Kay Hagan

Jim Neal and Kay Hagan on who they endorse for the NC primary. Obama or Clinton?

Jim Neal is a Democrat running for US Senate in North Carolina. He is running against Kay Hagan in North Carolina’s primary on May 6th. Many people have discounted Jim Neal because he is openly gay. Sure, he is openly gay. He is also openly white, openly male, openly down-to-earth, openly progressive, openly against the status-quo, and openly an AMAZING candidate.

Common sense dictates that if you are pretending the debate didn't happen, chances are you think you lost.

Video and clips from the Kay Hagan - Jim Neal debate in Greensboro on April 29th, 2008. Found them at the Spartan TV site and on You Tube.

Full video can be seen at...
http://www.spartantelevision.com/

Clips can be seen at...
http://www.youtube.com/user/uncgspartandebate

We have had conversations on BlueNC about branding before. James is pretty much an expert at it.....or darn near close. We've talked about how Republicans built a negative brand around the words "liberal", "Progressive", and "Democrat" and back in 2006 we even discussed how we wanted to work to build our own positive brand around the word "Blue". This is why I"m surprised to see so many here buying into the right wing branding of the term "special interests". If you recall, that's a term they linked to liberal or Democrat to help brand it as bad and some folks here have bought into it hook line and sinker.

Dear North Carolina voters,

I sincerely hope you will choose Jim Neal in the May 6 primary. After watching him debate Kay Hagan tonight, it's more than abundantly clear that he is the best person to represent North Carolina and take on Elizabeth Dole. Your friend, James

Fox 8 in High Point is covering the Jim Neal-Kay Hagan debate tonight startint at 7pm.

http://media.myfoxwghp.com/live/index1.html

http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentId=6398...

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) put out its first wave of endorsements as it touts its Election 08 website, where voters can

gauge the political landscape of each state, donate to candidates, access the latest news and information on LGBT issues in the campaigns and view a report card on where the candidates stand on key issues in the race for the White House.

Curiously, HRC has decided to keep its powder dry on the U.S. Senate race here in NC, not endorsing either Jim Neal or Kay Hagan. I think it's unfortunate based on the clear differences between the candidates in their approaches to LGBT issues in this campaign.

See the DKos diary, Human Rights Campaign REFUSES to Support Gay Candidate in North Carolina for a LOT of anger at the DC-based advocacy and lobbying org.