Keep. It. Clean.

draw distinctions between themselves on policy and style in their campaigns. For once we have an embarrassment of riches to chose from and I'm thrilled that one of these good people will take on Burr next year.

I would vote for him. It's such nice, simple, and ambitious messages in his songs.

Regarding Ken Lewis, he has served on the board of Self-Help for over a decade, and Self-Help has done as much as any (and more than most) to make the American dream a reality.

As far as the firing squad goes, the same entities that succeeded in defeating the grassroots campaigns of Dellinger, Besse, and Smathers are now working to elect Cunningham. When have the entitled and elite in our squad ever stopped firing at us?

Elaine Marshall. I can now add to my list of reasons the fact that she is NOT the candidate selected for NC from afar.

Hey DSCC, can you say "backlash"?

"You're losing support for Elaine with every negative attack you launch on Cal."

I have to agree with this. I considered all 3 in a dead heat for my vote until Elaine's people went on the attack.

Kenneth had a campaign launch event announcement on the same day that it started leaking that Cal was reconsidering and on the same day as Mr. Marshall's funeral.

And for Elaine's people to use that as an attack on Cal for being tasteless for having a leak, but not Kenneth who had a more official and intentional campaign announcement that day, seems like a political attack. I don't really fault either Kenneth or Cal, because 1) its the campaign season so announcements/messages will be frequent & 2) I just can't bring myself to believe that any of the candidates would use the funeral of another candidate's loved one just to be mean.

And now Elaine's people are questioning Cal's commitment to the people of North Carolina, rather than trying to challenge him on his track record in the state senate or over a policy disagreement has turned me off to her campaign a little bit.

I know attacking is the way of politics, but in an election season where the wind is at the republican's backs, we can't afford to create such deep divides in the democratic party that we wont be able to unite after the primary. And Elaine's early character attacking questioning his commitment to the people of North Carolina is the kind that will start creating divides and tearing the party down.

That said I think Elaine is great candidate, seems like a wonderful person, and I'd be happy to vote for her against Burr. But because of her early & non-policy based attacks I'm leaning more towards Ken or Cal.

Going Negative Record.
Ken - 0
Cal - 0
Elaine - 2

Until policy differences start becoming more prominent, my decision on who to vote for on the primary will be heavily influenced by who stays the lowest in non-policy based intra-party negativity.

I wonder if BlueNC is actually a microcosm of the sentiments out there with regard to the three democratic senate candidates?

One thing I've learned here now is that there appears to be a good amount of contempt for the DSCC, even though their support is an an unfortunate reality, as Dan has said.

I also agree with Jerimee that at the end of the day, North Carolinians will be the ones to choose our ultimate candidate.

I'm a Cal supporter and I am committed to "keeping it clean" here. Very interesting so far, though.

I never saw this email that Dan and Jake are referencing - can someone post it?

http://nathanielcooper.com/default.html

From the Fay Ob political blog:

Nathaniel Cooper of Fayetteville and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington said they will run in 2010. Both are Democrats.

Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, will seek his first re-election since he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Cooper, who his 65, said his platform includes a “World-class education for all Americans”; job creation and retention; accountability and transparency in government; senior citizens rights and equal protection under the law and “taking care of our veterans.”

Cooper is 65. He served 17 years in the Army. In 2008, he ran for a statewide office, the Commissioner of Insurance, as an unaffiliated candidate. According to state records, he was unable to get the necessary 70,000 signatures to have his name appear on the ballot. He received 46 write-in votes statewide in the 2008 election. He said he has since switched back to the Democratic Party.

Cunningham, an Army veteran, said on his Web site: “Richard Burr was voting right down the party line with George Bush to bankrupt our country, send our jobs overseas and give away the store to the oil companies and the insurance industry.”

Dan and Jerimee, absodanglutely.

JA

As usual, Laura Leslie covers the ins and outs of US Senate posturing artfully, including these prepared comments from Kenneth Lewis.

"Today Cal Cunningham enters the race for U.S. Senate with these words:

'Right now, more than ever, we need someone who won't back down from the tough fights.'

But 26 days ago, Cal, that is precisely what you did -- you backed down from the fight. And you backed down because you “could not look” [your] supporters in the eye” and “show them how we win” or “what we do when we get there”.

26 days ago you couldn’t show Democrats how to beat Richard Burr. 26 days ago you couldn’t tell voters what you would do when you got to Washington.

These are your words Cal not mine.

Today you speak of your military training as informing your decision to enter the race:

'As a paratrooper I learned that when the mission is important, you can't allow yourself to be dissuaded by tough conditions or past injuries.'

Was the mission not important 26 days ago? Were the Wall Street investment bankers, health insurance lobby, and special interests in Washington not an important enough mission for you to take on 26 days ago? Was creating jobs and improving schools in North Carolina a mission not worth fighting for 26 days ago?

Today you say you are “eager to take on these battles”. 26 days ago you backed away from these very same battles.

People tell me all the time that this is the way it is - politicians say one thing when they get out of a race and another thing when they get back in. They tell me that voters don’t care why a candidate gets in or out - that this is inside baseball and I should let it go.

But I didn’t get in this race to let things go.

And I didn’t get in this race to play political games. I got into this race to offer North Carolinians committed and rock solid leadership on what I know matters most to them --jobs, security and stability, and a real chance to attain the American Dream of opportunity and prosperity. On this I have never wavered, and never will. That's the kind of leadership North Carolina deserves in the United States Senate."

Most people will never care about who got in when or how, but in the early stages of dividing up the activist base, it may matter.

as long as they are hurled at Richard Burr. Why all the infighting already? Don't tell me why not to vote for other candidates, tell me why I should vote for you and why you'll be better than Richard Burr.

From our post:

1. Invest in a vigorous field operation that empowers people to be a part of the process.
2. Break from the politics and politicos that hurt our democracy.
3. Demonstrate the courage to lead and inspire our fellow citizens.

If the campaigns are talking to voters one-on-one, they can't be negative - they're going to have to build up their campaigns with voters.

If the campaigns break from the politics of the past, we won't see the circular firing squads.

And if the campaigns and supporters stay out of the mud wrestling match, they will have a better chance to inspire the volunteers and voters we'll need to win the general election.