Kennedy and Foxx Debate - Oct. 12 - 6:30 pm (listen at 106.1 FM)

Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 11:36pm

According to the Jefferson Post:

Turnout is expected to be heavy for tonight’s forum with U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and her Democratic challenger Billy Kennedy, both from Watauga County. The forum takes place at Ashe Civic Center in West Jefferson beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the New River Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the 90-minute forum is open to the public and will be moderated by three panelists: Lonnie Adamson, editor and general manager of the Jefferson Post, Ron Fitzwater, editor of the Ashe Mountain Times, and Scott Nicholson, senior political writer for the Watauga Democrat. Questions were invited to be sent in by the public.

The forum is expected to be broadcast live on radio station WMMY ‘My Country’ ‘Highway’ 106.1 FM broadcasting from Boone and serving the counties of Watauga, Ashe, Avery, Alleghany, Wilkes, Catawba and Caldwell.

I imagine Kennedy will feel right at home on the radio. If anyone knows of any other live coverage of the debate be sure to share! Hopefully he can build on the momentum from his recent Winston-Salem Journal endorsement and squeak out a victory 3 weeks from now.

I leave you with a quote from Mr. Kennedy from a Pam's House Blend liveblog where he answered my question on why people should get excited and believe this campaign can win:

1. We've raised more money from more contributors than any previous challenger.
2. We have an exceptional ground game. We are getting votes one-by-one every day.
3. I've personally made more than 20,000 phone calls.
4. Virginia has lost touch with her district.
5. We have an incredible volunteer and professional staff.
6. Everywhere we go, people stop and cheer.

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The Kennedy Campaign take on the upcoming debate

Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 11:38pm.

Quoting from a campaign e-mail I received earlier today:

Newcomer Kennedy Endorsed By Winston-Salem Journal; First Face-to-Face Debate with Incumbent Foxx Tomorrow

Vilas, NC--Newcomer Congressional candidate, Billy Kennedy woke up to news this morning that he had received the endorsement from The Winston-Salem Journal, the district's largest newspaper.

"We are very excited about The Journal's endorsement," said Kennedy. Voters really do have a clear choice this November. We can continue to send the same old representation to Washington, but if we do, we should expect the same results."

"I'd like to make Congress work," said Kennedy. "I believe with all the bickering going on, they're not solving problems."

The Journal published the endorsement on the eve of Kennedy's first face-to-face debate with incumbent Virginia Foxx. The debate takes place Tuesday night, Oct. 12, at the Ashe County Civic Center. The 90-minute debate starts at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

Congresswoman Foxx has historically been reluctant to debate in public and has held almost no open town halls since she was elected to Congress in 2004. In her 2006 reelection campaign against Democrat Roger Sharpe, Foxx refused to debate on public radio station WFDD and later barred reporters from her only head-to-head with Sharpe on cable channel WMYV's "Triad Today" program.

The only "debate" Foxx made with challenger Roy Carter in 2008 was a taped broadcast of the Jim Longworth Program which aired on a Friday at 6:30 am and on Sunday night at 10:00 pm. Foxx sparred with Carter's campaign manager at a non-debate sponsored by "KidsVotingUSA" in a middle school gymnasium in Alleghany County that almost no press covered.

Keith Barber in YES! Weekly commented that if it was Foxx's intention to make that event hard for the press to attend, it was "a brilliant move" on her part.

"The perception in the 5th District is that Virginia Foxx does not like to face the public on the record and that she doesn't want to defend her votes in Congress," said Lainey Edmisten, campaign manager for Billy Kennedy. "That's probably because she's taken so many positions that are detrimental to working people in Western North Carolina. Some of her public statements are so outrageous and indefensible that she is actually embarrassing to her home state."

The New River Chapter of Military Officers Association of America is sponsoring the debate. The panel of local newspaper reporters asking questions includes: Ashe Mountain Times editor Ron Fitzwater; Jefferson Post editor Lonnie Adamson; and Watauga Democrat writer Scott Nicholson.

Citizens from around the district were asked to submit questions for the panel of reporters.

If the voters would only listen

Submitted by scharrison on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 12:04am.

to five minutes of this debate, Billy's superiority over Foxx would be glaringly apparent.

Thanks for posting this, Jake.

Looking for Debate Coverage

Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 11:46pm.

Haven't found a lot yet:
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=165944786750754&id=1187...

We're just minutes out of the Kennedy/Foxx debate, which the crowd at the Ashe Civic Ctr clearly thought Kennedy won

If I see anything else, I'll try and share it. Although it was only earlier this evening, and it certainly wasn't as high profile as a television debate for a statewide election. I imagine we'll see a Kennedy campaign e-mail in the next day or two about how it went. I wonder if it was recorded anywhere? It'd be great if there was a highlights clip.

And I'll end with this campaign ad against Foxx:

Kennedy campaign funding request tonight

Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 7:22pm.

Just got this e-mail:

Dear Friends, Neighbors and Supporters,

We've just had a senior-level campaign meeting and the bottom line is we need $10,000 to keep our ads on the air.

Can you help with an on-line contribution right now. If everyone on this list contributes just $2, we will make our goal.

We are adding our last TV spot tomorrow because the greatest thing at stake in this election is your child's education. Only one candidate will stick up for our kids and that's Billy Kennedy. Click here to see the new ad.

One week from right now, the polls will be closing and we will be waiting for the results.

Billy has often said that on the day after the election, he wants to feel like he has done everything he could do to win.

Won't you help us see our plan through by contributing what you can?

Thanks for everything so far. We only have a short time to go.

All best,

Jaret Glazer
Billy Kennedy for Congress
Finance Director

The Link

Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 7:23pm.

http://www.billykennedyforcongress.com/pages/contribute.htm

opps forgot it b4