May 8th In North Carolina-- Patsy Keever (NC-10) And Cecil Bothwell (NC-11)

Rep. Patsy Keever is the first Democrat with a real chance to beat North Carolina's rotten little right-wing hypocrite, Patrick McHenry. But first she has to beat a conservative Democrat, Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy (anti-Choice, anti-gay, etc.) in the primary May 8. A good sign that she's on the way to doing just that came over the weekend at the 10th Congressional District Democratic straw poll in Catawba County and including Democrats from across the district. Patsy, who had just been endorsed by DFA, won.

“I am delighted to have won the 10th District straw poll. This is a clear indication that voters want to work together to resolve the issues that confront us. From early education funding to clean air and water to caring for our neighbors, we must always put people first. When I get to Congress, that will be my guiding principle.”

The most recent polling in the district also shows Patsy winning the race, although most voters are still unfamiliar with the candidates.

While just about half of the voters are undecided in our poll, Keever more than doubles the support of Bellamy (28 percent compared to 12 percent) across the  district. When we include voters who lean toward one candidate over another, Keever increases her level of support by five points while Bellamy’s level of support increases by just one.

Not surprisingly, both candidates are well known in Buncombe  County, where they both hold elected office, and both are relatively unknown in  the other  areas  of  the  district. While this general lack of name recognition for both candidates was to be expected, the big surprise is that Keever is not only leading Bellamy in the areas of Buncombe outside of the City of Asheville (55 percent to 22 percent), Keever has an even bigger lead in the city itself. The fact that Keever is leading 61 percent to 24 percent in the City that Bellamy currently represents as Mayor speaks volumes to the connection voters have with Keever. Given  the low knowledge of both candidates, the majority of voters outside of Buncombe are undecided (56 percent) however, Keever leads in this area of the district as well with 16 percent support versus 6 percent for Bellamy.

Regardless of  where in the district voters reside, it is clear that Patsy Keever enjoys three distinct  advantages  over her opponent: 1) she is leading by a significant margin,  2) as voters get to know both candidates, Keever’s advantage grows. Indeed, 55  percent of voters who are familiar with both candidates support Keever while just 25 percent would support Bellamy; and finally  3) undecided Democratic voters in his district are very much aligned with Patsy Keever’s views on the importance of fixing Washington, standing up for women’s rights and focusing not just on protecting our air and water and bringing jobs t  North Carolina but working to make sure both happen. With the right level of  funding, Keever will be able to continue introducing herself to voters in the eastern part of the district and put herself in a very strong position to win

If you'd like to make sure that voters in NC-10 have a progressive alternative to McHenry in November-- and are not just forced to choose between the lesser of two conservative evils-- you might consider contributing to Patsy Keever's campaign on the Blue America ActBlue page. And on that same page you'll also find the other progressive in North Carolina Blue America is supporting, Cecil Bothwell, who's facing Heath Shuler clone Hayden Rogers, also May 8. Earlier today, as expected, Steve Israel forced the DCCC to endorse Rogers, his fellow Blue Dog and someone who personifies all of the reasons Democratic voters stayed away from the polls in 2010 and allowed the GOP to retake control of the House. Below is a comparison between the two candidates on the issues-- the Blue America type Democrat and the DCCC type "Democrat." As you read Hayden's positions, keep in mind that DCCC Chair and "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel personally recruited him to run against Cecil. First Cecil's positions and then we'll follow with Rogers':

ECONOMY

• Jobs: Believes the federal government can and must put people back to work.
 
• Medicare & Social Security: Must be strengthened
 
• Taxes: Would raise taxes on corporations, capital gains, the rich.
 
• Cost of Living: Knows we need to raise incomes, supports increase in minimum wage, help those in school and those in need.

SOCIAL ISSUES 

• Women: Should control their own bodies, pro-choice, supports Planned Parenthood.

• Health care reform: Would have voted for ACA, but will push for public option.

• Civil Liberties: Opposes Amendment One which is a very bad law
 
THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

• Out of five debates, he participated in every one.
 
• Held Town Hall meetings in 15 counties in the District and will continue to do so.
 
• Tries to personally answer every phone call and e-mail from constituents and reporters

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
 
• Grassroots support from over 1,000 people
 
• Will not accept corporate PAC campaign contributions.

• Average donation is $55.

POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY

• Environmental advocate for more than 30 years.
 
• Created the grassroots Rolling Thunder event in Asheville, 2003
 
• Elected to Asheville City Council, 2009
 
• Represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party

Cecil Bothwell, from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party

Hayden Rogers

THE ECONOMY

• Jobs: Does not believe government should create jobs.
 
• Medicare & Social Security: Told Dems in Haywood they are both "on the table"
 
• Taxes: Would cut taxes on corporations.
 
• Cost of living: Never talks about the rising cost of gas, groceries, college tuition, would cut government spending.

SOCIAL ISSUES
 
• Women: Should not control their own bodies, anti-choice, Blue Dogs voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
 
• Health care reform: Would have voted against Affordable Care Act
 
• Civil Liberties: Supports Amendment One, which is a very bad law
 
THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

• Out of five debates, he participated in only one.
 
• Doesn't return reporters' phone calls.
 
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
 
• Accepts corporate PAC campaign contributions.
 
• Top two dozen donors represent major corporations and lobbyists
 
• Average donation is $848
 
POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY

• A Washington insider
 
• Never elected to public office
 
• Spent five years as Chief of Staff for Congressman Heath Shuler
 
• Represents the Blue Dog faction of the Democratic Party (Republican-lite)