We Will be Starting Back Up Soon!

We are coming back better than before.

Give us some time and we will back in full force, hopefully before the "special" election.

Some of Carteret to Vote Again, Fletcher Loses

Atkinson is delcared winner by BOE, The voters in Carteret County whose votes were lost will vote again in Ag. Race. Likely Troxler is Next Ag. Commissioner.

The State Board of Elections agreed today to allow voters whose ballots were lost due to a machine malfunction in Carteret County to cast new ballots in a special election for state agriculture commissioner.

The board voted 4-1 to allow participation in the election by early voters whose ballots were lost, plus anyone who did not vote Nov. 2.

No date was set for the special election.

Republican Steve Troxler leads incumbent Democrat Britt Cobb by just 2,342 votes out of 3 million cast in the agriculture commissioner's race. More than 4,400 votes were lost in coastal Carteret when machines didn't record some votes.

Read More from the N&O

Him Again?

From the N&O

Lexington lawyer Jim Snyder is looking for a possible rematch with Beverly Perdue in four years.

The two faced each other this year in the lieutenant governor's race, with Perdue, the incumbent Democrat, defeating Snyder by a 56 to 43 percent margin.

Perdue and Snyder, a Republican, could once again be rivals in 2008. But they would be running for governor, not lieutenant governor. Snyder said he is considering seeking the GOP nomination for governor in four years; Perdue is widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination.

Snyder hopes to get out early in the GOP primary race to line up the support of party activists and contributors, much as state Sen. Patrick Ballantine did this year on his way to capturing the GOP nomination for governor.

"We have now established the name recognition and hopefully the credibility among Republican conservative voters," Snyder said. "I believe we are in a better position than anyone to win the nomination."

Snyder said he expects his major competition for the GOP nomination will be Ballantine. He also has heard other Republican names being circulated, including Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, Raleigh lawyer Jim Cain and state Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton.

Snyder will likely have to overcome a perception that he cannot win. He lost the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate to Elizabeth Dole in 2002 and briefly entered the 5th District GOP congressional primary this year before withdrawing to seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

Snyder said that anyone would have lost to the popular Dole and that he acquitted himself credibly as a candidate for lieutenant governor this year, laying the groundwork for a run for governor.

"When it's my time to stop running for the football," Snyder said, "I hope I'll know it."

GOP plaintiffs lose in court

A Wake County judge Monday refused to stop the state's efforts to wrap up the results from the Nov. 2 election, a court skirmish that previewed today's State Board of Elections meeting over blunders and disputes over vote counting in this year's election.

Superior Court Judge Henry Hight rejected a request by three Republicans, including Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James, for a preliminary injunction to keep state officials from certifying the election results for races that could have been decided by provisional ballots cast outside the voters' home precincts.

Read the full article from the Charlotte Observer

Judge denies Fletcher's request for an injunction

A judge has decided not to block the State Board of Elections from counting about 10,000 votes that were cast in North Carolina’s race for superintendent of public instruction.

Candidate Bill Fletcher asked for an injunction against those votes Monday morning, but his motion was denied.

For about 10,000 North Carolinians, the votes they cast on Election Day have ended up in a Wake County court room.

Read the full article from News 14

Anarchist Thugs Appear in Court

The three people accused of vandalizing North Carolina’s GOP headquarters have reconsidered their decision to represent themselves.

Melissa Brown, David Hensley and Vanessa Zuloaga all appeared in court Monday. The three are charged with causing $5,000 worth of damage to the building on November 5.

In an earlier court appearance, Zuloaga waived her right to council but Monday morning, all three requested court appointed attorneys.

Read the Full Story from News 14

N.C., Fletcher attorneys spar over provisional ballots

From the AP

Attorneys for the state and several political candidates argued Monday before a judge over whether thousands of provisional ballots cast on Election Day should be counted.

Republican candidates for superintendent of public instruction and two county races argued that provisional ballots cast at the wrong precinct on Nov. 2 should be left out of the final totals in their races.

Bill Fletcher, the GOP superintendent candidate, trails Democrat June Atkinson by 8,535 votes out of about 3.3 million ballots cast.

Read more here

Postelection finger-pointing extends House GOP conflict

From The Daily Reflector

RALEIGH, N.C. — Election Day may have been big for Republicans nationally, but it was a day of discontent for GOP members in the state House of Representatives.

Despite winning a majority of the statewide vote in the House elections, Republicans lost five seats in the House and now hold 57 of the 120 in the chamber.

While not unexpected, the setback has perpetuated the finger-pointing and backbiting between the faction of the state GOP led by Co-Speaker Richard Morgan, R-Moore, and Moore's his conservative enemies.

Read More Here

GOP co-speaker not left out

Richard Morgan, Republican co-speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, is going to be all right, despite it all.

Morgan, who most likely has lost his job as co-speaker, will still play some role in the House leadership next year even though Democrats will control the House and many of his fellow Republicans oppose -- or outright despise -- him.

Read the full article from the Charlotte Observer

What Are YOUR Thoughts? Comment Below...

Morgan Answers Critics

State House Co-speaker Richard Morgan says the $1 million-plus his critics spent battling a legislative redistricting plan would have been better used helping Republican candidates.

In a letter to GOP activists and fellow legislators, Morgan attached a statement in which he says the Republicans lost seats in the state House because of “failed recruitment and lack of funding by the NCGOP establishment,” not because of the redistricting map.

“I thought it was about time to let the people of North Carolina know the real word about redistricting,” Morgan said in a brief telephone interview Tuesday.

The letter, with the two-page statement, was sent to hundreds of interested people, he said. Recipients include his fellow House members “except the lizards” and most Republican senators “except the nuts.”

Read the full article from The Pilot

Rob Christensen Commentary on Gerrymandering

Pass the vodka, Comrade. North Carolina had a most wonderful election this month.

It was one that an old-style Soviet apparatchik could appreciate: an election with one-party rule, little competition and sometimes -- best of all -- no election whatsoever.

North Carolina is a deeply competitive state, divided between Democrats and Republicans. But Congress and the General Assembly have become competition-free zones.

Read teh whole article here

Lengthy AP Article on Patrick McHenry

When U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger announced his retirement last year after nine terms in Congress, first-term state lawmaker Patrick McHenry started telling people he was thinking about running for the seat.

Their reaction was less than encouraging.

"It wasn't applause," he recalled. "It was laughter. They did not take me seriously."

Read More Here

Video of the Art Pope Speech

Joel Raupe, Who is the administrative assistant to the North Carolina Senate Minority Leader's office, has posted a video of Art Pope's Speech to the Capital Area Republican Club on his web site.

If you view it, post a comment as to what you think!

View the Video (about 30 minutes)

Ballenger: A legacy of service and controversy

Rep. Cass Ballenger says he has one regret as he leaves Congress after 18 years. And it's not the one you might have guessed.

No, the Hickory Republican does not regret making those controversial comments over the years -- off-the-cuff statements to reporters that got him in hot water with African Americans and got him sued by a Muslim civil rights group.

In an interview with the Observer this week, Ballenger sounded defiant about his headline-making mouth. He admitted he's not a scripted politician, that he says what he thinks right after he thinks it.

Read the full article from the Charlotte Observer

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day, 2004
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

All across America, we gather this week with the people we love to give thanks to God for the blessings in our lives. We are grateful for our freedom, grateful for our families and friends, and grateful for the many gifts of America. On Thanksgiving Day, we acknowledge that all of these things, and life itself, come from the Almighty God.

Almost four centuries ago, the Pilgrims celebrated a harvest feast to thank God after suffering through a brutal winter. President George Washington proclaimed the first National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, and President Lincoln revived the tradition during the Civil War, asking Americans to give thanks with "one heart and one voice." Since then, in times of war and in times of peace, Americans have gathered with family and friends and given thanks to God for our blessings.

Thanksgiving is also a time to share our blessings with those who are less fortunate. Americans this week will gather food and clothing for neighbors in need. Many young people will give part of their holiday to volunteer at homeless shelters and food pantries. On Thanksgiving, we remember that the true strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of the American people. By seeking out those who are hurting and by lending a hand, Americans touch the lives of their fellow citizens and help make our Nation and the world a better place.

This Thanksgiving, we express our gratitude to our dedicated firefighters and police officers who help keep our homeland safe. We are grateful to the homeland security and intelligence personnel who spend long hours on faithful watch. And we give thanks for the Americans in our Armed Forces who are serving around the world to secure our country and advance the cause of freedom. These brave men and women make our entire Nation proud, and we thank them and their families for their sacrifice.

On this Thanksgiving Day, we thank God for His blessings and ask Him to continue to guide and watch over our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 25, 2004, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship to reinforce the ties of family and community and to express gratitude for the many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

From the DUH, this Makes Sense Department

Troxler poses plan to recall 'lost' voters

By LYNN BONNER AND J. ANDREW CURLISS, Staff Writers, N&O

Most of the talk so far about how to figure out who won the election for agriculture commissioner has revolved around two options: a new statewide vote or a vote only in Carteret County, where 4,438 votes were lost.

But the two Republican members of the State Board of Elections have another suggestion -- just have those 4,438 Carteret folks come back and vote.

That's the option suggested by Steve Troxler, the Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner, in the election protest he filed with Carteret. Troxler beat Democratic incumbent Britt Cobb decisively in that county.

Read More Here

Ballenger/Chavez: The Odd Couple

Churchgoing Republican befriends Venezuela's radical president

WASHINGTON -- They are a political odd couple: Cass Ballenger, a conservative Republican congressman from North Carolina, and Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's mercurial, left-leaning president.

Their acquaintance began not long after Chavez's 1998 election as president. They've met or talked up to 25 times, by Ballenger's estimate. In the spring of 2001, Chavez showed up at Ballenger's western North Carolina home in Hickory with most of his cabinet.

Read More Here

Art Pope Responds to Morgan Letter

Richard Morgan Falsely Blames Republican Party for 2004 Election Losses
Morgan Proclaims Himself Great Leader Despite Giving Control of NC House to Democrats

Richard Morgan recently sent out a letter and statement trying to defend his coalition with the Democrats and blame the "NCGOP Establishment," and critics such as myself, for the Republicans not winning a majority of the House seats this year. One would assume from Morgan's statement that he tried as hard as he could to elect a Republican majority to control the NC House.

Read The Full Text Here

State probe clears Pittenger

N.C. elections board is satisfied question arose from clerical mistake

RALEIGH - The N.C. Board of Elections this week cleared state Sen. Robert Pittenger in an inquiry over a $20,000 campaign contribution.

The board's review of Pittenger's campaign finance report also raised a second question that Pittenger appeared to resolve Tuesday.

In the case of the $20,000 contribution, Pittenger provided documents, both to the board and to the Observer, showing that the donation had been incorrectly listed in his report.

The report said money was transferred from Pittenger's real estate company to his re-election campaign. The funds actually came from his personal account.

Pittenger's campaign treasurer dispatched a letter describing the donation listing as an "administrative error."

The distinction is critical, because it is illegal for a campaign to accept corporate contributions. Pittenger, who represents District 39 in southern Mecklenburg County, and some of his Republican colleagues had said last week that the contribution listing was a clerical error.

"What he has provided us does clear up the $20,000 donation," said Kim Westbrook Strach, director of campaign finance for the board of elections.

A letter to Pittenger was being prepared Tuesday clearing him regarding the $20,000 contribution but also asking him to answer a few other questions.

Board of elections staff noticed the real estate company donation in Pittenger's report for July through October and then followed their standard practice of examining the rest of his reports. That review yielded additional questions, most of them minor and technical.

One question concerns a $1,245 contribution listed on Pittenger's campaign report as being from the Robert Pittenger Legislative Account. The donation was listed as being refunded four days later.

Board of elections officials wanted to know what that "legislative" account was, because state law requires that public officials disclose to the board of elections any bank account used in campaigns or "in support of an individual's duties and activities while in an elective office."

Pittenger asked his accountants to research the issue and said another clerical error was to blame. One of his legislative paychecks was mistakenly deposited in his campaign account instead of the "legislative" account, and the campaign issued a refund to the "legislative" account. Pittenger provided bank records to show the money had not been paid out of his "legislative" account.

The "legislative" account is strictly a savings account into which he puts his legislative salary and daily expense stipend, he said.

"It's not used for anything," Pittenger said. "I was going to buy something as a memory of me being in the legislature."

Pittenger, who had a Libertarian opponent but no Democratic opposition this year in his heavily Republican district, has become an effective fund-raiser for Republicans.

He helped organize a group that raises money for Republican state senate candidates. Of the $142,000 he spent from his campaign account over the July to October period, he gave a quarter of it to other candidates.

Snyder may run next for governor

The following article requires registration to read on The Dispatch's web site, so we are providing full text here.

When the first 2 percent of North Carolina's returns came in on Election Night, Republicans George W. Bush had 63 percent of the vote and Jim Snyder of Lexington had 60 percent.
Snyder could almost visualize himself carrying out the duties of lieutenant governor
"For a moment, I was golden," he said.
Things changed quickly, of course. Bush's percentage dipped to 56 percent in North Carolina, but he still won the state and a majority of the nation's electoral votes. Snyder's statewide share dropped to 43 percent, however, and he lost the lieutenant governor's race to incumbent Democrat Beverly Perdue.
Despite the defeat, you can expect to see Snyder's name on a ballot again. "We'll just take a week or two and then we'll start thinking about the next one," he said during an interview in his law office this week.
Snyder, 59, whose only previous political experience was serving out an unexpired state legislative term for his late father in the 1970s, has now run two statewide campaigns in three years and briefly was a candidate for Congress in the 5th District before withdrawing from that race. In 2002 he finished second in a crowded U.S. Senate primary won by Elizabeth Dole. This year, running with the endorsements of former U.S. Sens. Jesse Helms, Lauch Faircloth and Jim Broyhill, he won a three-way primary for lieutenant governor before losing the general election.
In both races going in, winning was "less probable than losing," he said. "This next time we're going to turn that around."
Washington remains an attraction for him. Although he lives in the 12th Congressional District, he is interested in the 6th District seat that Howard Coble won for the 11th time this year. However, Coble, 73, shows little interest in retiring. The Greensboro Republican's father lived to be 90 and his mother is 95.
Snyder said if Dole were to run for vice president in 2008, he would be tempted to run for the Senate again. But that's impossible to predict at this point.
He cautions that he is two or two and a half years from an announcement and that he might never run for anything again. But he also is talking a lot about running for governor in four years. Snyder contends he is uniquely positioned to become only the third Republican governor in North Carolina since Reconstruction.
He acknowledges he could face Patrick Ballantine, the GOP's gubernatorial standard bearer this year, and others in a primary, but says he believes he has enough support among conservative voters to win the nomination. Because of the name recognition he has gained in two statewide races, he said, challengers without that experience would have to spend huge sums to pull equal with him.
The two Republican governors of the past 130 years, Jim Holshouser (1972-76) and Jim Martin (1980-88), were moderates who benefited from presidential election landslides for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, respectively.
Snyder, however, contends it will take a conservative to win the Republican gubernatorial primary in four years. Then, for the Republican nominee to win the general election is a matter of three coefficients, he said.
# The candidate must get the ballots of GOP-registered voters who pulled the lever for Democratic incumbent Gov. Mike Easley this year.
# The Republican must also be attractive to conservative Democratic voters in eastern North Carolina. "We've spent a lot of time down there," Snyder noted.
# The Republican must also be accepted by independent voters and moderate Democrats as a "pragmatic, thinking, caring" person that they can trust and like. Snyder is preparing to release a book about conservative government, but he is moderate enough that conservatives like Sim DeLapp Jr. of Davidson County questioned his conservative credentials during the 2002 Senate race. Triad newspaper editorialists have also praised his concerns about poverty and the environment.
"We've got these covered like no one else has them covered," Snyder said of the three coefficients.
However, a gubernatorial candidacy could put him into another race with Perdue, who is one of three high-ranked Democrats interested in succeeding Easley.
Snyder's proposal during the lieutenant governor's race to deposit $700 in a retirement account for every child born in North Carolina would be a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign. Although his opponents in this year's race criticized the plan as flawed and irresponsible, public support was overwhelming, said Snyder, adding that he will make some effort to get the idea introduced in the state legislature and in Congress before 2008.
"We're going to talk about that until the ducks come home," he said. "It will never die."
Winning election as governor would also require major fund raising, he acknowledged.
Money also played a role in the lieutenant governor race. Snyder estimated spending about $50,000 in the fall campaign, including about $25,000 of his own funds. But that was not enough to buy advertising for raising other issues besides the retirement plan, he said.
One result is that he remained closely associated with Ballantine, who was far behind Easley in the governor's race. No matter what he did, voters were "going to put me in as his (Ballantine's) vice president," Snyder said. Like him, Ballantine got 43 percent of the statewide vote.
A month before the general election, Snyder said, he considered writing a large check and making a big push, but decided that the gamble was too great and that he should save the money for a future campaign.
"We accepted our gains and folded our tent but kept our powder dry so we could live to fight another day," he said.

CBS Now Reporting that Rather is Leaving

This Just broke a few minutes ago

Apparently he is still going play some role in their "news" department.

Fletcher Asks for Help in Recount

Corporate Contribution Allowed for Recount Effort

The Fletcher campaign has a hearing scheduled in Superior Court on Monday, November 29, at 10:00 a.m. to address the constitutional definition of an eligible or qualified voter on election day for statewide and local elections. In addition, protests of the original canvass and the recount canvass were filed.

Fletcher's attorneys indicate that the State Board of Elections will not certify a winner in the Superintendent’s race until after hearing the protests. The SBE has scheduled hearings for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 30. As of now they don’t know whether these will be preliminary hearings or the actual hearings for our and other protests. Presumably the SBE will want to know the outcome of the Superior Court hearing prior to conducting its full hearing on our protests.

Since contributions to help pay for legal fees, protests and litigation do not fall under the Campaign Reporting Act, Fletcher can now accept corporate and personal donations of any amount. Please make checks payable to “Election Protest and Litigation Fund” and mail to PO BOX 5614, Cary, NC 27512-5614.

Personal contributions may still be made to the campaign account (and are still needed for campaign expenses) via secure internet transaction or by mail. Mail to “Bill Fletcher for Superintendent” at the same address. Personal contributions to this account are subject to the limitations of the Campaign Reporting Act.

Another Good Riddance!

The AP is reporting that Dan Rather will step down as Chief anchor for CBS in March of next year. It ain't soon enough if you ask us!

Ballenger considers his legacy

WASHINGTON -- Cass Ballenger is packing his things after 18 years in the U.S. House and almost 40 years in public life, from county commission to state legislature to Congress.

He is taking pictures from his office wall. ("What's the market for used picture frames?") He sees himself, younger, with U.S. presidents. But his favorites are at eye level, near the door. They are labeled with slips of paper taped to the glass, "Vicente Fox, Mexico," "Hugo Chavez, Venezuela," "Alvaro Uribe, Colombia."

Read more here

Poll: Majority gives Bush good job approval mark

(CNN) -- Fifty-five percent of Americans like the way President Bush is handling his job, while the approval rating for his Iraq policies is slightly lower, according to the first full CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll following the November 2 presidential election.

Forty-two percent of those polled don't believe Bush is doing a good job. Sixty percent have a positive opinion of Bush, versus 39 percent with the opposite view.

Read More Here

No NC candidates in 2008?

Poll tests '08 waters

From the News and Observer

North Carolinians apparently don't like their politicians running for president.

That seems to be the message of a new Elon University Poll, which asked voters what they thought about Edwards, Democratic Gov. Mike Easley or Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole seeking the presidency in 2008.

The poll found that 41 percent of North Carolinians supported Edwards running for president in four years, while 42 percent opposed it and 17 percent had no opinion.

Only 29 percent favored favored Easley running for president, while 34 percent opposed. The rest didn't have an opinion.

The survey found that 36 percent favored Dole running, while 42 percent opposed the idea. The rest had no opinion.

The survey of 559 registered North Carolina voters was conducted Nov. 15-18 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

More Like a Good Riddance!

One-Term, Lost for President, Lost for VP and somehow we are supposed to care?

After run that led to VP nomination, Edwards gives Senate goodbye

By The Associated Press
Nov 20, 2004 : 2:31 pm ET

Ending a six-year run that began in North Carolina courtrooms and ended with a presidential campaign, U.S. Sen. John Edwards says he's leaving the U.S. Senate with an unfinished agenda but will keep speaking up for the voiceless.

In his farewell address to the Senate, Edwards invoked the names of colleagues he fought with on patients' rights legislation and constituents he fought for in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd and the closing of Pillowtex Corp. in Kannapolis.

Read More (If you actually care)