The 2008 North Carolina Senate Race
[Guest post by DRJ]
Republican North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole’s term expires in 2008 and she is currently favored to win re-election. Jim Neal, a wealthy former Wall Street investor, has announced he will run for her seat in the Democratic primary. Sen. Charles Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is lukewarm on Neal’s candidacy.
Neal thinks it’s because he is gay:
“Former Wall Street investor Jim Neal of Chapel Hill announced he was running for the U.S. Senate. N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro declared a week later that she was not running for the U.S. Senate. Both are Democrats. Guess which one received a phone call from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who heads the Democratic Party’s efforts to recruit Senate candidates?
Schumer and the national Democrats, who boast of their party’s inclusiveness, effectively ignored Neal, who is openly gay. After he announced his campaign in October, he telephoned Schumer. The call wasn’t returned. Neal was the first Democrat to step up to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Instead, Schumer, of New York, called Hagan, who had taken herself out of the race, and encouraged her to jump back in. She later did.
Schumer’s action could be explained by the fact that Hagan, 54, is a known quantity, a nine-year veteran of the state Senate and co-chair of the powerful appropriations committee. Her gender likely would help her in a contest against another woman, Sen. Dole.
Neal, however, falls into a coveted category of candidates: self-funder, someone who will sink a chunk of his own wealth into the race. Such candidates typically get at least a courtesy meeting from their party’s national political committees, particularly in the state where former U.S. Sen. John Edwards showed that an unknown with a lot of money can succeed.
Neal, 50, and others suggest that the fact that he is gay drove the actions of the Democratic Senate committee and other leaders of a party that criticizes Republicans for their anti-gay rights platform.
Schumer and the Democratic senatorial committee declined to comment for this story, spokesman Matt Miller said.”
Schumer apparently wouldn’t even meet with Neal:
“A former staffer at the national Democratic Senate committee said he was surprised Schumer didn’t at least meet with Neal. The gay community has reliably contributed to Democrats, said the former staffer, who asked not to be identified because he still deals with committee staff.
“The knee-jerk reaction is — and probably is the right reaction — that an openly gay person running for statewide office in North Carolina, even in the 21st century, is likely problematic,” the former staffer said.”
Sometimes politics and ideology are at odds. In the Senate, politics usually wins.
— DRJ
DRJ,
Have you not seen the Senate’s record at politics lately?
Politics hasn’t won in the Senate for a while now… 🙂
Scott Jacobs (a1de9d) — 11/22/2007 @ 6:39 amThe Democrats are just pandering for the gay vote in the same way they do for other identity groups. With the percentage of Americans against gay marriage it would be political suicide for the Democrats to actually do anything more than just pander. Just look at the 2004 Democrat candidates for President – pure pandering.
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/22/2007 @ 8:12 amPam Spaulding wrote about this on the lefty site Pandagon on November 5th, at which point I asked her about how it felt to be a “weak, ineffective tool,” which were the words she had used to describe Senator Dole.
Our friends in the Democratic leadership only pretend to support blacks and gays and other minorities; they are useful tools for contributing money and providing votes, but that’s all the Democratic leadership sees them as.
Dana (3e4784) — 11/23/2007 @ 5:49 ambut that’s all the Democratic leadership sees them as.
Dana,
voiceofreason (679206) — 11/23/2007 @ 7:01 amI submit that the Republicans are doing everything possible to show that they view them similarly.
It may not be true in reality, but there have to be some reasons that almost 60% of Hispanics and 85% of blacks identify with Democrats.
In other words, the GOP is doing a very poor job of getting the message of how they care and why the stated reasons are not just pandering.
VOR – I think you have to look at results for the answers to your questions. How did thirty years of Great Society programs improve the status of minorities in this country? How did the Clinton Administration treat gays and minorities relative to the Bush Administration? The answers are self-evident for people who look rationally.
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/23/2007 @ 9:28 amVOR,
Republicans are doing a terrible job of selling their message but, then again, self-reliance can be a hard message to sell.
DRJ (973069) — 11/23/2007 @ 10:09 amDRJ,
Good point but if the GOP really means what it says about improving America for all citizens they can find the message. But I think that involves upsetting the base on some points and the candidates are too afraid to do that.
DaleyRocks,
voiceofreason (a1b19c) — 11/23/2007 @ 1:41 pmSelf evident and looking rationally may be great for people who have the benefit of a high school diploma or advanced education. Many of the people you want to win over don’t have that advantage. Speak to their dreams and show how the GOP agenda aligns more with that but DO NOT approach it as an academic discussion that “any moron” should “get”. People with less education will receive the message very differently than what you intend…
VOR – Your words not mine – “DO NOT approach it as an academic discussion that “any moron” should “get”.”
I made a mistake assuming you could conduct an intelligent discussion.
daleyrocks (906622) — 11/23/2007 @ 1:49 pmDaleyRocks,
I didn’t say those were YOUR words. But if you are honest about it you probably would acknowledge that is how the message is delivered by OTHERS on too many occasions.
voiceofreason (a1b19c) — 11/23/2007 @ 1:57 pmSorry you took it the wrong way.
i think it is a shame that no one in the republican party has stepped up to challenge libby dole. i have voted for her one too many times now, and am tired of RINO’S. i have e-mailed her several times in relation to the FAIR TAX and i could wallpapaer a room with the stamped out same version of a reply that i received. i do not think she has done much for this state to date, and doubt that will change in the future
cheriepony (7f3c84) — 5/1/2008 @ 9:36 am