Carolina Politics Online

A day after saying his plans were “undetermined,” former U.S. Rep. Republican Robin Hayes said today he won’t run for congressional seat he lost last November.

“I’m going to do everything I can to help recruit and finance and give what experience and assistance I can to make sure that that person – and it’s not going to be me – is properly prepared,” Hayes told News 14.

Hayes’ announcement came a day after a top GOP official suggested Hayes would not challenge Democrat Larry Kissell, who beat him in 2008.

Charlotte Observer

Who the hell wants Robin Hayes back anyway?  What did he ever accomplish in Congress anyhow?  I can’t think of a single initiative off the top of my head.  It shouldn’t be hard for the Republicans to come up with a suitable recruit in this district.  If they can’t find a credible challenger to reclaim a Republican leaning district then they ought to hang their heads in shame.

Is former U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes interested in state GOP chair?

A reliable tipster says the Concord Republican may be considering a run to replace outgoing party chairwoman Linda Daves.

As with the race for Democratic Party chair, much remains in flux.

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith, former Lee County commissioner Chad Adams, and former state Sen. Woody White are also reportedly considering runs.

Guilford County stockbroker Marcus Kindley is already running.

The N&O

No. No, no, no, no, NO!!!!!!

Let’s make this clear right now- insiders with no new ideas and who got their ass kicked in 2008 NEED NOT APPLY.

It should come to no surprise that the House of Representatives have furthered the nationalization of American industry by wasting another $15 billion of tax money that doesn’t exist to bailout the gross mismanagement of the Big Three automakers and their blood sucking unions. Here is a list of how our Carolina representatives voted:

In Favor of Socialism:

• Bob Etheridge – D-NC-02
• David Price – D-NC-04
• Mel Watt – D-NC-12
• Brad Miller – D-NC-13
• Jack Spratt – D-SC-05
• Jim Clyburn – D-SC-06

Against Socialism:

• G.K. Butterfield – D-NC-01
• Walter Jones – R-NC-03
• Virginia Foxx – R-NC-05
• Howard Coble – R-NC-06
• Mike McIntyre – D-NC-07
• Robin Hayes – R-NC-08
• Sue Myrick – R-NC-09
• Patrick McHenry – R-NC-10
• Heath Shuler – D-NC-11
• Henry Brown – R-SC-01
• Joe Wilson – R-SC-02
• Gresham Barrett – R-SC-03
• Bob Inglis – R-SC-04

So Election 2008 is now over and your friendly admin of CPO can slack off for a little while now.  We saw some big changes last night around the country and also right here in the Carolinas.

North Carolina has turned blue.  By a fraction of a hair it went to Obama last night.  He earned it.  His campaign had the ground game to make it happen.

Kay Hagan predictably ousted Elizabeth Dole by a handy margin.  Dole got slaughtered with outside 527 ads and I think the “Godless” ad she ran against Hagan sealed her fate.

One Congressional seat changed hands and that was the 8th Congressional District held by Republican Robin Hayes.  This was expected to happen, but I was hoping Hayes would pull it out only because I think Larry Kissell is the wrong man for that seat.  His energy policies are an infantile fantasy that will hurt his constituents which are mostly low income.  Virginia Foxx, Heath Shuler, and Patrick McHenry easily won reelection.

In statewide races, Bev Perdue (D) narrowly defeated Pat McCrory (R) for the gubernatorial race.  This made me very angry.  It could not have been more obvious who the candidate of change was in this race.  Bev Perdue will continue the same status quo culture of corruption that has plagued Raleigh for years.  I think straight party voting caused this victory.  Likewise, State Senator Walter Dalton (D) defeated State Senator Robert Pittenger (R) in the Lieutenant Governor’s race by a slightly larger margin.

Democrat Beth Wood defeated Republican incumbent Les Merritt in the Auditor’s race which is another blow to the state.  Merritt was the only firewall defending the people from the corruption in the state legislature and now that is gone.  Roy Cooper (D), Steve Troxler (R), Cherie Berry (R), Elaine Marshall (D), and June Atkinson (D) all got reelected to their posts.  State Senator Janet Cowell (D) is now the new State Treasurer and Democrat Wayne Goodwin won the Insurance Commissioner’s race.

The Republican Party in North Carolina is extremely incompetent.

In the State Legislature Debbie Ann Clary won the race in Senate District 46 flipping that from Democrat to Republican.  In State House District 86 Republican Hugh Blackwell defeated Democratic incumbent Walter Church and in State House District 90 Republican Sarah Stevens ousted incumbent Democrat Jim Harrell.

South Carolina gave our electoral votes to John McCain last night and we were the only Atlantic coast state to do so.  Lindsey Graham easily won reelection to the U.S. Senate.  All six Congressmen won reelections to their seats as well.

In the state legislature there weren’t many changes.  Republican Kris Crawford did win reelection in House District 63.  I said last night that he lost.  Anton Gunn picked up House District 79 for the Democrats.  The District 115 race between Republican incumbent Wallace Scarborough and Democrat Anne Peterson Hutto is too close to call at this time, althought Scarborough has claimed victory.

The ballot amendment to change the Constitution to allow the state legislature to set the age of consent passed.

It’s not just the next President we’re electing on Tuesday; we’ve got all kinds of races going on in both states from the U.S. Senate down to your local school board.  I have put together a list of state and Federal races that should be carefully followed Tuesday night as I imagine they will be close.

• President – Obviously everyone knows we’ll be choosing our next President.  I think John McCain is going to carry both North and South Carolina, North by a hair and South easily, however I think Barack Obama will end up becoming the next President.
• NC US Senate Race – This has been a brutal race between Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan.  I think Hagan is going to emerge the victor in this in no small part by the Dole campaign’s “Godless” ad.  I think that hurt Dole more than Hagan.
• NC Gubernatorial Race – Another nail biter, but I think and pray that Pat McCrory ends up the next governor and I am going to make a very bold prediction here.  I think his Lt Governor will end up being Democrat Walter Dalton, not Pittenger.  McCrory has been leading by three or four points in the last few polls that have come out.  If people really are change oriented as they claim then McCrory should prevail.  He is the candidate of sorely needed change in Raleigh.
• NC 5th Congressional District – Virginia Foxx has received a tougher than anticipated challenge from Roy Carter, but I think Foxx will be reelected.
• NC 8th Congressional District – If Robin Hayes pulls out a reelection victory Tuesday night I will be stunned.  I just don’t see it and I think that Larry Kissell will be the 8th District’s new Congressman.  I think this will be the only Congressional District to flip in both states.
• NC Auditor General – I think Les Merritt will be okay, but it will be a close victory.  As I have stated in recent days, voters would be doing a disservice to themselves by replacing him.  He is the only watchdog the people have had against the majority party in Raleigh.
• NC Labor Commissioner – I think Cherie Berry is going to lose.  I think people will make a mental connection between Labor Commissioner and a soured economy.  They have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but when you think of a bad economy you think of job losses, hence labor, and people tend to relate to Democrats better than Republicans on labor issues.
• NC Senate District 9 – I think Julia Boseman will come out on top in this one, but I still expect a close race considering the money that has been spent on it on both sides.
• NC Senate District 25 – Tony Foriest just won this seat in 2006 and faces a challenge from Rick Gunn to take the seat back for the GOP.  I think Foriest will get reelected.
• NC Senate DIstrict 46 – This is Walter Dalton’s Senate seat that he is vacating to run for Lieutenant Governor.  This should be a Republican pickup.  It’s fairly conservative and has leaned Republican for some time now, but Dalton has hung on due to incumbency and having a more conservative voting record.
• SC Senate District 10 – This is John Drummond’s seat and he decided to retire after many years in public service.  The seat is being strongly contested on both sides with Dee Compton as the Republican candidate and Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson on the Democratic ticket.  This has the potential to go either way, but I think the Democrats will hold this seat.
• SC Senate District 25 – I think this will be the closest race of all of them.  Republican Shane Massey won this seat last year in a special election after the former Democratic Senator Tommy Moore resigned from the Senate for a more lucrative career opportunity.  This seat actually leans slightly Democratic, but Massey has never really stopped campaigning since he won it.  He faces Democrat Greg Anderson.  This is too close for me to make a call on how this will turn out.
• SC House District 115 – Wallace Scarborough almost lost his seat in 2006 when his challenger came within a little over 300 votes of him.  He faces another strong challenge this year from Anne Peterson Hutto, but I think Scarborough is going to hang on by a larger margin than ‘06.

U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes is dealing with what could be a damaging distraction in the election’s final days – his remark about liberals hating working Americans.

“I made a mistake I should not have made,” the Concord Republican said Thursday at the Mallard Creek Barbecue. “I wasn’t thinking.”

By day’s end, Hayes had to deny a report that his own party had forsaken him. But there’s at least one sign that national Republicans aren’t as invested as they planned to be – they’ve backed off buying television time to run an independent ad in the 8th Congressional District race.

Charlotte Observer

Hayes remarks were completely stupid, no doubt.  You don’t out and say something like that when you’re running for reelection in a swing district, but what he said isn’t entirely off base.  The Obama campaign and some other leftists in Congress have made wealthy a dirty word.  Obama runs around the country making disparaging comments about successful people and he paints a picture that achieving and being rich is wrong and makes you a bad person.  Of course, Obama says that’s not what he means, but what other logical conclusion can be drawn?

On Thursday, U.S. News & World Report said it had obtained a memo that suggested House Republicans had abandoned hope for Hayes and several other GOP incumbents.

But a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee dismissed any suggestion that party leadership had discounted Hayes.

“Absolutely not. Robin Hayes is well positioned for re-election,” Ken Spain said. “Any reference to the contrary is simply not based on fact or any relevant data. This has become a race about Robin Hayes and Democrats in Washington.”

Let’s not be fools here.  If Hayes wins reelection it will be rather surprising.

Republican Rep. Robin Hayes said yesterday that he was wrong to tell voters at a John McCain rally that “liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.”

Hayes, a five-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, made the comment Saturday in Concord before McCain’s appearance. He is being challenged for re-election in the 8th District in south-central North Carolina by Democrat Larry Kissell, who almost beat him in 2006. “I genuinely did not recall making the statement and, after reading it, there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way,” Hayes said in a prepared statement.

Winston-Salem Journal

It doesn’t matter what Hayes says at this point.  The damage was done and Hayes is going to be retired from Congress in two weeks.  This has become Kissell’s race to lose.

First, Representative Patrick McHenry cheered what he called the “biggest crowd John McCain has gotten in North Carolina” and emphasized that this was a critical election with a stark choice between the candidates.

“It’s like black and white,” someone in the crowd at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center yelled out, laughing. McHenry let the remark pass and finished his speech. He yielded the microphone to Representative Robin Hayes, who prefaced his comments by saying it was important to “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.” Republicans, he reminded the crowd, were kind people. Plus, he added, the liberal media had shown itself eager to distort such remarks. With the crowd duly chastened and put on best behavior, he accused Obama of “inciting class warfare” and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”

The New York Observer

You know, for the last eight years Republicans have complained about the vitriol and the hate that has come out of the far left in the media and Hollywood and activists directed towards George Bush and their party.  Some of the comments were justified.  After all, Bush is a complete asshat, but there was a lot of over the top rhetoric.  After all of the belly aching, has the right now decided to trump them?  I realize this is going on, on both sides of the aisle and that the leftist media is only focusing on the crackpot conservatives making fools of themselves and not their moonbat counterparts on the other side, but that doesn’t excuse it.  For all of the complaining Republicans have done about the left’s behavior, they ought to be taking the high road.  I can’t imagine what Robin Hayes was thinking when he said this.  This guy has been in politics to know that setting yourself up for a gotcha moment on tv can be your political killer.  All Kissell has to do is get the footage of this asinine remark and throw it in a last minute ad and he seals the deal on Election Day.  Hayes is already endangered.  Hell, his goose may have been cooked already anyway, but he may as well as just pack up and go home now.

It’s 49% for second-time challenger Larry Kissell (D), 41% for fifth-term US Rep. Robin Hayes (R), says a SurveyUSA poll taken in the Tar Heel State’s 8th District (Concord, etc.) on October 4-5 for Roll Call newspaper. The poll is in line with a Democratic poll, taken September 28-29 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, which gave Kissell a 54% to 43% lead. In 2006, Hayes edged out Kissell by a razor-thin 329 votes.

Southern Political Report

The news is bad for Hayes this year and it keeps getting worse.  With the election clearly having moved towards Obama’s favor and his lead growing in some polls it’s looking less likely that Hayes is going to hang on again like he did in ‘06.

Oil has fallen below $100 a barrel, but Charlotte is still paying $120 a barrel prices.  The reason is Hurricane Ike and the lack of refining capacity in the Houston area to continue to meet the demand of the Charlotte region after the refineries were shut down or damaged.  The average per gallon price in Charlotte is $3.90 per gallon, roughly 40 cents above the national average. Here in York County, SC we are fairing slightly better than Charlotte.  I saw gas this morning at $3.69, but South Carolina is usually one of the lowest in the country, so this is not all that great of news.

That hurricane should be a major wake up call to Congress about the economic vulnerability of our nation.  When one storm can cripple an entire region of the country, that is a serious problem, not to mention a national security risk.  Osama can be sitting over in Pakistan right now stroking his beard and thinking to himself, “Gee, one big bomb in the Gulf of Mexico could wipe out half of America’s energy supply in seconds and cause an economic catastrophy never before seen.”

Yet, despite this threat and sizable inconvenience to the people of this region, candidates running for office like Larry Kissell, who is seeking to unseat Congressman Robin Hayes (R-NC08), refuses to support expanding domestic drilling to additional parts of the nation and instead insists on making his would be constituents wait a couple of decades for alternative fuel sources to be developed enough for practical use.  Presidential candidate John McCain continues to withhold backing of ANWR drilling, a project that would take up about as much space as the Douglas Airport in Charlotte and yet is stuck in the middle of an area roughly the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined.  While Obama states in his Web site that he supports shale drilling in the midwest and increased refinery capacity in existing oil fields, he still opposes offshore drilling in our own two states.  Furthermore, Lt Governor Bev Perdue had to be dragged kicking and screaming into saying that she would not be completely opposed to offshore drilling in North Carolina as governor, however her staunch resistance to this idea in the past casts doubt on her sincerity.

When Charlotte voters go to the polls next month these are some of the facts they need to be taking with them when making their decision.  Who is allowing you to live freely and who is taking it from you?

The Senate as you are well aware by now passed a sweetened version of the bailout Tuesday evening.  The House voted again today and complied, as I suspected they would.  So the dirty deed is now done.  Bear in mind that this bill was rife with waist added by the Senate on Tuesday night that had nothing to do with the economical turmoil.

• $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children
• $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners
• $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry
• $148 million in tax relief for U.S. wool fabric producers
• $49 million tax benefit for fishermen and other plaintiffs who sued over the 1989 tanker Exxon Valdez spill.

People, are you not outraged?  If so, ask yourself why you might be going to the voting booth in November to return the same people to office who just voted for one of the largest Federal power grabs in American history and threw almost a trillion dollars of money we don’t have down the toilet.  Are those of you in South Carolina prepared to give Lindsey Graham another six years?  Think twice.  He’s one of the culprits.  Richard Burr also voted for it on behalf of North Carolina.  Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) opposed the measure.  Additionally, both Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama voted for the bailout as did VP candidate Joe Biden.

I can’t get the vote information from the House yet.  The Web site must be getting swamped with traffic because it’s timing out on me, but I’ll post it as soon as I have it available.

Update: I now have the House roll. Sue Myrick and Gresham Barrett flipped on this, voting for the bailout today, whereas they voted against it before.

Voting for the bill:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Voting against the bill:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)

As I’m sure you have heard by now, the $700 billion bailout failed to pass the House of Representatives today by a mere 13 votes.  I was opposed to this bailout, so I am rather pleased, for now.  They’ll try something again.  I just have a huge issue with this theory that corporations can privatize all of their gains but socialize their losses.  That just doesn’t seem quite right to me.

This video pretty much sums up my thoughts.

So how did your representative vote?  Did they vote to use your tax dollars to bail out Wall Street fat cats or did they vote to save your tax dollars?

Voting for the bailout were:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Voting against the heinous bailout were:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)

Boy, the South Carolina delegation sure sucks a nut. David Price is no surprise.  He loves using your money to give special favors to all of his corporate friends.  Same with Henry Brown.  I expected Watt to be on the yea list as well because he is a Socialist.  Overall it looks to be just about split down the middle.  Now you know who is on your side and who is pining for the Rockefellers.

The U.S. Senate today overwhelmingly sent President Bush a spending bill of $634 billion to keep the government “operating beyond the current budget year.”  If only that were the case.  This budget passage, as every other, consisted of a hogfest of a Congressional pen of pigs in starched white shirts feeding from the trough that you and I provided.  This thing is stuffed with thousands of earmarks in addition to $25 billion of taxpayer funded loans to help bailout the automakers.  The bill was presented in its final form from the House to the Senate as H.R. 2638, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008, sponsored by none other than our very own Representative David Price (D-NC-04).

How did our representatives vote?  As usual, in the Senate Jim DeMint stood up and vocally opposed the legislation.  Lindsey Graham joined him in voting against it.  Richard Burr made a rare and unusual move, voting Present, Giving Live Pair.  What this means is that somebody else who not present at the vote and knew they wouldn’t be who planned on voting the opposite way Burr was made a deal with him to vote present so that the outcome wouldn’t be altered by their absence.  In other words, for the sake of argument, let’s say Burr was hypothetically going to vote No, but John McCain was absent and was planning to vote Yes which would cancel out Burr’s vote anyway.  McCain would ask Burr to vote Present then so that the same result is produced.  As I said, this is just a hypothetical.  Burr may have intended to vote Yes and made a deal with an absent Senator who wanted to vote against it.  And we can’t forget Liddy Dole who as usual voted for her pork.

In the House we had the following voting for the waste:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-01)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Voting against the waste were:

• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

Heath Shuler did not vote.

I received the following press release from the NRCC:

For Immediate Release: Contact: Press Office
September 25, 2008 (202) 479-7070*

Kissell Still Coming Up Empty on Energy

No Drilling, No Solutions

Washington – Despite an ongoing energy crisis in North Carolina and across the country, Larry Kissell adamantly insists that all will be wall as long as the country comes together to agree on a mysterious program, the details of which he refuses to divulge. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hit the North Carolina airwaves with an ad attacking Kissell’s opponent on energy, but no one not even Kissell himself can seem to figure out Kissell’s so-called energy plan.

Kissell likes to spin his non-plan as a solution to the country’s energy crisis, but every time he opens his mouth, it’s clear that he has little to offer the North Carolina voters who struggle with high gas prices every day.

When discussing the energy crisis at a campaign event, Kissell insisted upon giving a non-answer to a question about his non-plan:

Larry Kissell: We’ve got to have a program, not just bits and pieces.

Audience Member: Well what is your program?

Kissell: To pull everybody together and create a program that works.

Though Kissell refused to give any answer about what his “program” actually entails, his appearance
on WDYT Charlotte’s Mornings with Jon Robinson spells out a clear picture of just how big of a disaster Kissell’s energy non-agenda would be for North Carolina.

Jon Robinson: You mentioned energy. How about, would you support offshore exploration for natural gas off the North Carolina coast.

Larry Kissell: (Interrupting) No.

Robinson: or oil refineries…

Kissell: (Interrupting) No.

Robinson: What’s that?

Kissell: No.

Robinson: No? But you want energy independence… This is the power of the United States. What about oil refineries in the United States?

Kissell: (Interrupting) We can get it without having to do that. We do not have to sacrifice everything.

Robinson: ANWR…

Kissell: We do not have to sacrifice everything for the future, things for our kids? We’ve done enough of that already…

Robinson: So, the taxpayers have to pay more money?

Unfortunately for Kissell, this do-nothing, drill-nothing approach doesn’t hold water with North Carolina voters who demand immediate action toward lower gas prices and energy  independence.

I’m not a fan of Robin Hayes, but I am certainly not going to show Larry Kissell any support when he refuses to address this issue in a serious manner. North Carolina and the rest of the country is hurting over these high gas prices and this jackass refuses to support any common sense solutions and instead insists on speaking in platitudes about fantasy alternatives and a plan that doesn’t exist.   Kissell has so far proven that he isn’t a quality candidate for Congress and will be just another twit mucking up the works in D.C.

No thanks!  We have enough of those.

Of all of the companies facing major transitions over the last week, lawmakers owned the most stock in AIG. Twenty-seven lawmakers owned stock in AIG last year, worth between $6.4 million and $20 million. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), one of the richest members of Congress, was at the top of the list of congressional investors, owning stock worth between $2.8 million and $11.5 million, while Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) followed with stock valued around $2 million.

Open Secrets

If Robin Hayes still owns this stock then he has a duty to recuse himself from voting on this bailout bill when it comes forward.  If he votes on this legislation there is a clear conflict of interest amounting to millions of dollars from your every day Joe Schmo going to bail out his investments.  As far as I’m concerned, if he were to vote for this it’s plain and pure corruption.

The House passed H.R. 6899 last night, otherwise known as the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act.  As I touched on yesterday, this is the House version of Lindsey Graham’s “Gang of 10″ bill that will do absolutely nothing to open up oil reserves off of our shores and lower gas prices.  This bill is nothing more than political cover so that politicians can go into the November election lying to their constituents that they voted for offshore drilling, when they didn’t.  Most of the coastal oil reserves will remain untapped under this bill and will have no effect.  Furthermore, the states will get no royalties from the drilling, so which state is going to okay this and take the slight risk of an oil spill without any revenue from it?  None of them will and Nancy Pelosi knows that.  Let’s not forget the tax increase the oil companies will receive as well which will get passed on to you and me when we’re buying our gas.

So who in the Carolinas voted for this hoax?  Who will lie to you between now and Election Day and claim they voted to lower your prices at the pump?  A lot of them.

Voting aye were:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Democracy Corps is James Carville’s organization. This poll was taken from August 20th through August 26th.

Now you should bear in mind that the samples were very small, less than 100 people in each Congressional district, so there is going to be a larger margin of error than in most polls. However, most of these percentages seem fairly accurate to me. The only two I question is NC-05 and NC-08. I don’t think that Virginia Foxx is in a statistical tie with Roy Carter, though I don’t doubt he isn’t close to her. I also think the gap between Robin Hayes and Larry Kissell is smaller than the eight point spread shown in this poll. Shuler is crushing Mumpower which I have been saying since the birth of this blog would be the case no matter which Republican Heath runs against. Plus, the fact that Mumpower’s race has been akin to a Barnum & Bailey juggling act only makes it more so. I don’t know why NC-12 and NC-13 were not included on this poll, but I think the conventional wisdom is that neither Mel Watt nor Brad Miller have much to worry about this year.

All and all, I don’t see any of the Congressional districts in North Carolina switching parties this year. I think all of the incumbents are going to be retained. If Kissell loses, I’m afraid my friends at BlueNC will become suicidal.

Update: I mistakenly had the Fifth District Democratic candidate listed as Roy Cooper instead of Roy Carter. That has been corrected.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a taxpayer watchdog group that ranks our Congressmen on their effectiveness of responsibly managing our tax dollars and not spending it on frivolous pork barrell spending.  Overall, the current Congress sucks the toejam off a homeless man’s foot in this regard, but our representatives from both North and South Carolina were a little better than most.  A rating of 100% is a taxpayer hero and a rating of 0% is a government elected thief stealing your money in order to pander to his constituents at reelection time.  Our two states received no 100s or zeros, but came close on both ends.

Our four Senators did a pretty good job.  Both Burr and DeMint received an honorable mention by the CAGW, each scoring a 97%.  Graham came in with an 87% and Dole with 73%.  Overall, these scores are acceptable.  The House?  Not so much….

The Republicans did decently for the most part, which surprised me because southern Republicans typically are some of the worst abusers for earmarking in Congress.  The Democrats all performed abysmally and Henry Brown, Robin Hayes, and Walter Jones could use some work themselves.

North Carolina Congressman Robin Hayes (R) has predicted a John McCain VP nominee pick of Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor (R).  It is said that McCain has made his decision already and that he will unveil that to his pick some time this evening.  I imagine we’ll hear about it before the end of the day or early tomorrow morning.  Cantor would be a satisfying pick for conservatives given his strong conservative stance on most views and policies.  He would also compliment McCain’s fiscal hawkishness and provide for a reform minded message in the Republican Party.