In the first skirmish of what will be a definitive model for insurgent 2010 Democrats, Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State of North Carolina easily won the hearts and minds of North Carolina voters.
Here's what the Independent Weekly of Durham had to say:
So who won? Elaine Marshall did, convincingly, and I have to believe that even Richard Burr's staffers told him afterward that he can't get through an entire Senate campaign saying absolutely nothing about every issue.
Let me see if I can summarize the debate:
Marshall said the issues in Washington boil down to one thing, that Congress is so busying representing corporate interests (and taking their money) that it doesn't even see what's happening to working men and women, or to the environment. (See: Gulf Coast.) Is Washington overspending? Yes, it is, but the overspending is because of corporate subsidies, tax cuts for the rich and two wars. It's not because the unemployed are receiving jobless benefits.
Burr said the issues in Washington boil down to one thing, that Congress spends too much money. He said it repeatedly, but in an hour-long debate, he failed to mention a single area of spending that he would cut. He did, indirectly, defend his votes against providing extended unemployment benefits to those who lost their jobs because of the Great Recession — or as I would call, and Marshall should too, the Republican Recession.
THE REPUBLICAN RECESSION! Republican persecution of the citizens of the United States!
I do not see how Democrats can fail to GAIN seats in the Senate this year. Republicans are irrationally pursuing an agenda that spreads misery wider and deeper than is necessary or reasonable, and they are completely unashamed!