When I think about the many threats to the quality of our democracy, the growing influence of corporations in public policy always tops my list. Up until last fall, I naively assumed that influence was mostly contaminating national politics. But as my focus shifted to North Carolina and BlueNC, I have been stunned by the role corporate money plays in how our state government operates. On one hand, you have the Puppetmaster, illegally buying and selling elections with corporate money. And on the other hand, you have Chuck Taylor, running campaign commercials fully funded by the US Chamber of Commerce. And in between, you have a swirl of corporate contributions to politicians that is absolutely mind-boggling.

How did this happen? How did we allow our democracy to be hijacked by corporate interests? And what can we do about it?

Today I'm going to post the available candidates in the 2nd Congressional District. Bob Etheridge is the Representative for this district in Washington. Leslie H has kindly volunteered to interview Rep. Etheridge.

The following is the complete list of candidates that fall within this district:

Day 8
NC Senate, District 14 (Southern Dem)
Dem. Vernon Malone (i) v. Rep. Richard Doeffinger
Counties and partial counties: Wake

NC House, District 38 (Southern Dem)
Dem. Deborah K. Ross, unopposed
Counties and partial counties: Wake

More below the fold...

Congressman Charles Taylor's first television ad of the political season (Watch it HERE) is brought to NC's eleventh district by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is: "the world's largest not-for-profit business federation...The Chamber is staffed with policy specialists, lobbyists and lawyers. It is known for spending more money than any other lobbying organization on a yearly basis." - Wikipedia

Hey y'all,

I hope that this isn't too obscure, but it is surely an issue close to my heart. It is becoming more and more difficult to either turn a profit as a full time farmer or to simply raise crops or livestock for your own family. It is very tough in western North Carolina, where land is typically too rugged for large scale farm operations like those of the west and mid-west, to compete economically on the enormous and overwhelming commodities market. And, increasingly, land is too expensive, and the cost of living too high, to get started in small scale farming or to have the time for "hobby-farming."

On Saturday, I read an interesting story on the front page of the News & Observer It was entitled Border watch heightens crossing peril and it told a story stating that it is now much harder for illegal immigrants to cross the Mexico-US border into the US.

Although the article sounded authentic, it just felt "funny", like a Bush administration plant. So I sent email to Barbara Barrett, the author of the article, and cc'd Melanie Sill, the N&O's Executive editor and senior vice president (I met Melanie many years ago and respect her highly).

Van Braxton probably isn’t a candidate you’ve heard much about, but he’s one of our strongest State House pick-up opportunities. This seat was targeted in 2004, with incumbent Stephen Laroque (R) beating a Democratic political newcomer. This year, the Democrats have nominated Braxton, a 3 term Kinston City Councilman with deep family and business ties throughout the district. With a strong candidate like Braxton (Kinston is by far largest city in the district), the race was competitive from the beginning. But get this – Laroque, the incumbent Republican, was moderate enough to have a primary challenger funded by our good friend Art Pope. And Laroque lost. By 9 votes.

Court challenges have of course been filed, and the case won’t be decided for a few more weeks, but this is an incredible opportunity. The likely Republican nominee, Willie Ray Starling, has never held political office and ran a classic “also ran” throw away campaign in 2004 from the back of his car. On his website (www.willieray.com) he quotes Jerry Falwell and says he wants to be the Jesse Helms of the State Legislature.

This is my first post, but I'm an avid reader. A lot of us have been working hard on this branding initiative in Western NC. If you live west of I-77, you might have seen these signs. Blue NC's own Drama Queen has been instrumental in this project, which was established by the NC Democratic Party's Western Task force.

Here's a cross-posting from The Political Junkies:

Western North Carolina Democrats are taking the first steps to build the Democratic Party “brand.” Using the “Burma Shave” advertising technique from the first half of the 20th century, mountain Democrats are erecting groups of signs touting Democratic Party messages.

Some areas of North Carolina have seen tremendous growth recently. And the response seems to be that the local governments are simply relying on traditional zoning schemes to place development. The problem is that zoning tends to be too weak of an instrument to control this rapid growth and still preserve the natural heritage of the state and working farmlands. Many other areas facing similar problems have turned to a "new" tool called Urban Growth Districts to both allow planned growth and prevent some of the negative consequences of sprawl. My proposition for this post is that North Carolina should begin implementing urban growth districts before the sprawl permanently ruins the state.

Junior Puppet Paul Chesser today focuses on the impending defeat of Charles Taylor as though that's the only Congressional race in North Carolina that matters.

RALEIGH — U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, N.C. 11, has faced well-financed challengers and been considered vulnerable before in his eight previous House campaigns, but a confluence of events and a high-profile candidate might make 2006 especially challenging for him. Why? Because unlike previous elections in which his Democrat opposition have been lesser-knowns who hailed from (relative) metropolises Asheville and Hendersonville, this year the party has recruited someone a lot like Taylor, from a small town in his sprawling, mountainous district. And this time the challenger also has star power: former University of Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler.

This definitely had me looking up Biscoe:

Kissell and [gas station owner Benjy] Dunn invite the public to once again enjoy gas prices of $1.22 per gallon, the cost per gallon before Robin Hayes took office. This is a one time opportunity to highlight that our gas prices are too high, and our current Congressman is in bed with Big Oil.

It's about an hour south of Greensboro, just so you know, and well worth the drive if you're in the area. If you go out, be sure to buy some non-gas stuff from the service station as a "thank you" for being involved, and take your check book and donate what you saved on gas to Larry's campaign. The full press release follows for those still saying "whu!?"