Last night, after an arduous day at work where I was in meetings or writing or just putting out fires nonstop, I went to a rally for Congressional candidate
Larry Kissell. Also scheduled to speak were Congressmen Mel Watt (NC-12) and Artur Davis (AL-7), who was billed as a Vice Chair of the DCCC.
The rally was held in a shelter in Veteran's park, right off Central Avenue in East Charlotte. Central Avenue comes straight out of Uptown to the east. It's dotted with a fairly even mix of dollar stores and barbers who specialize in African hair and yuppie restaurants and trendy boutiques and cheap taquerias and antique stores and pawnbrokers. The houses in the neighborhoods on each side are mostly small and squat and brick (I own one of those) but there are neighborhoods mixed in where the bungalows are now selling for $300,000+. Things get a little poorer and more run down as you get further from uptown, but there is still a diverse mix all the way out to Albemarle Rd. It is the best part of Charlotte to live in, bar none -- a real neighborhood, no gates, local businesses, people of all kinds.
The East Charlotte corridor is part of Larry Kissell's turf so I was really glad that he came to see us.
Outside the venue, an energetic member of the local Democratic Women's organization introduced me to Larry, who shook my hand (he doesn't hug until the second meeting, I learned), and took a picture. I chatted with the local Democrats for a bit and then went inside. A video of Larry Kissell's cheap gas adventure was playing on the TV inside. It was really well-produced and showed the candidate interacting with his constituents one-on-one. He thought he was coming out to tell them something about Robin Hayes and high gas prices, he said. Instead, he learned from them: they need help. Every bit of help they can get. Some of them sat in line for a long time for $1.22 gas. He mentions energy independence in the video as well as just lowering gas prices. It's a nice campaign tool.
Mel Watt got up to speak first, and to introduce Artur Davis. He explained the history of NC-08, and how the mysterious thumb of East Charlotte was actually added to the district by the Democratic legislature to help a Democrat win the district. But then they got an incumbent in there and they'd kind of given up for a while.
Then Artur Davis got up to speak. This, good Kossacks, is what a Democratic star on the rise looks like. He is a wonderful speaker, extremely smooth. I wish I had an actual transcript of what he said. He began by mentioning the administration's failures on Katrina, and praising Mel Watt's efforts on the Katrina Omnibus bill that the Black Caucus produced last year. Then he said something that made my ears perk up: the DCCC was totally wrong about this race. Yup. They were wrong, grooming a candidate (who later dropped out) instead of taking heed of Larry Kissell's people powered movement. They were wrong to think that Robin Hayes could not be taken down. Without any money being spent, he said, Kissell has drawn within 4% of Robin Hayes in the polls. The DCCC was wrong.
He discussed Robin Hayes' voting record, flashing his Congressional voter card as a rhetorical flourish, enumerating the times (a cut for veterans' benefits on the eve of the Iraq war, the prescription drug benefit, and of course CAFTA) when Robin Hayes' one vote would have made the decisive difference in outcomes that are very important to the people of the 8th. Finally he brought us home: if Larry Kissell wins this race, it means that the American Dream is alive in North Carolina. That a regular guy, without money but with the willingness to work hard and belief in his positions, can get himself into Congress to represent his friends and neighbors.
Larry Kissell himself gave a very short speech. He seemed a little intimidated by Congressman Davis' rhetorical ease, even making a joke about it. But his sincerity came through even despite his lack of smoothness. He wants to work for us. HE wants to work for US. He doesn't want to be in Congress just to swan around in expensive suits and have power lunches, he wants to help the people in his district get the outcomes they need.
After the speeches were given and as the crowd filtered out, I approached Artur Davis. He gave me a warm handshake. I said "I am glad to hear that you're going to be putting some resources into this race, because everyone I know in town is a Democrat and I can't understand why we have Robin Hayes" He nodded reassuringly at the mention of DCCC resources, and said I had a good attitude.
As I left, I got someone from the campaign to give me some yard signs -- one for me, one for my boss to put up at his Myers Park manor. I stuck a bumper sticker on my car next to my NC DEM oval. I drove through town on my way to dance class and realized that here and there, there are now Larry Kissell yard signs sprouting. The race is starting to get visible.
So give some love to Larry Kissell, people. He's the real deal, and the DCCC has taken notice. It sounds like they're even going to do something about it. There's a real chance to win this thing and take back a North Carolina district that should be in Democratic hands.
I wish I knew how to make those cute little "volunteer/contribute" buttons, but here's the link to Larry Kissell on the ActBlue netroots page.