Today,
The Daily Pulse goes to North Carolina, where NC-08 and NC-11 are looking like possible Democratic pick-ups. In NC-11, Heath Shuler is leading Charles Taylor, according to the
Elon University Poll. NC-08 is a little stranger, as it has a majority of registered Democrats but has a Republican Representative, Robin Hayes, who enjoys 61 percent confidence in the District. However, the same people broke up 41 percent voting for Larry Kissell, 33 percent for Hayes, and 21 percent undecided. Most important, 68 percent want somebody new, while only 38 percent think Hayes deserves another chance (and yes, that comes out to 106%). This, too, from an
Elon University Poll.
Previous The Daily Pulse- Battleground Editions covered Virginia, New York, Tennessee, Idaho, Missouri, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut and Indiana.
The Charlotte Observer
This editorial notes that Kerry speaks so poorly that the gaffe is perfectly understandable, and that the Republicans reveled in their "mock indignation." Then, it went on to do a pretty reasoned analysis of our men and women in uniform.
Who's in uniform?
Sen. John Kerry told a Pasadena City College audience Monday, "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Was he saying our troops in Iraq are dumb?
No, no, ten thousand times no, he later explained. He meant that President Bush didn't work hard, do his homework, etc., so he got the nation stuck in Iraq. He was insulting the president, not the troops. Get it?
Since Sen. Kerry's speeches often sound like a bad translation from some obscure Middle European dialect, it's not hard to believe he tried to tell a joke and botched it. Nevertheless, Democrats cringed and Republicans rose in mock indignation to claim he'd insulted the nation's military and should apologize. ...
But what of the issue Sen. Kerry seemed to raise: Are military recruits more poorly educated than their civilian peers?
The answer, in a word: No. ...
The bottom line, according to Dr. Kane: The men and women now joining our armed forces are mostly white, middle class and better educated than their peers. For every two recruits coming from the nation's poorest neighborhoods, there are three from the richest neighborhoods. It is by no means a poor, dumb fighting force.
The Daily Advance
This letter-writer suggest that public schools have been taken over by "sodomites" since prayer was removed from school. Actually, I can think of at least one school system that keeps Christ in school- the one run by the Catholic Church. Can anybody tell me how that has worked out?
Public schools going down without religion
...
It is a shame that God has been taken out of the school system and has been replaced with Sodomites. Ever since prayer was taken out of the schools in the '60s, public education has been on a downward spiral. Put Christ back into the schools, and this problem would never have surfaced. It is just a shame that our society has come to this point. I fear for my grandchildren. What will they be taught in school? What are they being taught in school now?
Asheville Citizen Times
A front-group for Big Pharma has been sending out mailers supporting Taylor. This letter exposes "The Seniors Coalition" for the shill it is.
Drug companies, not seniors, benefited from prescription plan
Many voters have received mass mailings from a group called The Seniors Coalition praising Charles Taylor for his prescription drug support for seniors. ...
According to the July/August 2005 issue of Mother Jones, The Senior Coalition has received millions of dollars from drug companies and has a philosophy that is in lockstep with the pharmaceutical industry. In the same article, it was stated that a Senior Coalition founder had been in prison for public corruption and its chief lobbyist who had also been similarly imprisoned had been a lobbyist for a drug company. ...
Western North Carolina can do better.
Asheville Citizen Times
This is really a fascinating letter. Apparently, the writer doesn't think the problem in Vietnam is that we were losing good men for bad reasons; rather, the problem is simply that we STOPPED losing good men for bad reasons.
A vote for Shuler is a vote for `cut and run'
If anyone reading this would truly like to see another Vietnam, by all means, vote for Heath Shuler. Your vote could shift the power in Washington from the party of sturdy national defense to the party of squeamish "cut and run."
Asheville Times Citizen
Shuler gets this protest vote, because the Republicans just won't leave him alone.
Calls from GOP send reader off to vote the other way
... The intrusive calls on my cellular phone from 000-000-0000 have became quite familiar with two or more calls per day. According to Republican Headquarters on Patton Avenue (which I paid a visit in hopes they could remove my name from the calling list), it's coming from the National Republican Party so they are unable to assist me with this nuisance.
Shuler may pay his taxes late, however he nor his party invaded my privacy at my expense. He has my vote and can thank the National Republican Party for it.
The Fayetteville Observer
People always talk as if they hate negative campaigning, but it sure seems to work. So it is interesting that in North Carolina, it seems to be swaying some voters the other way.
Kissell is the clear choice for District 8 in Congress
...
The TV ads and slick fliers purport to show what a disaster Larry Kissell would be in Congress. Meanwhile, the congressman doles out federal largesse in photo ops across the district. What could be more disastrous than returning Republicans like Hayes to Washington to continue the irresponsible hemorrhaging of red ink?
This is the essence of negative campaigning, putting words in his challenger's mouth and picturing him in out-of-focus, uncomplimentary photographs while the congressman poses on the stump in his tailored suits. ...
Thanks to the Hayes campaign's dirty tricks and my subsequent investigation of what both men stand for, I now know for whom I'll vote -- Larry Kissell!
The Fayetteville Observer
I love this letter because it ascribes "values" based upon a candidates actual actions, rather than his mouthing of religious piety.
Support the candidate with strong values
Robin Hayes is incapable of discussing issues that matter to the people in the District 8. All he can do is run negative ads that are total lies. He's afraid to take a stand on any issue because he may have to change his vote to please President Bush. ...
Kissell has strong values. He values honesty, people who are respectful of others, and people who care about each other.
Hayes apparently does not have these values, as he approves these TV ads. The ads should be stopped. ...
Herald Sun
Bush's entire presidency is based upon his machismo swagger. So how will his supporter respond to his submitting to al Maliki's demand that we leave an American service man behind? My guess? With their fingers in their ears and humming loudly.
Taking orders from Iraq
Whenever the possibility arises of the U.S. military being used to bolster a United Nations or NATO operation, there are always those who object to the prospect of American forces taking orders from non-Americans. Those people should be purple with rage after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the U.S. to disband a checkpoint around Sadr City, a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, and the U.S. complied.
The incident shows the impossible situation that entangles the American army. The barricade was set up for two purposes: to locate an American soldier missing and believed to be in Sadr City, and to search for Abu Deraa, a notorious death squad leader likely receiving haven from Muqtada al Sadr, leader of the Shiite militia in Sadr City. ...
The situation in Iraq has surely crossed the border into civil war, although the level of violence is probably limited by the American presence. Still, dozens of Iraqi men, women and children are being abducted and murdered every day only because they are Sunni or Shia. Kidnappers are said to call their victims' families and ask, "Is your husband (or other family member) Sunni or Shia?" with their lives riding on the answer. Al Sadr's army is likely involved in the deaths of many Sunnis.
Al-Maliki's independent streak may backfire on him. Nearly everyone would agree that the American military must never become an instrument of the Shiite majority. If the Prime Minister insists on pushing in that direction, it would provide the U.S. with a good reason to leave. And an all-out war would likely fill that void.
New-Record
"Support the Troops." Okay, how? By keeping them safe, or by getting them killed in somebody else's civil war?
What does it really mean to support troops?
I've been wondering lately what is on people's minds when they place "Support Our Troops" ribbon magnets on their cars. How do these people see themselves as supporting the troops? ...
Here's a simple question: Which person is supporting you: the one who is putting your life at great risk or the one who wants you safely back home?
The Sampson Independent
This editorial takes Kerry lightly to task for his gaffe, and a bit more for not immediately apologizing, not for what he meant, but how it SOUNDED. Then it takes Bush to task far more harshly for his disgusting behavior in response, and his failure to stay above the fray.
An unnecessary political raucous
Someone needs to remind Sen. John Kerry and President Bush that they aren't running for election.
And someone needs to remind the president that he is the commander in chief and should rise above the fray and criticism rather than participate in verbal sparring. ...
Firstly, you should be careful what you say and know, before you say it, how people might take it. That's particularly true in the murky political waters, where every phrase can be turned, by one party or another, into something far from what it was intended.
Secondly, if what you say is taken in a way you did not mean, an apology should be made, even if that apology is difficult to swallow. ...
And the final lesson: For those who are in leadership roles and in very public positions, positive examples of good behavior should be set.
The president didn't. Instead he jumped head first into attacks against Kerry and his words, using them to set off his own political rhetoric.
Rather than letting his party and his people handle the spin on Kerry's words, the president offered his own slurs, putting him in the same boat with the others rather than above the water and out of the verbal controversy where a president should be.
Hendersonville News
The volume of early voting seems to indicate unusual interest in this mid-term election. That is probably good news for Democrats, particularly if the people flocking to the polls are independents.
Early turnout good sign One-stop voting
Both parties say they have robust get-out-the-vote efforts in the 11th District, where incumbent Rep. Charles Taylor faces a strong challenge from Democrat Heath Shuler. ...
More than 8,000 voters had already cast ballots at the Board of Elections in Hendersonville by Wednesday night -- exceeding the number who voted in the 2004 presidential election.
"I think it's just people -- they like to pick the day they vote," said Henderson County elections director Beverly Cunningham.
Wilson Daily
And now, a new feature of The Daily Pulse- the Whack-A-Doodle Rant of the Day TM
Help the terrorists by voting Democratic
...
Believe me, folks, I was in Vietnam, and I went through the same thing. If the Democrats had left Vietnam alone it could have been won in one year or less. But as usual they believe cut and run, and you shouldn't have the right to defend yourself. ...
If you want the terrorists here just send them an invitation, and say come on in, just vote Democrat and make the terrorists' day; they'll love you for it. They hate Mr. Bush to their guts because they can't come here with him at the point. Hey, I'll go with him to any barroom brawl because I believe he'll stand with you till the end, and you can take that to the bank. So terrorists get ready to come on back if the Democrats win.
Remember God still loves us, but I think his patience is about to run out. So all of you people that still believe that there is a God better pray real hard. But you better also vote the right way or it will be over anyway.