Carolina Politics Online

Linda Daves has announced her intention not to run for another term as North Carolina Republican Party Chairman.  This is a good decision on her behalf and a needed change.  For as conservative as the state of North Carolina is, the Republican Party’s performance has been abysmal.  They desperately need new leadership and to rebuild from the ground up if they want to strike hard in 2010.  If the Republicans do not capture the State Senate they will be redistricted back in the minority for another decade.

I want to let everyone who reads this one thing. I believe the tactic of name calling is childish and at best a Liberal tactic. Everyone who is a registered Republican is a Republican by fact and law, PERIOD. This is one of the reasons why we are a minority party in North Carolina.

A few have recently called Burr a RINO and apparently are convinced they are better Republicans than a elected United States Senator. All of you name callers need to get a set and run for office yourself if you are so damn sure what this country needs. I ran and sure I got beat, but I tried.

It is time we do the right things to grow this party in NC and elsewhere. The Unaffiliates are growing faster than Republicans. After talking with many voters I can say it is because of the far right of the party not the far left.  I can help this party grow, but if you do not want me I can sure make it grow smaller. I am trying and would hope many of you do something besides opening your mouths.

Senator Bob Rucho (R-Matthews) and Senator Peter Brunstetter (R-Winston-Salem) have decided it’s time to shake things up in the Senate minority and elect new leadership.  The current minority leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) has defended his leadership by pointing to the one seat gain for the Republicans in the Senate despite a win of the state by Barack Obama.  That doesn’t exactly prove much.  Obama’s win was by a third of a percentage point.  While he may have won the state’s electoral votes based on that 13,000 vote margin it doesn’t mean that the state as a whole gave a moderate majority to Obama across the board.  There were pockets of the state that went heavily for Obama and heavily for McCain.

I don’t have any qualms with Rucho seeking the party’s leadership.  He makes a good point.

“We just can’t afford to continue to lose by 3 to 1 in fundraising,” Rucho said.

The GOP in North Carolina has one shot left to try and take the majority in the Senate.  After the 2010 Census reapportionment kicks in the Democrats will redistrict making sure the GOP stays in the minority another ten years.  They need to win six Senate seats in the 2010 elections, quite a tall order, but not impossible.  A good leader in the caucus could take the party to the heights they need to reach by doing a more effective job of taking their case to the voters and raising the funds necessary to achieve that goal.  Rucho and Brunstetter both seem to have that vision, so why not?

Is it legal to elect someone to the office of governor named Tumpy?

Uh oh…

Is U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler gearing up for 2010?

The Waynesville Democrat told the Hendersonville Times-News that he hasn’t ruled out running against Sen. Richard Burr in two years.

The N&O

Despite the local successes of County Commissioners, Senator-elect Hagan and President-elect Obama. The State Senate shows 1 seat GOP gain and the State House shows no change either way. The Democrats by all rights SHOULD have swept state legislative Democrats in office but didn’t.

This is important to note since the 2010 elections will determine who gets to set both state and federal legislative districts for the next 10 years. Will we continue with the status quo or will Republicans get their act together?

All Republicans need to get involved over the next two years to overcome 120 years of Democratic rule in North Carolina.

Marc Basnight laughing on the front page of the N&O was not laughing with Bev Perdue, he was laughing at North Carolina voters.

Debbie Clary said she doesn’t take anything for granted.

“We’re feeling good now,” she said Tuesday.

She surely appreciates the 730 votes that separated her and Democratic opponent Keith Melton in the race for the 46th District N.C. Senate seat. As it stands now, Clary is, by numbers alone, a North Carolina senator. But with such a tight race - Republican Clary landed 35,867 votes, Melton totaled 35,137 - there could be more to it than Election Day.

Provisional ballots have to be counted, but if the difference between the candidates’ final tallies falls within 1 percentage point, the loser can request a recount, according to county Elections Director Debra Blanton.

The Shelby Star

The Republicans were hoping to pick up several Senate seats in this election, but this was the only one they got.  They need to pick up seven seats to have a majority in the State Senate, something they have never had in state history.  The 46th will bring that number down to six.  Unfortunately, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to take six Senate seats in 2010 and the problem is that is what’s needed to be in charge of redistricting.  If the Democrats are still holding the cards after the Census then they’ll redistrict the GOP into another 10 years as the minority party.

If Bauer sticks to the same less government, less spending orthodoxy as Sanford then I’ll happily get behind him.  With the addiction the State Assembly has to tax dollars and pork, someone has to be there to smack them down.  I can’t imagine what it will be like without Sanford at the helm.

Jim Rex (D) has also stated that he will make a decision around this time of next year.

State Democratic Party Chairman Carol Fowler listed off the five possible candidates who she thinks may compete for the Democratic nomination for the 2010 gubernatorial race in South Carolina.

That list includes:

• Joe Erwin, 51, a Greenville advertising executive

• Former state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, 57

• State Rep. James Smith of Columbia, 40

• Sen. Joel Lourie of Columbia, 45, a close friend to Smith

• State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, 37, of Kershaw

The only one of the five I am really familiar with is Inez Tenenbaumand she is a big no in my book.  Tenenbaum ran in 2004 for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by then Senator Fritz Hollings (D).  Tenenbaum lost the election to our current Senator Jim DeMint (R).  Tenenbaum ran a dirty campaign and misleading ads attacking DeMint claiming that he was supporting a plan to implement a 23% Federal sales tax across the country.  Well, that is partly true.  She was referring to the Fair Tax legislation, which would implement a 23% sales tax on all new goods and services.  What the ad conveniently left out was that it would replace the current Federal Income Tax, so we would no longer pay taxes on our income, but rather our consumption.