Archive for the ‘NC Republicans’ Category

This post was written live, as it happened. 

7:21 p.m.  Hello and Welcome to the Wake County Republican Party’s Precinct meeting.  We are at Dorton Arena this evening in West Raleigh, at the state fairgrounds.  This is the first time that the Wake County party has help the precinct meetings all in one place and the strategy has worked out beautifully.  KCC commends county chairman Susan Bryant and her entire team.

7:25 pm  Susan Bryant has welcomed Pat McCrory, Republican candidate for Governor to the stage.  He is standing alongside Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison.

It’s like a pep rally in here.  Don’t Get Fooled Again, by The Who is playing loudly and people are dancing in the aisles and clapping along.

7:36  p.m. McCrory said “we’ve already accomplished half the battle in scaring Gov Beverly Perdue out of the race.  But that’s only half the battle.”

“We won’t get fooled again, as we will get rid of the (former NC Governor) Mike Easley culture of corruption”, Pat McCrory added.

McCrory says that Democrats want to “raise the taxes at the worst time…when new graduates of our colleges cannot find jobs and are having to move back home with mom and dad….instead we need to grow our economy and a pro-growth policy,” he opined.

“We are gonna make sure that every bill that Beverly Perdue vetoed will pass, especially photo voter ID…we have to have a photo ID to get into the Governor’s mansion.  We have to have an idea to buy Sudafed.  We need an ID to vote, too”.

Second, McCrory will join the lawsuit of the states against Obamacare.

Third, McCrory will change the policy against offshore drilling.  ”We will search for oil and natural gas, both onshore and off.”

7:33 p.m.  Education is “very near and dear” to his heart.  He wants to change the way we help our children.  McCrory said he got his teaching degree at Catawba College in 1978 and he wants to contine teaching, this time the entire state.

McCrory does not believe that every child needs to go to a 4-year college or university.  He believes in “two equal paths to success”.  He believes also in a vocational path, where a child can learn to use their hands as a skill so they can innovate.

“The liberal elite tries to force us into only one path, but we need a system of productivity.”  Otherwise “people end up on welfare or in prison.”

We need to emphasize more in technology.  We need to engage these learning tools to help kids with basic skills, he added.

7:40 p.m.  The Culture of Government in North Carolina

McCrory noted that little has changed at the NC Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) since he got his first driver’s license in Jamestown, in 1973.

“We need to change this thinking.  We need to change this culture as we have some great state employees right here in Wake County”.

7:43 p.m.  The State

“No state is as great as ours”, said Pat McCrory.  ”We have fertile soil and lots of industries.  We need less government interference and allow these businesses and industries so they can expand.  Government regulations are also hurting our manufacturing and agriculture sectors.”

“With our great work ethic and our great universities, there is no reason why this state should not lead the nation out of the recession.”

“We must get out and do the hard work.  We have to LEGALLY register people and then take them to the polls on election day.    The other side is doing it.  We don’t want to be outworked.”

He then concluded his speech to the tune of “Won’t get fooled again” by The Who.

Convention Business

8:04 p.m Chairman Susan  Bryant is talking with the audience about the procedures about the county, district, state, and national conventions this year.

Chairman Bryant has announced that Wake County has more registered Republicans than our friends in Mecklenburg County.   The audience went crazy.  It doesn’t matter to this blogger.   KCC just wants everyone taking five people to the polls on election day.

8:08  p.m.  Chairman Bryant announced that over 1300 people PRE-registered to come tonight and many more registered at the door.  She asked the groups to break into House Districts and find our precinct.

9:00  p.m. After signing up for the Wake County convention and paying the fee, this blogger’s precinct business has concluded.  It was great seeing so many friends and candidates.   Thank you to the entire Wake GOP team, and to everyone who came out tonight.

This concludes our live blogging session, this evening.

 

Here are a few updates from around North Carolina:

Uber Liberal NC Representative Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake) to retire: Your blogger’s day is made. KCC lived in her district  nearly all the years Weiss “served” and wrote her many letters. Weiss never once listened to a different idea, or one that didn’t come from her socialist playbook. Read Laura Leslie‘s report.

According to Leslie,

This year’s Republican redistricting maps drew her into a GOP-leaning district with a Republican incumbent, Rep. Tom Murry.

NC House Majority Leader, Rep. Paul Stam, wants you to know what the Marriage Amendment will do. It’s on the same ballot as the May primaries and he offers five points for readers to consider.  KCC notes that our liberal friends have been getting most of the mainstream press on this (what’s new?).

Stam argues in part:

Legally Recognizing Only Heterosexual Marriage Isn’t Discrimination Against Homosexuals Wanting To Marry.  Marriage between a man and a woman has existed in virtually every known society. It has served the purpose of channeling procreative sexual activity into an institution which will provide a stable environment for children produced from the sexual union of the partners in marriage.

 

In a true loss for our state and nation, Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC, 9) will not be running for re-election for her seat in Congress.  Myrick, a former Charlotte Mayor, understands the terrorists threats more than any other member of Congress.  She has organized workshops and worked with a variety of groups in Washington, Charlotte, and Raleigh, to educate and to promote understanding of what the terror threat is, and founded the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus.

Katy’s Conservative Corner wishes Mrs. Myrick our very best and we thank her for her 9 terms serving North Carolina’s ninth district.

Finally, Pat McCrory, likely Republican nominee for Governor, is finishing off his fundraising push after his big announcement week.    He needs any support you can provide.  To donate to McCrory for Governor, please click here and follow the directions.

After the Democratic National Committee urged any candidates considering entering the North Carolina Gubanatorial primary to strike hard against Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Republican Party is fighting back.

In an earlier post, your blogger reported that McCrory has been largely untouched thanks to the constant negative attention on Governor Beverly Perdue.  He was far ahead in the polls, due to her unpopularity.  Last week, she pulled out of the race, leaving a vacuum both in Raleigh and in Washington.

Robin Hayes, chairman of the NCGOP, had this to say:

“The last few days have been interesting to observe. After Perdue’s announcement, we have watched the Democratic establishment race to find a replacement.

“Out of all of the names being floated publicly, have any voiced opposition to the corruption and scandals that have plagued the recent leaders of Democratic Party? With one possible exception, the answer is “no.”

“This means that we can expect whoever their nominee is to be a card-carrying member of the same Democratic Machine that brought North Carolina Governor Perdue, Mike Easley, and Jim Black.

“Whoever emerges from their primary will have some very simple questions to answer:

1.)  As a member of the North Carolina Democratic Machine, do they condemn the past scandals and failed leadership that have plagued both the state and their party?

2.)  Do they want to raise the sales tax by 15% or more on everyone in North Carolina?

If they refuse to condemn the scandals that have plagued their party’s brass, how can we count on them to be any different? If their only solution to problems is to simply raise taxes, it shows that they have no regard for families in our state.

“The time is now to restore faith in the Executive Branch. North Carolina needs a Governor that they can trust, not someone propped up by the same Democratic Machine that created the mess that we have worked hard to clean up.”

In an article posted on Politico Tuesday morning, author David Catanese, weighed in on the North Carolina gubanatorial race.  Catanese argueed that the Democratic National Committee is urging the primary candidates to “define Pat McCrory“. Since the focus is now off Governor Beverly Perdue, the DNC argues, they need to focus on uncovering Pat McCrory’s “negatives”.

…but as pollster Fred Yang writes …, McCrory, … has so far benefited from little scrutiny because of Perdue’s consistent problems.

As far back as mid-2011, Rep. Bill Faison (D-Orange) began began publicly toying with the idea of entering the governor’s race.  He knew Governor Perdue had made serious flubs during her term and turned the public against her.  Her numbers were falling faster than a heavy rain.

Faison recently announced, and is currently advertising on cable television.  His main problem is name recognition, though his team hopes that staying on TV can change that. Tuesday, he spent the day campaigning in your blogger’s home area, eastern North Carolina.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton has also officially entered the race.  Others said to be considering the race are former Second District Congressman Bobby Ethridge, and former Clinton Chief-of-Staff, Erskine Bowles, the favorite of the DC crowd.

Top NC Democrats passing on the race include 11th District Congressman Heath Shuler, and Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx.

McCrory will have his hands full with either of the two announced candidates.  He had such a lead over Governor Beverly Perdue that all North Carolina Republicans are disappointed that they won’t have her  ”to kick around anymore”.

Katy’s Conservative Corner endorsed Pat McCrory in a  post on Monday.   Tuesday afternoon in Greensboro, he officially entered the race in Guilford County, his home area.

Come November, Pat McCrory, will be getting a new job title if all goes his way.  He’ll be Governor of North Carolina.

He kicked off his campaign Monday evening  at a packed event at Caffe’ Luna in Downtown Raleigh.

The past few weeks, the former Charlotte mayor has been criss-crossing North Carolina, pledging to “bring a breath of fresh air to state government“.

His campaign will host a rally Tuesday afternoon in Greensboro, in the center of our state.

Katy’s Conservative Corner is proud to again support Pat McCrory for Governor in 2012!  Go Pat, go!

Last week, Governor Beverly Perdue announced that she would not run for a second term. Next post, KCC will analyze the Democratic field of primary contenders for Governor.

Watch this interview, courtesy of WTVD, for more details:

The big news from the Capitol press corps in Raleigh, Thursday, is that Winston-Salem state Rep. Dale Folwell, won’t run for re-election in 2012.

Laura Leslie of WRAL reported in a Twitter post that the 4-term Republican is double-bunked  in the new legislative maps with fellow GOP member, Larry Brown.  This means they are now in the same district.

Folwell added in a press conference that it “didn’t sway his decision”. Brown is running again, and if Folwell ran, they’d face each other in a primary. Folwell is popular, and your blogger believes that he could  defeat Brown, but was considering higher office anyway.

In fact, Folwell has been considering this action for months now.

He told this blogger he was running for a specific higher office (we won’t share which).

In the presser Thursday, Mark Binker reported that Rep. Folwell is considering running for State Auditor, State Treasurer, or Lt. Governor.

Your blogger suggests he will get in a state race, if and only if:

1.  He believes he can win.

2.  He has or can raise the money to win without putting him in tremendous personal debt.

Whatever race he chooses, this blogger would instantly support him over any other candidate she may have already been considering.  Dale Folwell has been an effective legislator, and has been able to work with both the front and rear of the house.  (In North Carolina, the minority party sits at the rear of the chamber).

We’ll have more on Rep. Folwell coming up soon.

Once again, the Republican members of the Wake County Commission have failed the taxpayers of North Carolina’s capital county.   Red Hat, one of the Triangle region’s most successful companies, came hat-in-hand, to the public trough, asking for $650,000 and the GOP lead group, came through.  This is a group that the Wake County Republican party worked tirelessly to elect and we feel certain that they won’t be happy.

Republican Commissioners Paul Coble (running for Congress), Tony Gurley (running as “the conservative candidate” for Lt. Governor), Phil Matthews, and Joe Bryan all voted FOR this measure.  Liberals Betty Lou Ward and James West also joined in.

According to Board Clerk, Susan Banks, only Erv Portman  cast a vote against.  All conservatives should drop Commissioner Portman a note of thanks for standing alone to protect the taxpayers of Wake County.

Red Hat wants to leave its longtime home on North Carolina State University’s Centennial campus, and move to downtown Raleigh into the recently vacated Progress Energy building.  Progress Energy was recently acquired/merged with Duke Power and those employees have either lost their jobs or have been relocated.

In the name of “jobs”, Red Hat deemed that the “needed” this money to bring more jobs, not only to Wake County, but to lawmakers’ precious downtown, that has already received more than its fair share of public financing.

KCC understands that Red Hat, a successful manufacturer of the Linux computer operating system, would have been fine without the money.  We like to call this effort, the Red Hat Poverty Fund.

Former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, quoted by the News and Observer in a North Carolina Lawyers Weekly article, said

politicians have become afraid to oppose the practice of luring companies with the promise of tax breaks.

It’s time to get companies off the public dole in the ole’ North State. However, it won’t be happening anytime soon. Both the State of North Carolina and the City of Raleigh are expected to vote to chip in to the Red Hat poverty fund. After all, no self-respecting politician wants to appear to oppose jobs, even in the face of principle!

Editor’s Note:  According to the News and Observer, Commissioner Paul Coble said it’s written into the policy of the county commission.  With a Republican Leadership, this policy MUST be changed!

It was another big win for the Democrats in North Carolina this year, and a win that Republicans desperately wanted.  Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx won a second term Tuesday, driven largely by the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Foxx won 67% of the vote, over Republican challenger Scott Stone.  Democrats also took all four of the city council seats that were up for election, making it a clean sweap over the Republican candidates.

Conservatives  wanted  to have the mayoral seat, as a sort of “bully pulpit” in which to welcome the Democrat guests to Charlotte next autumn.   Democrats and other groups out-organized and out-worked the Republicans.  In an election that saw one of the lowest turnouts ever, only 16 %, the liberal groups got their people to the polls, while conservatives did not.

This goes along with some of what was said at the Defending the American Dream Conference, held last weekend in Washington.  The event was sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity, a group founded in North Carolina and greatly disliked by President Barack Obama.

During a breakfast on Saturday morning for the North Carolina delegation, Dallas Woodhouse told the attendees that the opposition is organized for eight, ten, and twenty years out.

Just like the Wake County school board races, held a month ago, there wasn’t just one Democrat office running the efforts, there were four.  Each one was run by a different liberal organization, all working together and trying to undo the progress that members achieved the last two years, when forced busing was removed and the county saw a return to neighborhood schools.

Republicans, conservatives, and their allies, must get on a track towards the long term, instead of just looking to the next election, then sitting on our laurels.

Sure it’s fun to celebrate victories, but the Democrats have our number.  They don’t like losing either and they have turned those efforts into victory.  This state and nation has much to lose, and gain, in 2012.  Let’s get together, recruit your friends and neighbors and get active.   It’s almost too late.  Join your local conservative group, tea party, or Republican party.

 

See also: Big labor favor: DNC may replace local workers with out-of-state union labor for convention

by Matthew Boyle at the Daily Caller

 http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/07/big-labor-favor-dnc-may-replace-local-workers-with-out-of-state-union-labor-for-dnc/#ixzz1dE2mS7Rl

Socially conservative state Senator, Jim Forrester (R-Gaston) died Monday at the age of 74.  He had been ill for quite sometime but told friends that he planned on going out fighting until the end.

North Carolina GOP Chairman Robin Hayes said,

“Jim was a dear friend who I respected and admired. He had a long and distinguished career serving the people of North Carolina. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the North Carolina Republican Party are with Mary Frances and the Forrester family tonight.”

Your blogger would also like to specifically remember their daughter, Mary Paige Forrester, who now lives in the Washington, DC area.    She is a friend and KCC wishes for prayers and blessings for both her and her mother.

President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate, Phil Berger had this to say:

Forrester served in the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon during the Vietnam War and retired with the rank of Brigadier General.  He served in the North Carolina Senate for the past two decades, beginning in 1990.

“Dr. Jim Forrester’s life embodied the American Dream,” said Berger.  “Through the years, he received numerous awards from groups that covered the ideological spectrum recognizing his outstanding legislative work.  I will remember him most for his dedicated and thoughtful service as he worked to make sure his constituents had the chance to fulfill the American Dream.”

For more information about Forrester’s life, visit http://jimforrester.net/.

Not every obituary was a complmentary one, including that mentioned in Pam’s House Blend, written by Pam Spaulding, a friend of this blogger.  Pam is a gay activist and was disappointed in Sen. Forrester’s activites in working towards a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in our state.  That amendment comes up for a May vote.

She wrote:

It’s tragic that the man didn’t leave this earth with a more compassionate view of humanity. Even in this terrible, emotional situation for Forrester’s family, his anti-gay wife, Mary Frances, made it publicly and politically clear with the “go out with his boots on and support the causes in which he believed to his last breath” comment that she was ensuring the public that there would be no deathbed conversion regarding the discrimination amendment or his views of the civil rights of LGBT North Carolinians.

At press time, funeral arrangements were not complete.

To this blogger, Senator Forrester reminded her a bit of the late U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). You may not agree with him 100%, but you always knew where he stood. That is always refreshing in this day of shady politicians in both major parties.

Editor’s Notes: See also The Gaston Gazette  and the Denver News (of Lake Norman). Finally, see the story by Laura Leslie on  WRAL TV.

Read also the A.P.’s Gary Roberson’s take as it was printed in the Greensboro News and Record on Monday.

Saturday evening, about 30 protesters lined up on Raleigh’s  Hillsborough Street at the North Carolina AFL-CIO, and marched the half mile to the North Carolina

Republican Party headquarters.  The union supporters then circled the front lawn, chanting slogans and demanding”justice”.  They wanted “union rights” and “rights for laid-off state workers” in North Carolina.  Oddly, no one was working in the Republican party office at the time.  Plus, very few workers have been laid off.

North Carolina liberals have been unhappy for most of the past year, when Republicans won control of the NC General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction.  (After over 100 years of corruption lead by Democrats, this blogger never thought she’d see GOP control in her lifetime.)

In January, when the Legislature convened for its long session, Republicans went straight to work.  They were left $2.4 billion budget deficit thanks to over spending by their  Democratic colleagues.

GOP members had to make the tough decisions, and nothing was immune.  State Universitites, community colleges and even public schools shared the burden, but not to the extent reported by the mainstream media.  Even state employees, the apparent untouchables of budgeting, felt the heat.

Frankly, there was no point in their march.  The General Assembly recently adjourned after putting a marriage amendment to the NC Constitution on the May ballot.  Union supporters got very little mainstream media coverage.  Only WTVD covered it locally and it appeared to this blogger that the marchers were not state employees at all, but rather people paid to be out a cool, wet night.  Let’s hope our state government does not hire those with dread locks, like the gentlemen who spoke with the television station.

Others of note that attended were members of Code Pink, a socialist/Communist women’s organization.

They marched  NOT to save state jobs, but rather to push unionization in an otherwise anti-union state.

Unions have felt the heat, lately,

with the 2012 DNC Convention coming to Charlotte.  Leaders have been pressuring the Governor to support President Barack H. Obama’s anti-union measures here in the State Capital.  He visited the city last week, pushing his so-called jobs program.

Meanwhile, where does NC Governor Beverly Perdue stand on the issue?  She refuses to take a stand, thus bowing to pressure from her union buddies who contributed heavily to her 2008 election campaign.

Editor’s Note:  North Carolina’s State Employees Association (SEANC) is affiliated with The Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  State employees in NC do not have collective bargaining rights, but they continue to  pushing anyway.

UPDATE: 1:45 a.m. Sunday 9/18/2011  Turns out, Saturday was a “Day of Rage” for Liberals.

UPDATE: 1:47 p.m. Sunday 9/18/2011 The News and Observer weighed in today, with one activist calling the situation a  ”crime scene”.  They over reported the number of activists, at 100.