Kissell watch
Not that Mr. Kissell seems to care, but for those on his staff who track such things, many people throughout the state who worked for him are more than a little pissed. I'm talking about those who contributed to his campaign, who held fundraisers on his behalf, who knocked on doors, who made phone calls, who called in favors to help finance his election bid. People who listened to his happy talk and bought it hook, line and sinker.
As the debate on health care continues, Kissell will have another chance to do the right thing for the people of his district and for the people of this nation. In the meantime, I'll be posting some of the many emails and messages I receive ... all from people who stepped up when asked to help. Here's one from a long-time friend who rues the day I introduced him to Larry.
As of last night not a single person I know had heard back related to his health care vote or anything else for that matter. It is one thing to make a vote that one national analyst described as the second most confusing vote against the bill. It is another to not have the common courtesy to at least explain that vote to people who have given his campaign money in the past. We all recognize that he has already shot himself in the foot with his vote. Is he looking to take off other body parts as well?
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I know there are swarms of emails flying through the tubes
Feel free to post yours here ... or send it to me directly and I'll make sure it gets included.
I think Kissell and/or a staff person frequently reads BlueNC
It's telling that he does not choose to come here and defend and explain his vote. I've written to him expressing my disappointment and suggesting he is rapidly alienating those who worked hard for him and contributed both to his campaigns and towards reducing the debt he incurred during his first run.
The most important thing accomplished with Larry's election was removing Hayes from office. Then again, I can't see much difference at this time.
Can you comment on whether or not he has used his ID to sign in recently?
Stan Bozarth
Stan, that would be inappropriate
and a bit too stalkerish
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
Betsy, I thought that would be the case.
We used to have that feature....and people would know when others were logged on, etc. Now that we don't it would appear to be a breach of etiquette. Maybe we should just exercise the Patriot Act and see if he's reading wing-nut books. :-) I know....I know....I'm funning....!
Stan Bozarth
Well, I do have my super duper secret goggles
and I see his latest book checked out was something about how to win friends and influence people. :D
We did used to have a block that showed 10 people logged in, but you can read without logging in and that I can't check. I get told all the time by people that they read us every day, but you'd never know it by our level of comments.
They probably just follow Google alerts on his name. Don't tell me you don't have a google alert on Nanistan!
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
Saw this running on Huffington Post
When you "click for more" it redirects you to this website.
Larry Kissell
I feel like a fool. In my aw, shucks hopes that he wouldn't betray us like that I wondered if the Stupak Amendment was his excuse. The horse was out of the barn long before that. I look forward to looking in his eyes to hear how he explains this one away. Sometimes it's a good idea to just admit you've F'd up and move on. Peace, Leslie
I have heard
from a large number of former supporters who volunteered, donated and voted for Kissell. People are truly angry about this, and I think the backlash will be difficult for him to overcome. His only chance to redeem himself may be to vote yes on final passage, but I'm not sure anyone will be able to trust him to do the right thing going forward.
An excerpt from some emails:
There are lots more, but I think you get the idea....
Not only Health Care -- Energy & Climate Too
Larry voted against the Waxman-Markey Bill, the first real step to limit greenhouse gas emissions. NASA's James Hansen made his first plea to Congress 21 years ago. While most of the rest of the world has stepped up to reduce carbon and other ghg emissions over the past two decades, the US lags behind. Larry personally assured me that this would be a priority for him...then voted NO last summer. Like Health Care Reform, Waxman-Markey passed, but barely. Larry will have another chance there too. Hopefully, he and his staff will wake up to both issues.
Kissell vote
I can't think of a congressional district that needs health care reform more than Kissell's. The per capita income there is pretty low. Yet, Kissell seemed to solicit liberal funds to get in office and is voting to get conservative funds to stay in office.
In my own efforts to get the Democratic nomination to the NC Senate, Dist. 15, in 2010, which covers North Raleigh and the Town of Wake Forest, I will not go to people who have crystal clear expectations of me, then vote against those expectations. I can see voting differently on procedures, etc., but not the final product. To say that the recent House of Representatives health care bill was simply too expensive for the overall good it would do, is to fail to see the forest for the trees.
Charles Malone
Raleigh
charlesmalonencsenate.com
Charles Malone
A Newcomer's Perspective
I'm new to North Carolina having just moved here from Virginia. My Congressman there was a conservative Republican so there was zero chance he would vote for this bill. On the positive side, he was not an embarrassment to the district. He wasn't from the crazy wing of the Republican Party.
I don't live in the 8th Congressional District. I live in the 9th. So I am now represented by someone who is part of the crazy wing of the Republican Party. I would be thrilled to have Kissell as my Congressman rather than Myrick.
I understand folks being upset about his vote on health care. I am not defending his vote. But I see little benefit in this talk of running him out of office and handing the seat back to the Republicans on a silver platter. It is hard for me to see how that is in anyone's best interest.
It seems to me that if we help the guy get past his first re-election bid (generally the toughest) in 2010 and redistricting makes the 8th more Democratic in 2012 and beyond that we may have a reliable vote for many of the issues that are most important to us for many years to come.
The health care battle is now being played out in the Senate. Let's hope a good bill passes there and that something emerges from the Conference Committee for the president's signature that we can be happy about. That, after all, is the goal. Let's not lose sight of that and go off on a purge. Leave the ideological purges to the Republicans.
Hey ... welcome!
Maybe some folks are talking about running him out, but I don't see much of that. It's mostly disappointment and frustration. I held fundraisers for Kissell in Orange County and talked one of my best friends into doing so as well. We delivered a very large amount of money ... and the OCDP jumped behind him for phone banking and the ground game.
Like I said, I don't know anyone who would be actively working against Larry ... but I also don't know many who would be actively working for him either.
All good points you've made ... thanks for weighing in.
Today that Kissell Betrayal ad is running on Kos
n/t
Inner Circle
It's my fault. If only I'd committed to another $1 a day I'd be part of the Inner Circle. I could have changed everything. I'm sorry.
The Inner Circle is Open
The Inner Circle is Open
I'm going to join the inner circle immediately.
Just think... For less than $1 a day until the election I can
And....Larry says he will look forward to working with me over the coming months and promises to continue working for me in Congress.
Yep...I'm joining up...right after my lobotomy.
Stan Bozarth
I'm not sure that I understand..
Most of the progressive feedback made it sound as if this bill wasn't 'health care reform' but 'health insurance manipulation". And that doesn't even address the hypocrisy and stupidity behind Stupak.
Waxman/Markey another crap bill. Cap & Trade sounds like another loophole to be manipulated by the markets.
Kucinich didn't like either one of them.
What's disturbing is Kissells reasoning or lack there of.
So if these bills suck, does anybody care that Kissell was one of many that didn't support it. Or is this one of those better than nothing scenarios?
Maybe I'm missing the point..
wouldn't be the 1st time..
jim's op/ed
At this point
the reasons behind votes matter to me. Voting against the bill by arguing that it hurts Medicare is a really different thing than voting against it because it doesn't go far enough to extend health benefits and control costs.
grab a mop
This diary on kos sums it up for me...I tend to be a very progressive pragmatist:
That diary caught my eye too
The key is getting started ... Congress has been jerking off about this issue for decades with virtually no movement of any kind in any direction except to encourage monopolies and profit-taking. It's time to act. Chicken-littles in the House are part of the problem.
maybe
I'm more of pragmatic progressive, but I have wrestled with the concept of moving toward the good rather than holding out for the perfect. I think that we could reduce costs and simplify our health care system on par with other industrialized nations if we would just implement a single payer system. But the reality is that it's not on the table right now.
What is on the table does a lot to address problems in our current system; a public option plan to compete with private insurance companies and drive down costs, no denial of insurance for pre-existing conditions, no recission of your policy if you get sick, young adults afforded the opportunity to stay on their parents plan until age 27, subsidies to the expand Medicaid,subsidies for private and public insurance plans providing us with options and portability,no gender discrimination, and access for 36 million more people.
That's pretty good as a starting point, and does a good job of moving us in the right direction. I give the Democrats (who voted yes) under the leadership of President Obama a lot of credit for getting us this far (with quite a bit of pushing from the progressive grassroots).
Rep David Price will be speaking to some of us tonight on a conference call about how we go forward.
James,
It would be great if you could have Rep Price or another Democrat, who supports the Health Care bill to liveblog and answer some questions about the healthcare bill here at Blue NC.
Good suggestion. I'll ask the Price office
The Congressman isn't much of a blogger, but maybe he can get a staffer to do the typing.
Somebody around here knows Brad Miller, no?
:)
I am truly disappointed in Kissell
I contributed more money to Larry than I have to any other candidate - ever. I attended fundraisers for him in Chapel Hill and Durham. I dragged my whole family to his barbeque at the fairgrounds in Raleigh. All in the hope of making my congressman - David Price - more effective with more Democratic votes.
And now Larry voted against the climate change bill, and against the health care bill. Boy do I feel stupid for ever thinking he would be better than Hayes.
My candidate vetting process failed, but you'll never ever see another dime of my money, Larry.
Disappointed also
I sponsored one of his fundraisers the first time he ran and I am truly disappointed about his votes on healthcare and energy.
Health care vote leaves some ill