still have to be careful about a gradual chipping away in the 2nd district. Should Bob's margin of victory shrink much, (say he ends up getting less than 60% of the vote) there should be concern. Bare in mind that Bob is I think 67 and when he decides to hang up his spurs there will be no benefit of incumbency and strong name recognition for the next Democrat running for the seat. If we are only winning the seat by single digits with Bob in his last few election cycles the seat would be very much in danger when he retires. We have to think in the long term.
I'm a moderate Democrat.