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Guest Columns
Guest Columns
America, Role Model for Democracy
By Thomas G. Carpenter
I recently read an article by Marsha Mercer, a columnist out
of Washington, D.C., who came to North Carolina to get a feel for how we
practice politics. I was disturbed by
what she found. She talked to many
people who said they did not intend to vote in this election. I, too, have personally heard individuals say
they’re so mad at the Washington crowd they want nothing to do with anyone
associated. Others have come right out
and said they couldn’t vote for a black man.
This just isn’t right.
Groucho
Marx said, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.” That pretty
much summarizes what’s been taking place in our country for the last eight
years. As a result, we have a country that is literally “running on
empty.”
I spent most of my adulthood serving in the U.S. Army, convinced that in
politics the candidate’s party affiliation was secondary to the candidate’s
strengths as an individual. I was registered as a Republican because that had
been my family’s party, particularly my father’s. Dad is a lifetime member of
the NRA and something of a single-issue sort of fellow. I changed my
registration this spring to the Democratic Party because I could no longer
tolerate the divisiveness that the Republican Party has come to represent and
because I believed that the Democrats have come to stand for the ideals that I
wore our nation’s uniform to protect.
Read the latest in the Watauga County political BLOG maintained by J.W. Williamson.
WataugaDems News
News
Democrats EUPHORIC
11/06/08
By Anna Oakes, in the High Country Press, 6 Nov. 2008:
At the news that Sen. Barack Obama was elected president of the United
States, Heather Owens, 26, erupted into joyful screams, closing her
eyes, clasping her hands together and lurching back and forth in
excitement.
By Scott Nicholson, in the Watauga Democrat, 5 Nov. 2008:
Incumbents fared well in local elections, and Democrats carried Watauga County in most state-level races,
mirroring a national change of “red” to “blue.”
By Scott Nicholson, in the Watauga Democrat, 4 Nov. 2008:
The Democratic Party campaign office on the corner of Straight and King streets
has been busy as the brain trust and social center for the local campaign
effort.
25 November 2008 International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women
noon - 1
p.m., silent vigil on the steps to the Jones House in downtown Boone,
sponsored by the Women in Black. Everyone is invited to participate in
the vigil for the whole hour or part of it. More information: 264-4310
or mckinnymj@yahoo.com
11 December 2008 Christmas Party
The Watauga
County Democratic Party invites you to a holiday pot-luck, 5:30 - 8
p.m., at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, 3rd floor meeting room. The
county party will be supplying plates, silverware, napkins, cups,
lemonade, tea, and coffee. Bring a dish to share. Beer and wine, okay
to bring. Live music, door prizes. Let the Victory Celebration
Continue!
15 December 2008 North Carolina Members of the Electoral College
Meeting at
noon in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives of the state
legislature in Raleigh, to cast 15 Electoral College votes for Barack
Obama and Joe Biden
9 January 2009 Governor's Inaugural Gala & Ball
8 p.m. til midnight, Raleigh Convention Center. Tickets for both gala and ball, $200; tickets for ball only, $125. Details at www.ncgovernorsball.org
13 January 2009 Watauga County Democratic Party Executive Committee Meeting
7 p.m., Boone Town Council chambers. Open to officers, precinct officials, and all registered Democrats
19 January 2009 Inauguration of Governor Beverly Perdue
Raleigh, beginning at 11 a.m., including parade, inauguration ceremonies, and reception following at the Governor's Mansion
28 January 2009 NC General Assembly Convenes
Noon, with the swearing in of members of both House and Senate