NC-11 Republicans Try to Find a Candidate
Pat McHenry, the little 10th district Congressman with the big talking points, came to Hendersonville to talk to dramatically backlit Tom Apodaca about running against Heath Shuler in November, 2008. Apodaca, an NC state Senator, had this to say, "I have spoken to former Congressman Taylor and let him know they have contacted me. I wanted to know his thoughts. He has not made up his mind, so as a courtesy, we'd stay in touch."
Lots of folks are waiting to hear Taylor say that he won't seek the seat again, and even old Bill Sabo, who never met a Republican frame he didn't like, thinks, "Republicans are trying to be deferential to Taylor but I think his time's passed,".
Tom Apodaca has conservative credentials as well as the requisite 'creepy' chops to rally the red-meat Republican base. This year he's cosponsoring S46, which provides birth certificates for stillborn children. Judging from this list of bills he's cosponsoring this legislative session, Apodaca spends a lot of time on teacher salary and school funding, Defending Marriage against the dirty homos, and increasing penalties for various laws. He sits on eleven different state committees and has a lot of monied friends to help him launch a bid.
Not that any candidate will need too much seed money, what with the NRCC, Club For Growth, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce all pledging to spend wildly to try to unseat Shuler in '08. This promised influx of money may encourage some of the other potential candidates to throw their hats into Taylor's old ring.
"I'm gratified to be receiving calls to run, but the promise is, provided Charles (Taylor) decides not to do so," [Four-term District Attorney Jeff] Hunt said Thursday. "But I think it's far too early for anyone to make that decision, and it's not clear at all that Charles won't be running."
Even if Hunt, Apodaca, and Taylor all decide to run, you can count on another quixotic campaign from BlogAsheville's favorite wingnut, John Armor. A frequent poster at The Free Republic, Armor's a constitutional lawyer with a big brain and a bigger ego.
Of the folks mentioned above, it seems Apodaca's the only one who could make a real run at the seat. He's got good name recognition east of the Balsam mountain range, good financial prospects, a conservative voting record, and the likely support of the Republican political machine once Taylor announces his intentions to spare us.
Senator Apodaca, BlueNC welcomes you to 11th District Congressional politics. We'll be writing a lot about you should you decide to run.
{c/p@ScruHoo}
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OK...just looking at that man gives me the heebie jeebies
I have a question, though. Why wouldn't we want Taylor to run and lose again? I know you must be getting bored with the idea of having the same material to work with, but isn't this the best scenario?
Thanks for keeping us updated.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Taylor
Taylor plays dirty politics, and I'd like to see things run a little more cleanly next go round.
I think that a Taylor run would be a guarantee of victory for Shuler, but it would continue to disenfranchise voters and continue to pollute the process with Taylor lies and dirtiness.
Apodaca is known as a lot of things, but he's not, so far as I know, a liar. I'd like to have a campaign over the issues.
What is it
with these Republicans spending wads of cash to win in landslides? In 2006 Apodaca spent $286,000 for his State Senate seat. What is so odd about that? HE DIDNT HAVE AN OPPONENT!
What was he spending it on? Well, he sent $72,500 to his fellow Republicans in the State Senate, all in the final days of the election.
The good news is that he only has 2000 dollars. Bad news I dont think he would be able to transfer that no matter what, and he has spent oodles buying influence.
Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition
That's a lot of money
Henderson County (Apodaca's base) is the hub of Republican politics in the 11th district. I'm not surprised that he raised that much, but I am surprised it wasn't more widely reported...
his numbers
in 2004 were much lower, like in the <40,000 range with over half going to the state party.
His willingness to raise money for others actually sets him apart from most of those in the NC GOP.
He is a fundraiser for the party through and through. He would certainly present a pretty tough challenge to Heath.
Draft Brad Miller -- NC Sen ActBlue :::Petition
Don't count out further GOP scandals
which may help out a bit.
The purple folk I talk to like in church, really hate the scandals.
He will be fun to photoshop
That's for sure.
Doesn't Apodaca
Remind you of someone?
He's part Village Person, part Schneider the janitor, part NYPD Blue, and part used car salesman. Anyone else have the eerie feeling they've seen this man before?
Submitted by Screwy Hoolie
I'm glad this was below the fold yesterday.
You know, I didn't see that until last night - late last night.
Wouldn't this be fun?
If he did run maybe the FBI would really investigate the bank fraud his business partners accused him of under oath. (Or am I fantasizing?)
This is from the recent convention of the Buncombe County Republican Party:
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.” So enjoy the drama.
all I know about Apodaca is
that he came to and spoke at a fundraiser for the pompous jerk running against Julia Boseman. Anyone who could speak in behalf of that right-winger has serious deficiencies.
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