Start your engines

Kent:

All due respect but David Price voted against the war, has called for troop withdrawals, called for a special investigator, and helped to write a sweeping ethics reform bill.

What part of that fails to qualify as putting his neck out?

There's leadership and then there's tilting at windmills. David Price is a leader.

Kent, I'm confused. What votes will be used against them in the general election? Signing on to cosponsor a resolution is not a vote. I think that you are wrong about the "running scared" assessment. I think it is more about practical politics. Other than having it on the record, just what do you think the Conyers resolution means in terms of congressional action?

matt:

correct me if i'm wrong, but in his call for troops withdrawl,he asks bush to set a timetable but offers no timetable of his own. i believe feingold calls for the troops to be home by december. does price support that ? i was under the impression that price was not keen on committing to a specific timetable.

ruby:

i would absolutely treasure your vote !

by the way, you haven't said anything about having a beer with me...can i take that to mean you are considering the invitation ?

Ruby:

I'm sorry, but I must be missing something. What about Price's approach has been lukewarm?

He's out in front of Congress on domestic spying, troop withdrawal, lobbying reform, and HE VOTED AGAINST THE WAR .

That's pretty impressive, progressive leadership from a man in a competitive district. Which by the way, this district is. Unless you forget, he lost his seat to a Republican in '94, and it's a mistake to think that couldn't happen again.

Heck, this isn't even the most Democratic district in North Carolina. Not by a long-shot. Orange County only makes up a third of David Prices' constituency, and he also represents large parts of Durham and Wake County. Wake County, by the way, was carried by President Bush in '04. And go look at Democratic performance in the parts of Wake County that make up this district. It's ain't a pretty picture.

Look, this is a democracy, which means your vote counts just as much as a farmer in Cedar Grove or a certain evil basketball coach eight miles down the road. And Price has to represent us all. Given that Chapel Hill progressives make up a fairly small part of that population, I think you should be ecstatic with the leadership he provides. And you should consider yourself lucky to be represented by a man from your community who shares your principles

Kent:

While I support your commitment to sponsor a resolution commending the UNC men's basketball team, how about showing the women's team a little love for their stellar season as well?

fred:
re: my use of vote...poor choice of words. i should have said he would his his res. sponsorships would be used against him, and judging from his previous post, i think matt agrees with me on that.

matt:

i would definitely recognize the women's team for their success. i am a big fan of the lady tar heels. i have told my wife that if i weren't married i would ask ivory latta to marry me .

MattC, I have a whole slew of issues with Price, but why don't you start by explaining his votes on the Bankruptcy Bill and Patriot Act?

I'm sorry -- I don't have to start by ex­plain­ing anything. I don't represent anyone here but myself. But I wish you, would explain to us all why it's so personal with you and the con­gress­man. Did he cut you off on I-40 one af­ter­noon? Get the last bag of your coffee at Southern Season?

Look, the Bank­ruptcy bill doesn't affect anyone living below the state median income. Fur­ther­more, because it didn't do enough to protect people from credit card com­pan­ies, David Price in­­tro­­duced his own le­­gis­la­­tion, to reduce that kind of debt.

And by the way, David Price voted against reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

Kent, if you are having trouble convincing the bloggers
and the readers on left-leaning OP, which should be your
philosophical base, how in the world will
you be able to secure votes in the real campaign, i.e., how will
you be able to hit the fastball in the big leagues?

MattC, I assumed you were a Price apologist based on your string of comments - sorry if I misread your intent.

As far as the Bankruptcy Bill, try again.. Of course, there was more than one "reform" in financial protections for the average joe. Here's how Price voted (BTW, I'm not the only local a bit upset by this).

As far as the Patriot Act, I do have a bit of history with Price on that issue. It starts with my repeated efforts to contact Price's office during what passed for debate on the bill never being returned or acknowledged. Sure, there was a bit of an anthrax scare going on but that offers a very limited excuse. And while Price recently joined with the rest of the herd in calling for modifications to the Patriot Act - not an outright repeal - where was he during the last three abusatory years? "Sneak and peek" for crying out loud! Price has the background to know that the stench of that provision alone should've invalidated the whole bill.

Hell, Byrd has even repudiated his vote, doesn't that give Price political cover to do the same?

And what of FISA? FISA, if ever challenged, would not pass a Constitutional check (at least under a trully conservative reading of the Constitution). Yet Price has joined the braying crowd proclaiming FISA as an adequate backstop to backdoor spying! His "wait-and-see" on the whole illegal wire-tapping issue is just another example of the tepid "leadership" he's offered on Constitutional protections. What else does he need to join with Conyers, et. al. in calling for the strictist of measures?

joe:

i am assuming that your reference to the "big leagues" is the general election .

i think your post answers itself. if i cannot convince op bloggers that this is a worthwhile campaign,then i probably won't have to worry about getting to the big leagues.

my time on the blog has been very educational. surprisingly,op folks seem to be,as a group, pretty mainstream dems. who are happy with all of the good things david price does for the 4th district, and i'm not sure my concern about the dem malaise at the national level resonates here.

that said, i plan to plow ahead,and until i'm invited off the blog, i will continue to advocate for a visionary campaign.hey, at least i have ruby thinking about wasting her vote on me.

again, the dialogue here has been very helpful and the reality checks have been good for this neophyte candidate.

thanks,

kent

Will:

Your reply is kind of puzzling. Either you didn't read what I had to say or you completely missed my point. Once you get past all the rhetoric, the Common Dreams article you referenced (along with every other publication you can find) said the exact same thing I did:

"People with incomes above a state's median income who could pay at least $6,000 over five years would be expected to make pay­ment­s."

Which by the way only effects 10% of the people who file for bankruptcy.

And as I said before, the bankruptcy bill left people vulnerable to credit card debt, so David Price introduced new legislation to make the law better.

I'm not an apologist for anyone, but I am a realist, and I realize how politics works. It's not pretty, but I don't know how you can accuse David Price of doing anything less than fighting for all of his constituients.

Kent,

Another eason to accept donations - the newspapers will not accurately convey your message. Especially the N&O. You will need to buy space.

anybody know anything about dan mansell,the pub running against ethridge ?

i'm a guest on a radio talk show tomorrow afternoon and mansell will be the other guest...

google didn't give much info....

thanks,

kent

Next week we'll see how Rep. Price does in defending our rights. The odious Patriot Act, expanded way beyond its original provisions, with 14 of 16 temporary provisions made permanent, will be up for a House vote next week.

Will Rep. Price stand against this further power grab by the Executive? Will he point out that the current reprehensible, law-breaking administration already can not be trusted with the powers already granted? That rather than expanding this Administration's reach into our everyday citizenries lives, we need to revoke the Patriot Act, censure previous actions and severely trim further Executive capabilities?

My guess? Not a whisper (or with the current Dem leadership ala Reid - a whimper).

for the record i am for repealing the patriot act. it unduly limits our freedom,infringes upon our privacy, and does not enhance our security.

Price voted against reauthorization of the Quisling Act.

great !

now if he will just co-sponsor the conyers resolution(hr 635) and support a time table for withdrawing troops from iraq, eg. the jack murtha resolution(hj 73)

Kent, you mean H. Res. 635, as H. R. 635 is an act to designate Poland as a program country under the visa waiver program established under section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Anyway, H. Res. 635 (Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.) still only has 27 co-sponsors

H. Res. 636, (censuring Bush) only has 14 and H. Res 637, (censuring Chaney) only has 15.

I think you said earlier that other Democrats are not sponsoring these things because they are afraid to, but I ask again, have you considered that there might be other explanations for not being sponsors?

Make that "Cheney."

Fred, other reasons? I think lack of political courage is explanation enough.

OK, WIll, let's take another example. H.RES.546 : Condemning in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks that occurred on November 9, 2005, in Amman, Jordan was
sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, [R-FL-18]. There were 41cosponsors. On a 2/3 required vote, it passed 409 to 0. Were the other Republican Reps. lacking political courage to be sponsors of a resolution introduced by a fellow Republican, but had it to vote yea?

There is more to it than that.

John Murtha has no courage? Is sponsoring the Conyers amendment the only way to prove courage? That's just flat out ridiculous Will. By your definition, 26 members of congress have "courage". It reminds me of the old saying that the political spectrum is a circle where extreme left meets extreme right. You argue courage; the extreme right argues patriotism. Both wreak of name calling and hollow platitudes that don't even attempt to get at the rationale behind differences of opinion to find common ground. Frankly, it cheapens our public discourse.

David, I think the house is on fire and all the Dems in Congress need to join the bucket brigade. Is not joining in to fight the fire necessarily an act of cowardice? No. Should not joining in be repudiated? I say YES!

You might want to scale the disaster in such a way as to make some of your favorite Dems look good - but it won't work. Is "the disaster" just my opinion? I think by any objective analysis - no.

I won't rehash all the travesties of the last 6 years but if a stained dress can almost unseat a President then what kind of "courage" does it take to repulse the current assaults on our Constitution, our citizenry and the peoples of the world?

Everyday that passes that Congressional Dems don't make a firm stand cheapens the value of our democracy. Shame on them.

fred:

i am open to alternative explanations for not co-sponsoring the conyers resolution,but the only two that come to mind are:

1)david price believes that the bush/cheney administration has done nothing to warrant the appointment of a select committee to investigate possible impeachable offenses

2) david price believes such an action is warranted but to advocate it would potentially adversely impact his re-election

please post some other alternative explanations for consideration

thanks,

kent

3) a member may want an investigation but maybe not for all of the three clauses stated in the proposed Resolution.

fred:

price could certainly enter an alternative resolution to that effect. no, i think price thinks he gave himself cover by writing a letter to bush asking him to appoint a special counsel...

the sad thing is that not only did bush reject the letter out of hand, but he added insult to injury by chiding the signers for not investigating the circumstances of the leak.

how humiliating !

I'm not sure Pres. Bush has the stature or credibility to humiliate anyone...

Which is why it is altogether so staggering that the Democrats have proven themselves able to be humiliated by him nonetheless...

I don't feel humiliated by him. Embarrassed maybe.

After reading what my brother stands for, I know he is on the right track! I will definitely "waste " my vote on him. I will go out for a beer with him also but only if Ruby goes....

Carrboro last night passed two resolutions.One based on the Vermont resoluitons-thanks Jim P-calling on our state delegation to call for impeachment.The other called upon David Price to support the Conyers resolution.Yes-I understand that it's just Carrboro but a few hundred Carrboros can change the direction of congress.Just doing our part

jacquie,

if price fails to suport the conyers resolution, does that mean you will be voting for me on may 2nd ?

i would welcome your support... and public endorsement !

kent

But Conyers already supports Price and Lofgren

http://price.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=2090

and wouldn't a sucessful impeachment require a body of investigative work?

daniel

daniel,

bush has already rejected the request for a special counsel, so price's letter was not only impotent but now is moot.

the conyers resolution calls fo a select committee WITH SUPEONA POWER to be established to conduct an investigation. i assume that such a committee would conduct its business in a similar fashion to that of the watergate committee, ie. in public and not in secret like ken starr's bunch.

I appreciate Kent's calls for impeachment and I admire his gutsy run for office. But with all due respect, I'm supporting David Price and putting my energy into defeating Republican crooks like Charles Taylor and Robin Hayes. David Price is on the right side of the issues I care about. He may not be a firebrand or a hot-head like me, but no one wants to see the Bush administration out of power any more than David Price does.

As to accusations of impotence and "moot," anything the Dems in the House do right now would quality. Any-frickin'-thing 00 including the Conyers resolution, including grandstanding, including running naked down the aisles. The sad truth is -- as Price says so clearly in this interview:

Neither impeachment nor a special counsel nor even congressional oversight has a prayer as long as Republicans are in charge. All of us need to think hard about how to gain maximum political support to turn out the current leadership of Congress in November.

So we can spend our time arguing about which ineffective and useless measure we'd prefer for the House to embrace, but until we have a change of control, it doesn't mean squat. And voting for Kent Kanoy instead of David Price does NOTHING to make that happen. It might make you feel good, and lord knows, we all could stand some of that, but it won't make the difference that needs to be made.

james,

with all due respect, until the democratic national leadership(including price) stands up and provides a clear vision of what it stands for, then there will be no "change of control" in washington.

it is sad that russ feingold introduces a censure bill,and the dem leaders fight to keep it from coming to the floor of the senate for a vote ? why ?

oooh, it might mobilize the republican base...how about doing something to mobilize the democratic base ?

sad to say but the democratic party has nothing to say...no position on protecting the constitution,no position on ending the iraq war, no position on health care,no position...

so james, by all means get up on may 2nd and vote for mr. price. i can't argue that it is not the politically expedient thing to do.

but for those dems who feel abandoned by dem leaders,for those who are disappointed in their lack of leadership, for those who are angry that the dem leadership is afraid to hold bush/cheney accountable, then at least in the 4th district, those voters will have an opportunity to vote their convictions. they will have an opportunity to express their opposition against an administration that has trashed our constitution.

and, of course, voters will also have the opportunity to vote for mr. price and hope the dem party will stumble into majority status.

oh, well, how much damage can bush/cheney really do between now and 2008...really ?

Kent, I share your frustration with the Democratic Party and I don't understand many of their collective actions in DC. I also don't understand why you're running as a Democrat if you really believe what you've written here. Maybe it's the politically expedient thing to do?

From where I sit, the Democratic Party stands for three things: competence, integrity and the common good. Some don't happen to be very articulate in explaining those things, and that annoys the hell out of me. But I consistely find these three themes underpinning most Democrat positions.

And when I don't find them, I fight like hell to change things. For example, Jim Black is a corrupt Dem and should be driven from office.

As I said over at BlueNC, I appreciate your calls for impeachment and I admire your gutsy campaign. But you lose credibility with me when you argue that a vote for David Price is synonymous with "hoping the dem party will stumble into majority status." Because the fact is, a vote for you does nothing to help change the status of the party in the House.

James,
I agree with your assessment, but you seem to have had a change of heart.

http://orangepolitics.org/2006/01/selecting-the-grand-jury-in-2006/#comm...

http://orangepolitics.org/2006/01/selecting-the-grand-jury-in-2006/#comm...

Is this a case of pragmatism over firebrandism?

james,

i appreciate your criticism, but allow me to clarify the intent of my campaign. i agree with you that a vote for me will not change the control of congress, far from it. however, a vote for me can be an expression of the will of the dem voters in the 4th district. a vote for me might send a small signal to david price that it is ok to stand up to the bush/cheney administration,that it's ok to commit to a time table for ending the iraq war that asking bush to investigate himself and asking bush to set a time table is not enough.

i've been a voting democrat for 36 years, and i know what the party has stood for lo these many years.russ feingold and the late paul wellstone embody those democratic values. do you think paul would have fought to keep the censure bill from reaching the senate floor ?

all i am saking for is that david price (and the other dem leaders) show the same courage as russ feingold.

is that too much to ask ?

kent

Ed.

I push Congressman Price to stand strong against the Bush Machine every chance I get. And I daresay, I probably got on on the impeachment bandwagon back before there was even a band or a wagon. I write at least one blog post or letter to the editor everyday calling for action against Dear Leader. I also stand behind my comments in the two links you've posted above. I want David Price to do anything and everything he can to oppose the criminal administration. After talking with him several times and listening to his real frustration about the state of affairs in Washington, I'm convinced he's doing what can be done. Until we control the House, I fear that "what can be done" is precious little.

So I make no apologies for my firebrandism . . . and I fully appreciate the wisdom of pragmatism. That's why I'm spending most of my time and energy in NC-11 and NC-8 where we really have a chance to pick up seats.

Hello everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster. My name is Amon Anderson and I'm working as the campaign manager for my dad, District Court Judge Charles (Chuck) Anderson, in his campaign for Superior Court judge. I wanted to let ya'll know that today our campaign annouced the unveiling of its campaign web site: JudgeAnderson.org.

I grew up in Chatham County, and my dad has been living in this district for over 30 years. He's been a District Court judge since his election in 1996 and has been active in the Orange and Chatham County communities. He was instrumental in the creation of the Orange County Family Violence and Rape Crisis Center as well as the Chatham Education Foundation. He is committed to judicial independence and enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve at the next level.

This is my first experience in campaigning and its been a lot of hard work, but also a real education about the nature of the communities around me. I'd be happy to talk to any of you all who are interested in the campaign, and please check out our website, www.judgeanderson.org--I welcome any observations or advice.

take care,
Amon

Hi folks,

I want to let you all know that Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour's campaign has recently launched a website ( http://www.judgebaddour.org ) describing Judge Baddour's background, experience, judicial philosophy, and biography.

Allen was born and raised in this district, graduated from Chapel Hill High School, and received his law degree (and his undergraduate degree) from UNC - Chapel Hill. He's one of just a few attorneys around who has experience across the whole spectrum of criminal defense, criminal prosecution, and civil litigation in both district court and superior court. For more than five years, Allen has been the managing assistant district attorney for Chatham County, where he also lives with his wife, Holly, and their two sons. In February 2006, Governor Easley appointed Allen to fill a Superior Court seat left open following Judge Wade Barber's retirement.

Allen's been very involved in the communities of Orange County and Chatham County. He met his wife, Holly, at the Women's Center of Orange County, where he was Volunteer of the Year in 2001. (Allen had volunteered to help establish a pro bono legal service at the center to assist women in need.) He's been a leader of the YMCA in both Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and also here in Chatham County, and he currently chairs the Chatham County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

This election season Judge Baddour will be running for election with five others, including fellow Superior Court Judge Carl Fox, for two open superior court judgeships. Rarely has this district seen as competitive a judicial race: very occasionally at the district court level, and almost never at the superior court level. I urge everyone to take this election seriously, and to spend some time reading the candidates' websites and attending forums where they'll be speaking. It's important that this community make smart, forward-looking decisions about what kind of jurists we want to lead our courts into the future.

http://www.judgebaddour.org

Happy elections!

Duncan

. . . going?

Sorry. Looks like I did a premature submit.

Pardon the brief hijacking, but this is an important day for candidate fundraising. If you haven't reached into your pockets to support our good Democratic candidates (and incumbents), this would be a most excellent time to do so. Purty please? Give to Larry Kissell. Give to Heath Shuler. Give to David Price. Give to Brad Miller. I'm having trouble finding the campaign site for Mel Watt. Kent Kanoy isn't taking contributions.

Thanks.

PS Good links here to all the dirt on Charles "Delay" Taylor and Robin Hayes, just in case you need any motivation to get

I'm not taking contributions, but I do want your vote. If you believe that the bush/cheney administration should be impeached,if you believe that the iraq war should end now,and if you believe that we should have universal health care, there is only one candidate running on that platform in the 4th district and that candidate is Kent Kanoy.