Dan Besse

I've just said this in an email, and I want to say it directly to all my BlueNC friends:

THANK YOU to everyone who supported my run for the office of North Carolina's Lieutenant Governor!

23, 17, 9, 5

Those are the numbers in the newest (only) public poll released on the Lt. Governor's race. The big number, though is 46 - that's the number of undecided voters in that race. The MoE is 5.

Walter Dalton has the backing of the entire Democratic State Senate, 53 Sheriffs, and all the money industry can throw at him. He's been on the air for months with the same ad repeating his name over and over and claiming to have saved the world from destruction and done everything but deliver babies, and he can't get over 23.

A progressive is going to win this election, and it's going to be Hampton Dellinger.

Just received this email from the Besse campaign, it seems that "one of North Carolina's leading African-American owned and published newspapers, has just endorsed Dan Besse for Lieutenant Governor!" That would be The Chronicle. Their endorsement:

"The crowded Democratic field for Lieutenant Governor doesn't have a shortage of qualified candidates either, but our choice is clear. Dan Besse has been a community-minded, dedicated member of the Winston-Salem City Council for more than six years and will bring those same qualities and more to the office of lieutenant governor.
Too many of those seeking elected office today, do so for personal glory and their own egos. Besse is what an elected official should be. Helping to make his city and state and the people who reside in them better are Besse's only motivations. In the race for lieutenant governor, Besse doesn't have the most campaign money or name recognition, but he has the most heart and the most zeal to work hard for the residents of North Carolina."

I had the honor of representing Jim Neal at the Alamance County Democratic Convention today, and luckily, he showed up just in the nick of time so I could avoid the public speaking aspect of my surrogate duties (whew).

I'm sure I would have done just fine, but since I actually live in Alamance County, it's not like I could just fade away and never come back if I tumbled over a chair ala "America's Funniest Home Videos" or accidentally dropped an F-bomb while speaking. While they may not be as horrific as the nightmare where you show up at school naked, these things were playing in the back of my mind, nevertheless.

Here's our glorious and recently face-lifted courthouse where the Convention took place:

Note: I put this on facebook first as a note and figured I'd share it here. Let me know if you have any input on the races I didn't know much about. Note that some of these are Orange County specific.

From the Winston-Salem Journal this morning:

DAN BESSE

A lawyer, Besse spent a number of years lobbying in Raleigh on issues related to the environment, poverty and health-care access, so he knows the legislative process.

Besse also has a good mix of state and local government experience. For 20 years, he served on important state commissions that oversee, among other things, environmental and coastal regulation, and he’s now in his seventh year on the Winston-Salem City Council. He’s a hardworking, accessible councilman known for his reasoned responses to issues. He can use the lieutenant governor’s office as a bully pulpit for the issues about which he has been most passionate in his career of public service - the environment and access to health-insurance coverage for North Carolinians.

My friends at BlueNC, we are the swing vote in this election.

BlueNC represents the most formidable and vocal group of progressive activists in North Carolina. We have the potential to influence the outcome on May 6th. That's why I'm asking you today personally to write to me and volunteer to help Dan Besse capture the votes he needs to be the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.

frankeaton@mac.com

I received an email from Doug Massengill, President of NCFCD (North Carolina Federation of College Democrats) asking if BlueNC could once again contribute questions for the debate between the four candidates for Lt. Governor. Here's his message.

The NCFCD is now accepting questions for the Lt. Governor's Debates in Charlotte at UNC Charlotte in the Cone Center. Questions are welcome from all interested persons, including non-college students. Questions should not be addressed to a particular candidate; however you may mention a candidate's position on an issue. The deadline for submitting questions for the April 12th debate in Winston Salem, North Carolina is 12:00pm on April 11th.

This interview/profile was written for my readers over at Pam's House Blend, so a good portion of the information about Dan Besse is familiar to the BlueNC crowd. Dan gave me a solid two hours of his precious time to discuss a full range issues, and in this piece I discuss LGBT rights issues of concern here in NC. He was frank and forthcoming on a topic that many pols are skittish about -- as we've seen in some of the liveblogs.

NC politicians, take a look at how it can be done, after the jump.

--Pam