Linda Daves

Yesterday Morning the Republican Party here in North Carolina landed a "scathing" attack on Education and Jobs for our Rural citizens.

Apparently Linda Daves really is against Education.

Scott McClellan's unremarkable announcement that the Bush White House was in permanent campaign mode is revealing on two counts. First is the simple fact that the administration has been focused on manipulating public opinion for seven years instead of governing. That should be obvious to anyone who's paying attention, but it bears worth saying.

The second is equally troublesome. From McClellan's comments we must conclude that for Republicans, "campaign mode" means lying to the electorate at every turn.

Looks like McHenry's playing the only card he knows how: raising hell about "Democrats in Washington". Tonight's flavor? McHenry, using Linda Daves (who has met me and knows I think she's as shallow as a puddle of water in the street) as a squawkbox for his patent brand of bull, screaming about how Congressional candidate Daniel Johnson is lying about claiming his bags are not packed with Washington money.

Wait, are you kidding me? Patrick McHenry is behind this? The man known for lining his pockets with more Washington money (and spending that said money more frivolously) than virtually any other politician in the state? Wow.

So does the clock at left stop? I didn't receive a response from Sen. Dole's pitiful Constituent Services Letter Generator^TM. No autopen-signed missive to help me pretend that I heard from my senator.

What I did receive this afternoon was a fax from Communications Director Hogan Gidley of the Elizabeth Dole campaign regarding the petition that I delivered last Friday on behalf of 1265 readers of Firedoglake, Pam's House Blend, and BlueNC who signed the petition. The petition requested that the North Carolina senator ask Linda Daves of the NC Republican party to stop running the color-aroused anti-Obama ad called "Extreme," which tries to draw some sort of connection between Dem gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore (both endorsed Obama) and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

What was Dole's response? I have no idea, since the response is from Mr. Gidley, there's no way for me to know whether my senator actually read the petition. The letter I received is an exercise in predictable spin; it doesn't address the NCGOP's ad or her party's involvement and endorsement of playing to people's biases.

This morning I delivered a petition to Senator Elizabeth Dole's Raleigh office. It was signed by 1,265 concerned citizens -- including more than 300 North Carolinians -- all requesting that Senator Elizabeth Dole use her considerable clout in her party to tell the North Carolina Republican Party's Linda Daves to stop running the race-baiting anti-Obama ad called "Extreme."

The bottom-feeding ad is currently running on four TV stations in the state (New Bern, Asheville, Winston-Salem and Wilmington). It attempts to draw a tenuous-at-best connection between Dem gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore (both endorsed Obama) and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. It's crude and reflects the pathetic state of the GOP here, a party in embarrassing decline, longing for the days where everyone knew their place.

The reason Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, the crew at BlueNC and I wanted to do this is because John McCain doesn't have the cojones to go toe-to-toe with the apparently omnipotent Linda Daves. He denounced the ad from afar but couldn't even pick up the phone to express his dismay directly.

We figured that perhaps Elizabeth Dole, with all her party connections here, would have the gravitas necessary to take on the likes of Linda Daves. Surely she must care that fossilized Republican party in North Carolina is running racist dog whistle ads is not what he approves of. Unfortunately, her initial response wasn't very encouraging.

"I am concentrating on getting my work done here in the Senate, and I'm just not going to get into refereeing a third party political ad that has nothing to do with my race," she said.

So that's where the petition effort came in.

Pam and BlueNC members are delivering petitions requesting that Elizabeth Dole tell the NCGOP's Linda Daves to stop running the race-baiting anti-Obama ad.

Date: Friday, May 2

Time: 10:30 AM

Location: Dole's Raleigh Office: 310 New Bern Avenue,
Suite 122, Raleigh, NC 27601

See the The Blend and BlueNC for more.

On Friday morning I'm heading to Senator Elizabeth Dole's Raleigh office with a delegation of NC bloggers and concerned citizens to deliver a petition requesting that the U.S. Senator put a stop to the color arousal/racist ad floated by the NC GOP and its head Linda Daves. John McCain has already said he can do nothing about it. Dole doesn't even give a damn:

Dole said in an interview she didn't want to get involved.

"I am concentrating on getting my work done here in the Senate, and I'm just not going to get into refereeing a third party political ad that has nothing to do with my race," she said.

Just incredible. Watch her Friday appearance on MSNBC -- the video is below the fold.

While the Primary race between Clinton and Obama has gotten pretty vicious lately, I was always convinced it's nothing compared to the stuff Republicans would be spewing around the general election. Turns out I didn't have to wait that long, thanks to the NC GOP and their head witch, Linda Daves.
Even John McCain and the Republican National Congress declared today how deplorable the latest stunt of the NC repugs is.

Does Linda Daves have even the slightest idea what she's doing? I doubt it, since her press release today will undoubtedly give Daily Kos a nice bump in North Carolina readership.

Did you know you've been brainwashed by an extremist website?