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By Scott Nicholson, in the Watauga Democrat, 13 Oct. 2008:
The Watauga County Democratic Party held
a fall rally Saturday at Watauga High School, expressing optimism for
the coming election.
Several hundred people
gathered to hear from candidates and organize for the early, one-stop
voting that begins Thursday.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we really stand at a moment in history where we
are at a crossroads,” said Chris Willis, who served as master of
ceremonies for the rally. He noted voters could make the change “and
place people above profit and the need to think globally but act
locally.”
He said 45 million people lack health insurance and another 90 million
are underinsured, suggesting Democrats had a better plan to address
economic issues.
Kelly Sechrist, speaking on behalf of her father, N.C. Sen. Steve Goss
(D-45), said Goss understood the plight of the middle class. “He is not
a cookie-cutter politician who is robotically passing bills that
benefit only a few,” she said.
She said Goss, a retired pastor, “has done what we have sent him to
Raleigh to do and it is also our duty to not re-elect those who have
not done what we want them to do.”
Although the race is listed on the ballot as non-partisan, several
Watauga County school-board candidates were on hand to garner
Democratic votes.
School-board candidate Joni Horine said the county needed to focus on
why so many students dropped out, and said the school board needed to
work with the county commissioners to provide affordable housing for
teachers.
School-board candidate Marsha Walpole said the state should train for
high-tech jobs: “Watauga County children are going to be ready for
those jobs.” She said the school system would continue to be a partner
with local universities, colleges and businesses.
School-board member and candidate Steve Combs said he was proud of the
school board’s work over his 10-year tenure. He said through
perseverance and hard work, the county would soon have a new school. He
said the county was providing a $200 supplement each year, and the
school system should continue to provide strong vocational programs.
County commissioner Winston Kinsey said Watauga County didn’t have the
economic problems experienced by much of the country, and said on a
national level, a Democratic president would solve a lot of problems.
He encouraged people to let him know if they had any complaints.
Commission candidate Tim Futrelle said he was excited about the
campaign and being able to serve the county. He said he supported
sustainable growth, bringing “green jobs” into the county, and said the
county could be good environmental stewards while it grew.
N.C. House of Representatives incumbent Cullie Tarleton (D-93) told the
crowd, “You are the grassroots. You are the ones who make it happen.”
He said the next step is getting people to the polls. “If we assume
that because things are so bad it’s going to be a Democratic year, and
if we assume we are going to win, we are going to wake up and we are
going to lose,” Tarleton said.
Roy Carter, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Fifth District, said, “I
knew going in that I would not be able to match the incumbent
financially, dollar for dollar, because it’s my philosophy and my
belief and my pledge that I won’t accept PAC (political action
committee) money from groups that would influence my vote. That’s big
oil, big pharmaceuticals, big insurance and big banking. I’ve said that
from Day One, so I knew that those folks would not be available to me.
“I’m out to prove that a regular guy that works tirelessly can be
successful in a federal race. I think it’s a sad commentary when
regular people such as myself feel hopeless and helpless because they
can’t personally fund a campaign.”
Carter said it was important to have a teacher in Congress. “When
I’m elected, I believe I’ll be the second public-school educator out of
445 representatives,” Carter said, saying the campaign issues had
changed on an almost-monthly basis. “Six months ago, everybody thought
health care would be the big issue of the campaign. Then everybody was
sure energy was the central issue of the campaign. Now, the general
public thinks, rightly so, that the economy is the central issue of the
campaign.”
Carter said the federal government should have a role in health care. On
energy, he said he’d favored working toward alternative energy sources
and shifting money toward them and away from oil companies. He said
drilling done in the right way would provide relief from high gas
prices in about 10 years.
“However, if we don’t enhance clean alternative fuels, the gain from
drilling will not match the demand,” he said, noting the economy had
regressed because of lack of oversight and “greed at the highest levels
of the marketplace.”
Carter faces incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx. Tarleton faces
Republican Dan Soucek and Libertarian Jeff Cannon. Goss faces
Republican Jerry Butler.
In local races, other school board candidates in the non-partisan race
are David Ward and Deborah Miller. Kinsey, Futrelle and incumbent
commissioner Jim Deal are unopposed.
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