pat smathers

As many of you who I’ve had the chance to meet over the last year know, my campaign for lieutenant governor took me to every corner of the state. Making good friends across North Carolina was one of the most rewarding aspects of my run. Fortunately, those friendships didn’t end on Primary Day.

I’ve stayed in close contact with my fellow “down ballot” Democrats, including Ronnie Ansley, who’s running for Commissioner of Agriculture. Ronnie recently visited us at our home on Mama’s Mountain.

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.

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

Those of you who have heard me speak, or read my postings here, know I believe the solution to our schools’ problems is strong community support. We can't stave off the challenges confronting our school systems with single-issue legislation or budget increases alone. As the attorney for the Haywood County schools for the past 22 years, I've seen how schools can thrive when their communities get behind them.

On Monday, March 3, Pat Smathers will join us at 7:00 p.m. for a live-blog session. Pat has impressed a lot of people along his journey. Don't miss this chance to see what it is about Pat Smathers that has supporters lining up with him.

From his bio:

When devastating hurricane floods struck his hometown in 2004, Mayor Pat Smathers had two options: Rebuild or build better.

Smathers, a problem solving Democrat, chose the latter, partnering with fellow community leaders and state government to strengthen the mountain town his family has called home for eight generations.

On Monday, March 3, 2008, we will live-blog with Pat Smathers. This will be our second live-blog with one of our Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor.