After saying "No Way" last year, Libertarian-leaning B.J. Lawson is sniffing blood in the water and jumping back in. New-comer Frank Roche is also running as a more main-stream republican.The key goal of course is to loosen the 23 year grip David Price has had on the 4th District. Last election, all Price had to do was put up some yard signs and ride the Obama wave to victory. With voter's anti-incumbent fever though this year, Price's political career could be coming to a most welcome retirement. Check out each candidate's site....Frank Roche http://www.rocheforcongress.com/?page_id=39B.J. Lawson http://www.lawsonforcongress.com/
2/11/2010 1:15:27 AM
Besides flip-flopping on entering, which is really small potatoes compared to waiting so late to start campaign - the conservative website I first saw this on called his entering a surprising twist, a candidate like Lawson who is anti-choice, anti-federal funding for education, anti-federal funding for research in the research triangle is never going to win a district that consists of Durham, Orange, and part of Wake. Being anti-gay marriage loses him some votes in Orange especially, but he was never going to carry that county (practically half of the district he's running for) anyways. He lost Orange something to the tune of 72 to 28%.I don't know if it is the candidate you mentioned, but Lawson already said way back when that he would not endorse the republican who is running this time because he disagreed with him so much, so the GOP primary I think will be much more interesting than the general election.[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 1:38 AM. Reason : .]
2/11/2010 1:38:05 AM
Price won't lose his seat. The demographics alone are enough to make him a shoe in. He has won his last three elections with 67%, 65%, and 62% of the vote. That's a total ass whipping, and no matter what happens at the higher levels, there's no way this seat will be in play. A phenomenal candidate might have the ability to make things closer, but other than that, the best the Republican can expect in my mind is a 60-40 loss.[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 2:31 AM. Reason : d]
2/11/2010 2:30:59 AM
Lawson is a known entity who won't have much trouble raising money and has the experience of running this before, plus the affiliation with Ron Paul which brings in nation-wide money. Roche's website needs some work. He is way too long winded on biography and extremely brief on issues. Gonna be interesting, but unless Price has a major gaffe, he is safe.
2/11/2010 8:44:10 AM
2/11/2010 9:52:10 AM
2/11/2010 9:58:49 AM
bj lawson responded to a question from the independent during the 2008 election on how to spur economic growth by focusing on, and repeatedly bringing up...ending taxes on bartering.
2/11/2010 1:35:27 PM
The district is gerrymandered to the point where I don't think any Republican has a great shot at winning. Chapel Hill is going to go for anyone with a D next to their name, regardless of what they stand for, what they've done, or who they're up against.
2/11/2010 1:39:47 PM
District 12 is a snake, district 1 & 3 form a jigsaw puzzle, but district 4 (the one for this race - consisting mostly of Orange, Durham, & the east half of Wake) is the closest thing to a square out of every district in NC. Of areas of its size, the research triangle is probably the most left leaning part of the state. It doesn't take gerrymandering for a democrat to win here.
2/11/2010 1:54:39 PM
It'd make a lot more sense for the district to be Raleigh and its suburbs. Instead, they took just enough of Wake County (Cary, Apex, Fuquay), which may have some conservative vote, and paired it up with Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro, areas that will always vote Democrat.
2/11/2010 1:57:55 PM
Since districts have to be roughly equal in terms of population, and Wake has a population alone that exceeds that limit, Wake has to be broken up. Given that, putting the east half of Wake with the rest of the research triangle seems like a very natural district.If you were arguing about District 2, which looks like a throwing star which has points reaching into Raleigh and out in several other directions, then you'd have more of a case. But you are right, it is a very democratic district, and a candidate who started his campaign like 2.9 months before the primary election isn't going to win the general.I'll re-purpose this old pic just to highlight the triangle area that the GOP candidates are trying to win.[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 4:00 PM. Reason : .]
2/11/2010 3:38:46 PM
2/11/2010 11:12:38 PM
^while you are trying to defeat Price (will not happen), recruit a republican (if there are any) to run against Nancy, I am sure since Brown won Mass that there is a chance she could also loose!
2/12/2010 12:41:01 AM
2/12/2010 1:06:02 AM
2/12/2010 1:35:25 AM
2/12/2010 10:25:22 AM
Ahhh, yes, Dallas Woodhouse, that lovely specimen of a man is still around. On a side note, I hate the stupid names that these groups come up with, like Americans For Prosperity. Because clearly, the rest of us want America to fail and be poor.
2/12/2010 12:01:58 PM
2/12/2010 1:36:04 PM
^^That part is true. According to EarthDogg even President Obama "has a secret desire for the economy to fail"
2/12/2010 2:04:49 PM
^^Oh, I agree. One of the problems is that we have these old people in office holding back progress. We need younger generations getting into office, and we need people to have to live under the policies that they create. As it stands now, the politicians are in a bubble, completely disconnected from the "real" America.^It's hard for me to believe that Obama wants us to fail as a country, but at the same time, he's pursuing policies that will cause us to fail. Good intentions don't mean a thing if you don't understand the fundamentals that allow for a healthy economy.
2/12/2010 2:54:05 PM
Don't start that pursuing policies that will cause us to fail, cause us to be unsafe, let the terrorists win, lose the war against the Russians, make the founders roll over in their graves crap.And yes, I lump them all together.The truth is, people from different political backgrounds and ideologies have different ideas about what is best for the country, and what will cause us to be the best in the end. Very few people are actually qualified to predict the economic outcomes of these decisions. Even after the fact, all sides will claim their policies were responsible for the good things and their opponents' were responsible for the bad things. (There are some Republicans who say that the later Clinton economy that went so well was actually a result of the Reagan and Bush policies which had finally started having an impact.)We all have a different idea about what will work, but no one really knows until after it's all over, and even then it's hard to tell. I don't know if spending money now will help, as it seems to have helped in the Great Depression, or if it will just cause us to spiral deeper into debt and screw up our future in the long run. If Paulsen and Greenspan were fooled, then I think it's safe to say a lot of other economic folks have no way to predict for certain the results of the current economic policies.
2/12/2010 6:13:31 PM
2/13/2010 1:21:45 AM
"Close... Obama wants "How was that only close? I quoted you!
2/13/2010 1:34:53 AM
In '08, heavy Obama straight-tickets worked for Price, and in '10 the effect will be reversed. Anyone who ever thought about voting Republican will be motivated to come out, and that may be enough to put any Rep. in striking distance.Still not gonna happen, IMHO, but the chances are WAY better than last time.
2/13/2010 2:14:12 AM
IIRC, Bush won NC by quite a bit, yet with all those republicans coming out to vote, Price still won by even more.
2/13/2010 3:57:14 AM
Well if anything, we might be able to get him to work for it this time around. It's about the only time we can watch these old statists sweat a little.
2/13/2010 10:42:40 AM
I wish I still lived in Cary so I could be a boots on the ground voice against this guy.I was steamed the home buyer credit was renewed and broadened to include move up buyers because I was more or less forced to sell my home and move for work. In the process I had to eat $13,000 in losses because of commission and the dip in home values on a home I'd otherwise be in for the next decade. That $8000 could certainly come in handy, at the very least being able to write off a portion of the loss would be welcome as well so long as were raining money on the populace. I sent him a message outlining my extreme displeasure that he supported the bill and I eventually got this reply:
2/13/2010 11:11:40 AM
^But don't you feel better knowing your wealth has been spread around?
2/13/2010 9:09:54 PM
I'm socially pragmatic. I don't have a problem helping out the little person by extending unemployment benefits. I have a real serious problem with legislation crafted by bank and housing lobbyists pushed under the guise of helping the economy when what it really is is a bail out of banks who made risky investments. The saddest thing of all is a guy like Price doesn't understand the interconnectedness of it all to realize it isn't a stimulus bill he voted for but yet another bailout bill.
2/13/2010 10:14:48 PM
jesus christ http://www.georgehutchins.com/index.htm is an abomination
2/16/2010 2:22:27 PM
^it's like he doesn't know that he's running in chapel hill / durham, etc.from his site:"Since the year 1979, I have been TRAVELING the World and America for Answers."[Edited on February 17, 2010 at 8:01 AM. Reason : .]
2/17/2010 7:56:47 AM
You need a Hutchins to off-set a Pelosi.
2/17/2010 8:51:35 AM
I was at the Wake Co Repub convention last night, and my oh my what an eye opening. Roche won the straw poll, but you could vote for ALL of the positions open (a candidate from every district). Roche is clearly a Big Gov Repub, and is a banker from Mass.Typical politician trying to pull you in by selling his "story" without going too deep in to the actual issues. The guy def looks like he's hungry for power and looks like he'd sell out in a sec. Anyone that listens to Lawson and Roche will be able to tell the difference.PS. George Hutchins was not there or on the ballot. Give it to the guy....he anti-ages.
3/16/2010 11:02:10 AM
The problem is that as much as my libertarian heart loves BJ Lawson...he lost last time around to Price with a pretty good margin. If the goal is to get old man Price back to the classroom, we may have to go with Roche. But God Bless Dr. Lawson for staying in there and fighting....
3/17/2010 10:17:16 AM
Frank Roche is going to a St. Patty's day party at my apartment complex this evening. I'm going to go ask him some rather... tough questions.
3/17/2010 10:25:31 AM
^Sounds Good.It'll be interesting getting his responses to your questions.
3/17/2010 10:28:35 AM
I'm doing some work for BJ's campaign. Obviously, it's going to be pretty hard to beat Price, but it needs to happen.
3/17/2010 5:03:22 PM
10 minutes till he arrives!
3/17/2010 6:20:07 PM
Well, that was fun.
3/17/2010 10:25:46 PM
^so...what happened?
3/19/2010 3:38:56 AM
3/22/2010 10:59:56 PM
Is it possible to dump that embarrassment Virginia Foxx as well ?
3/23/2010 2:11:45 PM
Replacing David Price: ssjamindi'll be running as the Pro-Life Democrati look forward to your support
3/23/2010 5:22:22 PM