Carter Wrenn, the veteran GOP consultant, says the North Carolina Democrats are seeing the “access” money from special interest groups shift to Republicans, which is why they are now badly losing the money game.
“In North Carolina, there are a modicum of ‘Party’ donors, fewer ‘Ideological’ donors, and a lot of people who give because they want something,” Wrenn writes in his blog Talking About Politics. “If you want to try to tackle a really hard political problem try raising money for someone like Jesse Helms who told just about everyone who wanted something No. By comparison raising what’s euphemistically called ‘access money’ is easy. All you need is a candidate with a cooperative attitude. When Democrats controlled the legislature they were masters of raising the ‘easy money’ and they were in power so long no Democrat serving in the legislature even remembers raising money any other way.’
“The hard truth for Democrats in the legislature is they built their financial house on sand – now their power’s vanished (as it always does sooner or later) and they need a new way to fund their campaigns,” Wrenn writes. To read more: www.talkingaboutpolitics.com.
Judd for Obama
Actress and activist Ashley Judd will campaign for President Barack Obama in Charlotte on Sunday.
Judd will attend the campaign’s latest Women Vote 2012 Summit in Charlotte at Central Piedmont Community College along with state Treasurer Janet Cowell and Samara Foxx, wife of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.
Judd, who grew up in Kentucky, was active in the Obama campaign in 2008. She divides her time between Tennessee and Scotland. She is married to Scottish racing driver Dario Franchitti. She is the daughter of country singer Naomi Judd.
Libertarian campaign
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson campaigned in Charlotte on Saturday with Barbara Howe, the party’s gubernatorial candidate.
In fact, Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, did a 5K run at The Park in Huntersville with Howe.
Howe is making 5-kilometer runs in every county. The event couldn’t have been a stretch for Johnson, who once ran 30 consecutive hours in the Rocky Mountains. He is a former Ironman competitor who is a proficient skier, bicyclist and someone who has reached the highest peak on four of the seven continents, including Mount Everest.
Johnson planned a full day of campaign events in Charlotte, including a dinner at the Raintree Country Club featuring Howe and Duke University professor Mike Munger, who was the party’s gubernatorial nominee in 2008.
Extension of tax cuts
Charles Malone, who is running against George Holding for Congress, says he would extend President Bush’s tax cuts to include those who make $1 million or less – higher than the $250,000 limit Democratic leaders in Congress and President Obama propose.
“I am supporting this extension beyond what my party is asking in order to give tax relief to approximately 620,000 small businesses that would be affected by the $1 million limit,” Malone said in a press release on Friday.
Malone, who lives in Raleigh, said he called for the tax cuts in a speech Thursday to the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. He said it was meant to illustrate he is willing to bridge the divide between parties if he is elected in November.
The 13th Congressional District includes portions of Wake, Durham, Granville, Vance, Franklin, Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, and Wayne counties. Holding is a former U.S. attorney; he defeated Paul Coble, a Wake County commissioner, in the primary.
Staff writers Rob Christensen and Craig Jarvis
Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com.
