It wasn't heavily publicized, but there was a televised debate between the three candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the 8th Congressional District. The winner in the primary will face Republican Robin Hayes.

There has been no mud-slinging that I've heard and all three candidates are decent, honorable, hard-working men. All three seem to have the integrity and intelligence it will take to clean up the mess Republicans have made of our government and all three will work for the common good.

See how Kissell stood out on the flip side...

court documents DETAIL EDWARD JONES RESTRAINING
ORDER, BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY, VIOLATION OF NC TRADE
SECRETS ACT, CONSPIRED TO WRONGFULLY/SECRETLY DIVERT 18 MILLION IN ASSETS
UNDER EJ MANAGMENT!!

Due Diligence.

Some people say we should take Chris Mintz at his word, that researching his past and putting it under public scrutiny is somehow traitorous to Democrats, that I should be ashamed of myself for creating my web site. They are welcome to that opinion but I have no respect for folks that fail to exercise political due diligence and simply take at face value what a candidate says.

Mr Mintz makes a big deal on his website and in his mailings about being a candidate of trust and integrity and how he earned that trust while working for a large investment firm. On his website he says:

The Rowan-Salisbury school board turned down a student's application to form a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at the school. Matt Hill has been doing a great job covering the story on his blog (original post; follow-up). I'll only add that, under the federal Equal Access Act, whether the school has created a "limited open forum" by allowing other non-curricular groups to form. If so, they pretty much have to let the GSA form—Congress said so.

I couldn't find a list of clubs and organizations on the South Rowan High website, but here's why the school board said they denied the application:

Nowhere does the lunacy of public policy shine brighter today than in the area of capital punishment. Here in North Carolina, the latest sad chapter is enough to make a grown man cry. Or maybe even fry.

At issue is the nature of cruel and unusual punishment -- and whether those on death row should have to endure the pain and knowledge of their executions as they happen. There are too many facets of the capital punishment debate for me to take on tonight, so let's just focus on the one in the news.

Asheville's Mountain Xpress jumped on the Charles Taylor for Congress bandwagon today with an excellent writeup of the parody site that's sprouted up in western North Carolina. I'm going to get crazy and republish the whole thing right here.

Chainsawing Charlie
Some political observers say U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, who represents a hefty slice of Western North Carolina, is facing quite a battle to retain his seat this year – and a wicked digital doppelgänger is doing his bit to send the seven-term Republican congressman back to the hills.

Thanks to an email from a friend, I learned that I am prominently featured in The New York Review of Books review of Crashing the Gates. No kidding! Okay, not prominent, but I'm mentioned!!!

At the center of this world, however, is Daily Kos, which because of its particular architecture, and the open spirit of its founder, has become an experiment in Web-style democracy...But anyone who joins Daily Kos—a free and painless process—is allowed to post "diaries"—really mini-essays—about particular topics at any time. As I write this, on a Monday morning in late February, there are dozens of new diaries posted within the last hour on such subjects as "The End of Medicaid Is Beginning" by chuckles1, or "Dangers Posed by IRS Secrecy" by redlami, or "Time for a Port Pivot" by AlphaLiberal.

I try not to give too much attention to libertarian types like Rick Martinez at the News and Observer. They're always full of advice about how government should operate, but the truth is, they HATE government and they suck at it as well. But today Martinez puts himself in the spotlight to declare that he's renouncing his membership in the Republican party.

Before the day is done, I'll make my way down to the Orange County Board of Elections and become an unaffiliated voter. That will bring to a close my 34 years as a Republican. Like Ronald Reagan when he left the Democratic Party, I'm not abandoning the Republican ideals of self-reliance, fiscal responsibility and limited government. It's the party has abandoned those principles and waved goodbye to me.

North Carolina's House Select Committee on Health Care has come up with some recommendations for the full House to consider when they reconvene. (In a short session like 2006, the legislature can only consider certain types of bills; one of these includes bills that come as recommendations from a committee.) What follows is dreived from reporting by the Winston-Salem Journal. I'm working on getting a copy of the recommendations themselves.

There's a a primary a'brewing in NC House district 98 (Mecklenburg County). It has been a hot topic of discussion here at BlueNC, and has been profiled as a showdown between the new guard and old guard Republicans in the South. Sounds spicy, right? But according to Joseph Coletti over at the Locker Room, the race isn't about much more than cafeteria food. Are these guys paying attention?

Today is the last day of the first fundraising period, Rory Blake (6th district candidate, Democrat) is looking to be able to show the world that he's a serious contender. One way to do that is to show that he's raised a lot of money. Another way, perhaps more important, is to be able to show that he has a lot of donors, regardless of donation size. This is where you come in.

Break out the credit card and make a contribution today, even if it's just few bucks. I'm going to.