Carolina Politics Online

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.

Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes of the 8th District defeated Larry Kissell by 329 votes. This is the first of a two-part series in Inside Politics looking at this year’s rematch. Next week’s column focuses on Kissell.

Robin Hayes says the No. 1 issue this election is not Iraq. It’s the skyrocketing cost of gasoline.

The Republican from Concord says one way to begin lowering energy costs is to open more areas in the U.S. to drilling. The five-term incumbent agrees with President Bush and this year’s presumptive GOP nominee, John McCain, who are calling for more drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“My opponent won’t allow drilling,” Hayes said in a telephone interview.

Kissell wants oil companies to drill more on existing land leases — not in new areas of the country.

The Fayetteville Observer

I think this will be a huge issue and Republicans as well as pro-drilling Democrats can capitalize on it.  Most people really don’t understand how the oil markets work.  They just know that the price of oil is skyrocketing and costing them at the pump.  Politicians who run on a platform of opening up offshore drilling to increase supply and thus reduce the price will definitely hit home with the voters.  Kissell is foolish to oppose this in my opinion.  This isn’t an overwhelmingly left wing district and home to lots of extreme environmentalists that would support Kissell’s opposition to this.

Democrat Larry Kissell, the Biscoe teacher who came within 330 votes of a seat in Congress two years ago, has three times the cash he had at the same point in his last bid, but is still dwarfed by Rep. Robin Hayes’ fundraising.

Kissell had $232,000 cash on hand as of June 30, compared to $83,000 two years ago, campaign finance reports filed Tuesday show.

Charlotte Observer

This is probably going to be the biggest up in the air race in this election year.  If I were to base my analysis on history, I would say odds are Kissell would lose.  In 1994 there a few Republicans that came very close to picking off Democrat incumbents and when they ran against them again in 1996 they lost by a larger margin than before.  However, 2008 is not the same political environment as 1996.  With an energized Democratic electorate behind Barack Obama, Kissell could improve his numbers and emerge victorious.  I don’t underestimate Obama’s ability to implode before the election, though.

I won’t even attempt to make a prediction in this race.  It’s too tough to call.

The national Democratic Party began broadcasting radio commercials this week that use high gas prices to criticize U.S. Reps. Robin Hayes and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, along with 11 other Republicans nationwide.

The ads, which feature a President Bush impersonator thanking the two lawmakers for oil company tax breaks, effectively place Hayes and McHenry in the top ranks of the Democratic Party’s targets this year. Both face challenges from well-funded opponents.

Charlotte Observer

This ad is farcicle.  Are they trying to imply that the tax breaks given to oil companies is what is causing the high prices?  So if Congress removed them the price of gas would drop?  LOL  Actually, it would do the opposite because they would pass on their additional costs to the consumer.  That’s the way the market works.  Furthermore, McHenry has supported overturning the drilling bans and Hayes is pushing legislation to build more refineries.  In fact, Hayes has put out a press release today touting his introducing of the Alternative Energy Advancement Act.

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Robin Hayes (NC-8) recently introduced The Alternative Energy Advancement Act (H.R. 6383), which seeks to use proceeds from domestic oil and gas production to increase the development of new alternative energy technologies by diverting all federal proceeds from future oil and gas leases, on and off shore, into a newly created Alternative Energy Trust Fund.

It would seem to me the two Congressmen are on the right side of the issue here.

Both Hayes and McHenry voted for the 2005 legislation that included tax breaks for fossil fuel production, as well as a variety of incentives to encourage new energy and fuel alternatives. More than 70 House Democrats also supported the bill, including Reps. Bob Etheridge, G.K. Butterfield and Mike McIntyre, all of North Carolina.

Democrats, though, had difficulty explaining how they were implicitly criticizing the Republicans for their vote on a 2005 energy bill when U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, voted for the same legislation.

Uh-huh.  Hypocrites.  This ad is nothing more than a sleazy cheap shot at both Congressmen trying to capitalize on the anger and frustration people have over higher gas prices.  McHenry and Hayes are hardly responsible for that.

Democratic Congressional candidate Larry Kissell pumped up his campaign Sunday by selling gas for $1.22 a gallon, highlighting the energy votes of Republican incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes.

Kissell spent almost three hours selling the cheap gas to a few hundred motorists in downtown Biscoe. He used a similar campaign tactic in his narrow loss to Hayes two years ago.

“The people were very appreciative, very patient and appeared very quickly,” Kissell said.

The Herald-Sun

Kissell gets credit for thinking outside the box and being creative.  However, I still see this as vote buying and any voter who would throw their support to any candidate based on that candidate giving them discounted gasoline is a bonehead.  Kissell’s party has been mostly responsible for the high prices of gasoline in this country by their refusal to allow more domestic drilling and their catering to extremists environmentalist groups which has caused higher energy prices.

There is no one solution to energy costs.  There are several.  Alternative fuels are part of the solution as is nuclear power, but so is increasing today’s current supply of oil.  Unless Kissell is prepared to support these solutions, his recent campaign stunt is nothing more than hypocritical.

Congressman Robin Hayes has introduced the House version of legislation calling for improved barracks conditions on Fort Bragg, according to a press release.

Hayes, a Democrat from North Carolina, introduced the measure Thursday, the release said.

Hayes’ bill is a companion to legislation introduced in the Senate by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican from North Carolina, the release said.

The Fayetteville Observer

These standards need to extend to all U.S. army barracks within our borders and outside our borders where doable. Hayes’ bill is supposed to address that need.

Also, the Observer has a mistake in their article. Robin Hayes is a Republican, not a Democrat.

Congressman Robin Hayes (NC-8) has announced that he has secured $500,000 in federal funding for improvements at the Stanly County Airport.

This new funding will be provided as part of the FY 2008 Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Conference Report, which passed through the House. The Conference Report must now pass in the Senate and signed by the President to become a law. Hayes noted that improved infrastructure is a critical component of economic development.

The Stanly News and Press

Is there some reason why Stanly County can’t pay for their own airport?

Cole reveals that Rep. Robin Hayes, the Republican from Concord, apparently has a new nickname on the Hill.”We call him `NASCAR Dad’ around here,” said Cole, a reference to Hayes’ objections over some congressional aides getting vaccinated for hepatitis and other diseases in preparation for attending a race in his district. “I think he’s shown with this NASCAR issue how nimble he is in taking advantage of opportunities.”

Charlotte Observer

House Homeland Security Committee staffers are on a peculiar mission to study “public health issues at events involving mass gatherings,” which has personally insulted Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord, North Carolina.The event: NASCAR.

The rub: the requirement that the Democrat and Republican staffers attending first be immunized against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, and influenza.

“I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, North Carolina, I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown,” Mr. Hayes, a Republican, said in a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and committee chairman.

The Washington Times

Yup, ain’t no tellin’ wut kinda heebie geebies dem rednecks are carryin’ around these here parts.

National Democrats are salivating over those 329 votes that Rep. Robin Hayes got over teacher Larry Kissell in the last election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it would air beginning today 60-second radio ads attacking the Concord Republican’s voting record.

Charlotte Observer