Joe McLaughlin and Marshall Adame have declared they will both run for the 3rd District seat. McLaughlin, a Republican, will face Jones in the primary. Adame, a Democrat, will face the winner of that race in the general election if no other Democrats file in the race.Jones’ chief of staff, Glen Downs, said Jones has made a “conscious decision not to talk about the campaign until the filing period,” which runs from Feb. 11-29.Jacksonville Daily News
Congressman Walter Jones is going to have to stay on his game this election season. Not only does he have to deal with the normal general election, but he also has a challenger in the Republican primary.
The biggest issue, McLaughlin said, is the war in Iraq - which Jones opposes. Jones continues to support a troop withdrawal and voted against the recent troop surge. McLaughlin, a retired solider, calls it “a message of despair.”
“On virtually every major national security vote on the War on Terror in the last year, he’s voted with the liberals,” McLaughlin said. “The man we sent to Washington in (1995) is no longer the conservative member (he was).”
It is hard to gauge how successful McLaughlin will be. Jones represents a district that is heavily populated by military personnel who have been irked by his stance on Iraq. However, recent polls have showed that the majority of North Carolinians are not in approval with how the war has been fought. That could help give Jones a boost in addition to the advantage of incumbency.
Assuming he beats McLaughlin, he then goes on to face Marshall Adame in November.
“There is chaos in Iraq today, and there will be chaos when we leave. But until we leave, the beginning of the end of the chaos cannot start,” said Adame, who retired from the Marine Corps and spent three years in Iraq as a civilian contractor and state department official. Two of his sons have served in Iraq - one is recovering now from an injury he received there, and the other is still in Tikrit, he said.
Adame said he believes the U.S. should maintain logistic and administrative support in Iraq’s civil affairs.
“But I believe our combat troops need to come out,” he said. “We do owe something to the Iraqis, but we owe more to our own people. The best way to support the combat troops is to bring them home.”
Adame is a veteran and spent more time in Iraq than any current member of our Federal government. His opinion on this issue is not to be taken lightly. I trust the judgment of someone who has actually lived and breathed the situation far more than a stuffed shirt in Washington D.C. who goes and visits for a few days and never steps out of the Green Zone.
For now, McLaughlin must focus on beating Jones in the primary - a challenge he said he is ready to undertake.
“We’ve put together a very good team that’s helping us build some momentum,” he said.
He called the district a Republican one, in which it is “unlikely” that a Democrat - any Democrat - would win the election.
I think both Jones and McLaughlin would be foolish to write Adame off. If Jones barely eeks out a primary win against McLaughlin, there might be enough voters irritable with Jones’ Iraq stance to vote for Adame as an anti-Jones vote. If McLaughlin prevails in the primary that gives Adame better odds because there is no incumbency advantage to compete against. Open seats are almost always easier to win.
Furthermore, Adame appears to be, based on what I have read, a more centrist Democrat, much more representative of the traditional southern Democratic party and that plays well in North Carolina. Regardless, I have a feeling this will be one to bite your nails over.
