U.S. Senate

Cross-posted from Bloviations.

Today, the U.S. Senate blocked the McCain-backed military education program.

The McCain/Graham plan calls for would give only $2,000 a month for service members that have more than 12 years of military service and was offered as an alternative to the much more effective Webb plan which would give service members 36 months of tuition, book costs, and a stipend.

On primary night I liveblogged from Southern Rail in Carrboro, where Jim Neal held his after-party. Here are some thoughts from the evening -- and observations about the big picture.

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.

Joe Sudbay at the progressive political powerhouse Americablog has excellent political instincts. People laughed at him last year when he predicted Hillary Clinton would run into serious political trouble during the primaries - heck, I was one of them.

It's not easy to get an endorsement at this high-traffic blog; Joe and the crew over there carefully consider who they back in races, and are looking at the impact of swing states and the growth of progressive politics -- and they have endorsed Jim Neal for the U.S. Senate.

Public Radio East and the North Carolina League of Women Voters are hosting a live Democratic US Senatorial Forum on the Campus of Craven Community College in New Bern on March 28. The debate will feature all five candidates in the Democratic primary.

If you would like to propose a question, send it on to forum@publicradioeast.org. Mine are after the jump.

(Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend.)

North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal was liveblogging over at Firedoglake this afternoon to discuss the Blue America endorsement. I contributed in the comments as well. The session was moderated by Blue America blogger Howie Klein, who asked Jim how he differed from his opponent, State Senator Kay Hagan. His answer is after the jump.

I type away solo at my kitchen table most of the time, but on occasion I get a chance to meet or work with the high-traffic, "A-list" progressive political bloggers inside the Beltway.

Many of them, let's say, have certain ideas about the South and NC. They were skeptical about Jim Neal's chances to win the Dem primary, let alone the Senate seat held by Liddy Dole. But after a ton of work by his dedicated campaign team, a zillion posts about Jim's candidacy at my pad, here and other places, along with poll numbers showing how weak Dole is, things slowly started to turn with the A-listers. And it seemed to happen in a big way after the recent FISA stumble by Kay Hagan.

The good folks at Crooks & Liars (John Amato), Firedoglake (Jane Hamsher), Hullabaloo (Digby), and Down with Tyranny (Howie Klein, who has been the one blogger outside of NC really giving Jim exposure), have put their considerably more influential blogtopia weight behind Jim's run.

Crossposted on Pam's House Blend.

There is a fantastic interview with openly gay U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal up at Queerty today by editor Andrew Belonsky that you should click over to. It reveals the personal side of the candidate and what inspired him to get into politics, and what gives him the drive to unseat Elizabeth Dole here in NC. A snippet is below the fold. (Frontpaged by A.)

[UPDATE: I posted the interview at DKos. Recommendations are appreciated!]

11:15: I've also posted the complete interview at my place and below.

Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) is running for re-election, and she's done precious little for our state; in fact she's hurt the interests of North Carolinians with her 1) poor constituent services and visibility in the Tar Heel state, and 2) her rubber-stamping of Bush administration's policies that have hurt this nation. In a state with a large military population, many deployed on multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dole has not supported the troops and their families -- or the veterans who returned broken and battered.

Greensboro-native Jim Neal is ready to change things up in more ways than one.

Promoted by Betsy. We've seen the video and now we can dive into the words