Jim Neal

The latest? In case you missed as relayed via Verla Insko the pm:

Yesterday NC's GOP-controlled state legislature failed to muster the 3/5th majority to overturn Democratic Governor Perdue's veto of a Voter ID Bill. Today the GOP made a back-door procedural maneuver to circumvent yesterday's vote. A series of local bills was moved into the Rules Committee, the purpose being to replace the contents of the local bills with the Voter ID requirements overridden yesterday.

The Governor cannot veto local bills.

What a day! A nice rally on Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh against the bills that would enshrine bigotry into the NC Constitution in front of the North Carolina General Assembly turned into kick-ass direct action. First, I'll give you the straight-up press release from GetEqual, and then give you my account - with plenty of video and photos.

North Carolina Republicans doing what they do best. No doubt they'll all be surprised when others follow Jim Neal's courageous lead and start to tear this god-forsaken place apart. Roses Rampage? Maxway Madness? Dollar Store Destruction? They have no idea what can happen when the oppressed rise up in civil disobedience.

So says the Twitterverse:

zack_hawkins 3:35pm via HTC Peep RT @ConenMorgan RT @NCCapitol: Same sex marriage protestors entered house floor. 3 arrested, incl 2008 US. Senate hopeful Jim Neal. #ncga

You deserve a medal, my friend, not incarceration. Please stop by and let us know you're okay, after they let you out of the Big House. Or whatever house they use to silence dissenters.

You supported me in 2008 because you believed in a world where leaders look to the hopes of the future rather than the fears of the past – you believed in an America where politicians fight for those who can’t fight alone – you believed in a North Carolina where a new generation of leadership takes the helm.

Cal and I have met and pored over the issues and I’ve watched him closely as he’s taken his campaign to the people of North Carolina. I want to tell you directly – Cal Cunningham is the real deal.

A topic of some debate last year on BlueNC was Kay Hagan's true standing on LGBT rights.  Some saw her race against Jim Neal (among three other candidates) in the Democratic primary as a slight or outright hostility to LGBT rights.

To further lay any of that to rest, US Senator Hagan will be a keynote speaker at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Carolinas gala this year.  (www.hrccarolinas.org)  HRC is the nation's largest LGBT advocacy group in Washington.  Their annual Carolinas gala is second in size only to their annual national gala in DC.

NC blogger Matt Comer reported on this earlier in the year, as did Pam Spaulding.

I'll link to Matt's summary of the posts. http://insidesource.q-notes.com/2009/01/11/hagan-hrc/

A bit late-- the corks have long been popped...

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of your BlueNCers for your efforts over the past year in making 2008 the most successful election in North Carolina in my lifetime.

Your advocacy propelled the stunning victories of Kay and Larry-- two outsiders who worked incredibly hard to beat entrenched incumbents. Bev-- our first female Governor- was lifted over-the-top in a very competitive Gubernatorial race in which every vote was critical. Then there were the slew of first-time statewide candidates including Walter Dalton, Janet, Beth Wood, Wayne Goodwin and God-knows whom else I forgot. It was a good year for new faces; the vintage 2008 political vine has an impressive body and texture

In the North Carolina and Oregon Democratic US Senate primaries this year, two great progressive candidates ran for the nomination: Jim Neal (NC) and Steve Novick (OR). The DSCC, who is not supposed to pick sides in a primary, appears to have secretly funded their preferred candidates anyway (Kay Hagan (NC) and Jeff Merkley (OR)).

If the DSCC leaders personally had a preference, that’s fine. BUT IT IS NOT OK TO FUNNEL MONEY TO ONE CANDIDATE OVER ANOTHER IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY!!!! That's unfairly taking sides and deliberately influencing an election, and that is not what the Democratic Party is about.

(Crossposted from the Daily Kos)

Thanks to a totally unexpected but much appreciated invitation from former Senatorial candidate Jim Neal, I made my way to New Bern Saturday morning to attend the Sanford-Hunt Dinner later that evening.

I had originally planned to drive all the way to the Atlantic Beach area and spend the afternoon body-surfing, girl-watching and sun-worshiping (this is the "research" I had mentioned before), but the overcast and sprinkly weather led me to believe those unhealthy/inappropriate activities were not going to be available, so I headed into downtown New Bern to see what those Democrats were up to.

Right after NC's primary, I felt bitter, betrayed, and like all my work had been for nothing. I felt silenced, like my voice, and the voices of everyone who voted for Jim Neal, would be ignored going into the general election. So Hillary supporters, I get what you're feeling, I really do. And you need some time -- time to grieve, express your anger, and come to terms with the fact that the primaries didn't return the results you worked so hard for.