Kay Hagan

Patrick McHenry, North Carolina's only not-gay Congressman, announced this week that he won't be running against Kay Hagan for US Senate. Smart move, Pat.

Fast forward to the Democratic primary in 2014, where Kay Hagan, the US Senate incumbent is a running as a Blue Dog corporate Democrat with a record of advocacy against the rights of gay citizens.

Would you like to see Hagan challenged in that primary? If so, who should run against her?

Wouldn't it be awesome if North Carolina had a US Senator who understood this?

Austerity. Just what you wanted for Christmas. From McClatchy:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A group co-founded by Charlottean Erskine Bowles brings its campaign to reduce the federal debt to North Carolina next week, making the state the latest front in the battle to avert the “fiscal cliff.”

Two former governors – Democrat Jim Hunt and Republican Jim Holshouser – will launch Fix the Debt’s N.C. chapter at a news conference Tuesday in Raleigh.

[...]

Fix the Debt was founded by Bowles and Alan Simpson, a former U.S. senator from Wyoming. They chaired the so-called Bowles-Simpson commission that two years ago proposed a package of spending cuts and tax hikes to begin reducing the federal debt, now estimated at over $16 trillion.

Unbelievable doubletalk from the mouth of North Carolina's junior corporate apologist, who appears sympathetic to keeping Bush-era tax cuts for the rich in place.

Hagan said her priority in evaluating a deficit-reduction plan will be the needs of her state, not necessarily what her party leaders want. She won her seat in 2008 when Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

“I need to be looking at what’s important in North Carolina, and you better believe that’s what I will do,” Hagan said.

Pressed on whether she could be persuaded to support the Republican position of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels, Hagan said, “I want to look at the whole package, but I definitely want to protect the middle-class taxpayer, first and foremost.”

Things I learned about America and North Carolina during this election season, no matter who wins what.

• With more than a decade of electioneering under his belt, Art Pope has proven he’s the smartest guy in the room. With an ego to match.
  

• After defining the Church of the Latter Day Saints as a cult for most of the last century, evangelical Christians today would apparently rather kiss the ring of a Mormon bishop instead of vote for a nigger.
  
  
• North Carolina would be in a much better place if Richard Moore had won the gubernatorial primary in 2008. I'm sorry I didn't support him.
  
  
• At least the US will have one great woman Senator in Washington. I'm envious.
  
  
• Republicans like Pat McCrory who complain about North Carolina’s business climate are full of crap.
  
  
• Some disappointments will never end.

Here is my piece for Creative Loafing of Charlotte on what to watch for during the Democratic National Convention for Democrats in the State of North Carolina:

So, the big questions going into the convention are: 1) How much fight do state Democrats have left in them as the fall election season nears? and 2) Who in the heck is going to lead N.C. Democrats into the 21st century once the dust settles?

To quote Senator Kay Hagan from an article on The Advocate's website today:

Amendment One has far-reaching negative consequences for our families, our children and our communities. ...as a proud daughter of North Carolina, I urge all North Carolinians to join me in opposing it.

To quote Clarke Cooper from Equality NC's website discussing Tea Party supported Republican Congresswoman Renee Ellmers' statement on the amendment:

"Representative Renee Ellmers is speaking for many North Carolina Republicans when she says that you don't have to support marriage equality to know this constitutional amendment is wrong."

There are other Republican, Democratic, Green Party, Unaffiliated folks, and Libertarians from NC who I could list with this ever-growing chorus of bipartisan opposition, but I think these examples powerfully demonstrate why this amendment can be defeated.

Waiting on Kay.

Being a pro-business Democrat is a good thing; being a corporate-owned Democrat, less so. Working with leadership to better serve North Carolina is a good thing; responding "how high?" when party bosses and well-paid alums tell you to jump, less so.