I can't wait for the ads showing how Dole sided with the Navy instead of with the state she supposedly represents.

1/13/2008 7:58:58 PM

i also heard through the grapevine that she visited a western NC newspaper in October and commented how beautiful that part of the state was. She had never visited the western part of the state.

1/13/2008 8:38:58 PM

^^ with the figures being thrown around for fundraising totals for her opponents, i wouldn't hold my breath for anything other than name id/national issue ads till right before the election...whoever is the dem senate candidate is going to have to pray for huge coattails by the Dem presidential candidate, and stick to whatever national themes the candidate is using

~500k is not exactly statewide money, hell it's barely congressional money these days (granted its still sort of early), and if they're not considered competitive they're not going to get any outside help from the likes of the DNC or DSCC...

if you were to ask your average voter anywhere in the state other than the areas immediately surrounding the OLF and i bet its not even in their top 5 issues, so your cost/vote ratio for an ad like that is pretty weak...

now if someone more parochial to the issue like GK Butterfield or Basnight supported OLF, and were getting hammered by an ad like that, I think you'd get much more value out of it.

[Edited on January 13, 2008 at 8:49 PM. Reason : .]

additionally, that part of the state is not exactly her stronghold either.

^ given her affinity for being up here, it's not surprising...its not like she has to worry about a Dem doing anything in that part of the state really...


[Edited on January 13, 2008 at 8:53 PM. Reason : .]

1/13/2008 8:49:10 PM

FYI, Neal announced only raising $210k.... and he was in the race for the entire quarter

[Edited on January 15, 2008 at 3:59 PM. Reason : ]

1/15/2008 3:33:57 PM

He'll be at UNC tonight if anyone wants to go.

Quote :

"Time and Place Date: Thursday, January 24, 2008 Time: 8:00pm - 9:00pm Location: Gardner 105 City/Town: Chapel Hill, NC"

In addition to being at NCSU recently he was also recently at UNC Charlotte, so he seems to be getting around NC's colleges.

Quote :

"Time and Place Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Time: 8:00pm - 9:00pm Location: Talley Student Center, room 3118 Street: 2610 Cates Avenue City/Town: Raleigh, NC"

Quote :

"Time and Place Date: Thursday, January 10, 2008 Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm Location: The Bonnie E. Cone University Center, room 208 Street: 9201 University City Blvd. City/Town: Charlotte, NC"

He may not be as experienced as Hagan, but I'd prefer someone who was willing to run and for the right reasons rather than someone like Hagan who announced she wasn't willing to run but only later caved in to the pressure. And anyone is better than Dole who is hardly in the state, hasn't done a great job, lines up a little too much with Bush on Iraq, wont bring anything new or fresh in the way of change, and now has weakening support numbers.

1/17/2008 7:31:29 PM

^ Meet her and then tell me that you aren't convinced that she's going to beat Dole.

1/17/2008 7:34:02 PM

If does rounds to the colleges in NC then maybe I'll get a chance to meet her. If she comes to my city I'll certainly hear her out.

But right now I think Neal is playing it smart, and has some broad appeal issues such as kids health insurance, economic security: spending within our means, and supporting our troops by bringing them home which make him a viable contender.

Almost to 500 members here:
http://ncst.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7874965265

Don't get me wrong, I think Hagan would have to be a vast improvement over Dole (someone who had to issue a press release that she vacationed in NC's mountains to show she spends any time here at all), but I'd have more respect for Hagan if she had stood up to lead on her own instead of saying no, then being pressured into it.

[Edited on January 17, 2008 at 7:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/17/2008 7:46:03 PM

Jim Neal is an absolute horrible candidate. If you saw him yesterday you would have agreed. He has no stump speech, he just spouts off talking points and his obsession wit his homosexuality is going to kill him. Seriously, this was the exchange after all the questions were asked.

Neal Campaign Manager: "So I'm a homosexual man..."
Jim Neal: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...So am I..."

Neal does not know how to campaign is just a god awful candidate.


And Hagan didn't run the first time because she thought Grier Martin was going to run. It as basically Grier's decision, but Grier turned it down. That is why Hagan entered.

[Edited on January 17, 2008 at 7:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/17/2008 7:53:27 PM

Quote :

"He'll be at UNC tonight if anyone wants to go."

And by tonight I mean next week because I can't read.

1/17/2008 8:18:07 PM

Which is now tonight at 8, he'll be at Gardner 105 at UNC for the event.

1/24/2008 6:36:44 AM

I found it interesting that he said we should treat global warming deserved the same level of attention and response as we applied to world war 2.

He was strong on education, supporting veterans, and several other issues.

When asked why he would be better than kay, while offering some specifics, his main point was that its a choice between a career politician and the potential special interest ties that has vs a business man/citizen (with some political knowhow) looking for change.

On gay marriage he said he absolutely opposes the government telling churches which people they are required to marry.

But at the very least this event will help get alot of more signs, bumper stickers, and the like out there in the triangle and across NC w/ his campaigns college tour.

[Edited on January 24, 2008 at 10:13 PM. Reason : .]

1/24/2008 10:07:26 PM

Quote :

"career politician"

you do know that kay got into the state senate after being a stay at home mom? she saw that there needed to be a change in NC and decided to run, and won.

i would hardly say that being in the nc state senate for nine years constitutes a career politician.

(and, seriously, step back a few....could you honestly see jim neal beating liddy dole? having a democrat that can actually beat dole is more desirable...)

[Edited on January 24, 2008 at 10:36 PM. Reason : .]

1/24/2008 10:34:41 PM

[Edited on January 24, 2008 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ^beat me to it]

1/24/2008 10:35:32 PM

Quote :

"could you honestly see jim neal beating liddy dole?"

I don't know. If the election was held today, probably not. But he's aggressively campaign across NC especially at college campuses. I only heard of kay b/c of this thread, b/c someone said announced they would enter the race after announcing they wouldn't enter the race. Kay definitely wins on political experience, but I haven't seen a strong campaign yet and it'll take that kind of energy too to win.

1/24/2008 10:48:07 PM

Too bad he has no money.

Smart politicians spend the early time raising the money to pay for the politics...

From what I know, he hasn't been doing that....

I'm not trying to dissuade you from supporting him, just now that to be a good politician you have to do the legwork to actually have the campaign. Great that he's getting out and spreading his message, but if he doesnt have the money to get the message out, then he's screwed. And if he doesn't have the political support to keep going, then he goes nowhere. You have to be a different kind of smart to win a senate race.

1/24/2008 10:55:34 PM

He might not be a "smart politician" but he is a smart business man. He'll stretch his money and use it efficiently.

http://ncst.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8311766965&ref=mf

Quote :

" Event InfoName: Campaign Office Open House Tagline: Neal for Senate Grand Opening: 100 Days to May Primary! Host: Jim Neal for U.S. Senate! Type: Party - House Party Time and PlaceDate: Monday, January 28, 2008 Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm Location: Jim Neal for U.S. Senate Campaign Headquarters Street: 200 Meredith Drive City/Town: Durham, NC Contact InfoPhone: 919.544.1136 Email: action@jimnealforsenate.com"

Its not even as far out as a drive to southpoint coming from the Raleigh direction, its a nice central point to draw in people from all of the triangle. I recommend to anyone who really wants to see if they think he is a viable candidate or not to go out there for this event and just have a look for yourself.

1/24/2008 11:24:49 PM

Campaign Office Grand opening happens tonight.

And then several more college events are going on in addition to having hit unc charlotte, nc state, unc, ecu, he's also visiting Wake Forest University & Fayetteville State University and more.

Quote :

"Event: U.S. Senate Candidate Jim Neal at Fayetteville State University Type: Meetings - Informational Meeting Host: Fayetteville State College Democrats Time: 4:00pm Wednesday, February 6 Location: Shaw Auditorium, SBE Building"

Quote :

" U.S. Senate Candidate Jim Neal at Wake Forest University Type: Meetings - Informational Meeting Host: Wake Forest College Democrats Time: 6:00pm Tuesday, February 5 Location: Benson University Center, Room 407"

And listed here are another 50 or so events around the state in the next month.
http://jimnealforsenate.com/events/

He's certainly getting around so there are plenty of chances to hear what he has to say to see if he's a candidate that you want to support, but tonights event is special in that it'll give you that sort of campaign issue information combined with information on how to get involved.


Here's a map there:
http://www.campusblender.com/photos/fullsize/267463.jpg

Quote :

"200 Meredith Drive in Durham. Exit 278 off I-40, head south on 55 toward Apex, past the intersection with Hwy 54. Turn right at the Subway on Meredith Drive – the office is down the drive on the right side (second building on right with a green awning)."

[Edited on January 28, 2008 at 3:08 PM. Reason : .]

1/28/2008 3:07:28 PM

I'm sorry for bringing this thread back to life, but this needed to be posted:

http://bluenc.com/jim-neal-and-the-politics-of-innuendo

Highlights:

Quote :

"One of the more prominent people listed as an endorser, former Senator Bob Kerrey has said that he did not endorse Jim Neal. I spoke with Senator Kerrey last week. He said that Jim Neal is a good man and that he likes Jim. Kerrey, however refused to endorse Jim Neal when asked. According to Kerrey, he told Jim that he didn't know the other person running, but that he does not endorse in a primary. Kerrey was very clear about this when we spoke. As a matter of fact when he returned my call he responded to my greeting with, "This is Bob Kerrey. I hear I've endorsed Jim Neal." He sounded quite amused and I got the feeling I wasn't the first person to contact him about his "endorsement". "

Quote :

"After speaking with folks involved in these events I have verified that the Neal campaign has been less than truthful. Here's what I learned: • Kay Hagan did NOT ignore the debate invitation from the League of Women Voters and Public Radio East. • Kay Hagan has NOT refused to face Neal in "unscripted exchanges before the voters" . • Kay Hagan has NOT ignored the request from WTVD-TV to schedule a debate. • Kay Hagan did NOT make another public reversal of position. • Kay Hagan did NOT fail to meet the deadline to participate in the League of Women Voters debate • Kay Hagan did NOT come forward and agree to the debate simply because the Neal campaign claimed she wasn't planning to debate. • Kay Hagan has NOT failed to respond to WTVD-TV's efforts to set up a debate. • Kay Hagan did NOT unilaterally change the format of the League of Women voters / Public Radio East debate • The other candidates for U.S. Senate had the same opportunity to offer format suggestions in developing the League of Women Voters debate. • WTVD-TV and the Alliance of Black Elected Officials have offered to host a debate and have contacted both parties. • WLTT and Young Democrats of North Carolina either have not offered to host debates, or have not set dates and formally sent invitations. "

Hmm, guess my assertion of the Neal campaign being "less than truthful" is right on the money

4/7/2008 11:56:38 AM

I will say that if you follow the link, you'll now find Andrew Kain's (Neal Campaign Manager) response to the blog post that was initially posted.

Granted, it gives explanations for the things that were found to be wrong (including endorsements) I don't happen to believe much of what he said.

Claiming the endorsement of a prominent former US Senator is a pretty big misstep imho.

4/8/2008 3:40:22 PM

Andrew Kain's response is very lacking and creates more questions than it answers.

4/8/2008 4:23:14 PM

so far tonight

U.S. Senate (D)
Kay Hagan 128,305
Jim Neal 37,681
Marcus W. Williams 19,913
Duskin C. Lassiter 7,263
Howard Staley 7,294

http://www.newsobserver.com/2828

5/6/2008 10:12:19 PM