archived: 11 - 17 Dec, 2005         Back                 Next

            5^TH AND 11^TH 

An Elon College poll suggests that Democrats have an opportunity to challenge two North Carolina Republicans.  The Durham Herald Sun is reporting that “[a] telephone poll last month by Elon University offered some basis for optimism, finding a substantial gap between the percentage of people in North Carolina who said they voted Republican for president in 2004 -- 45.8 percent -- and those who intend to vote Republican for congress in 2006 -- 26.2 percent.”  

Republican Congressman Charles Taylor, 11^th District, has been under siege over ethical questions; most recently including having accepted donations from Abramoff.  The Ashville Citizen Times has featured extensive coverage: 

In 2002, Taylor received $1,000 from the Cherokee tribe (which won funding this year) a few months after he sent a letter urging funding for an Abramoff-backed tribe. He also received $2,000 from an Abramoff tribe in 2002 just before signing a letter.

 

The Eastern Band desperately needed new schools at the time the letters were written, Taylor spokeswoman Deborah Potter said.

 

In 2003, Taylor helped secure land in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the tribe to build an elementary, middle and high school.

 

Taylor’s office said he never met with Abramoff but did have contact with one of Abramoff’s associates. Taylor said he intervened because he wanted to preserve the program so the Eastern Band of Cherokee in his state could eventually win money.

 

“I receive support from many tribes across the nation,” Taylor said. “My efforts ... are for the benefit of every tribe, not simply those who chose to support my campaigns.” . . .

 

Taylor, chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees tribal funding, signed the 2003 Burns letter and confirmed he sent an earlier letter on March 18, 2002, signed by several colleagues. Twelve days before, Taylor received $2,000 from an Abramoff tribe.

 

The four others who signed Taylor’s letter also got help. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., for instance, used Abramoff’s Signatures restaurant in Washington for a campaign fund-raiser one month after the letter, paying $2,907 for food. “The congressman has never even met Jack Abramoff. We used his facility, we got a bill and we paid the bill just like any other member of the public,” Tiahrt spokesman Chuck Knapp said. 

Democrat Heath Schuler will be challenging.  

As the [11^th] district's Republican tilt has grown more pronounced in recent years, Democrats -- primarily concentrated in the liberal enclave of Asheville -- have struggled to mount an effective challenge to Taylor, a banker and timber magnate who generally foregoes active campaigning. But Shuler, who grew up in the district's Swain County, has drawn widespread interest due to his gridiron past and a belief his centrism could win over Taylor voters.

 

Shuler started campaigning this summer and had already raised an impressive $266,142, with nearly $250,000 on hand, by Sept. 30, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. Taylor had raised $443,557 and had just $19,000 on hand -- but he is also among the wealthiest members of Congress.  – Durham Herald  

In the 5^th District: 

Democratic mayor of Winston-Salem, Allen Joines, is also reportedly contemplating a challenge of first-term GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx. In any other year, Foxx would be considered all but invulnerable after easily winning her seat with 59 percent of the vote last year.

 

"We want to be in a position where we're building a case with voters over a long period of time," said Sarah Feinberg of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has been shotgunning e-mails that attack all three House representatives for their controversial votes and ties to scandal-plagued Republicans like former House Majority Leader Tom Delay and former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California. – Durham Herald     

Both Districts offer promise for Democrats, but will require aggressive campaigns to win. 

                        BLACK OUT? 

North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black has been under close scrutiny for several cases involving campaign contributions arguably linked to political favors.  NC Spin is reporting that Speak Black will step down from his position as Speaker: 

The question being asked by many is how much longer Jim Black can last under the barrage of media stories that call into question his ethics and leadership. Each new revelation adds more fuel to the fire. When the news media is onto someone or something the way they are Black, there is only one recourse: resignation.

 

Further proof can be found in today's news. Black says he ain't resigning, despite an outright call to do so by the Greensboro News and Record, the state's third largest paper, and highly critical editorials in Charlotte, Raleigh, and numbers of other dailies. The fact that he says he isn't resigning is a death knell. Its part of the cycle.  . . .  

 

More and more have come to the realization that there is only one way the Jim Black stories are going to cease and that is when Black resigns as Speaker. Ask Meg Scott Phipps. At this point the question is one of timing, not outcome. While most Democrats are valiantly hewing the party line and proclaiming love and support for the Charlotte optician, the reality is that they will be relieved when all this is over…and increasingly they are coming to the realization that it won't be over until Black calls it quits.  . . .

 

What's the timeline? The Grand Jury is due to come back to Raleigh next week. We hear both Kevin Geddings and Meredith Norris will testify. We have heard they are both being very cooperative with the feds. More snakes are turning up under rocks and the Grand Jury's evidence gathering phase will go on into February or March. We have heard speculation that it will be April or May before indictments are handed down.

 

This is highly problematic for Democrats. Primary elections for the 2006 legislative races will be held in early May. If no resignation has taken place before then, the Black issue will be the 800 pound Gorilla in the races. Few believe Black can make it through the short session due to start in May. . . .

 

So the resignation will likely be sometime between January and May. We're betting March and might result from part of a plea bargain arrangement. The Speaker has steadfastly maintained he isn't the target of any investigation. Fewer and fewer believe this to be true. There are too many buzzards circling around. 

House Democrats may force a show down with Speaker Black earlier than even NC Spin predicts.  House Democrats will be caucusing before Christmas.  One would suspect that an effort to over throw Speaker Black may be in the offing.  

                        A SWITCH  

For years, rank and file Democrats watched as some Democrats switched Parties as the Republicans obtained majority status nationally.  A leading North Carolina Republican is switching to Democrat to challenge a conservative Republican.  

State Rep. Russell Capps of Raleigh will be getting a most unusual Democratic challenger next year -- the president of the Wake County Republican Mens Club.

 

Chris Mintz, a Raleigh financial planner, is not only resigning as club president, but is changing his registration to Democrat.

 

Mintz, 30, said he decided to leave the Republican Party because he thinks it is too focused on social issues rather than on economic issues. He also said the GOP is becoming less tolerant of different viewpoints.

 

"The Republican Party appears to be going further and further to the right," Mintz said. "It's really not the party for me any longer. I'm not bitter. I have a lot of friends who are Republicans."  -- News & Observer 

Mintz’ switch to Democrat is another affirmation that moderates have no home in the Republican Party.  Democrats should make room for moderate Republicans in the North Carolina Democratic Party.                  

TAR HEEL DEM CELLAR