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Thursday, August 24, 2006

Netroots August Fundraising Push: Support Larry Kissell

Posted by James L.

If there's one candidate who actually tugs at your heartstrings this cycle, it's Larry Kissell. Larry's story is all too familiar to the voters of North Carolina's 8th Congressional District. After graduating from University, Larry climbed through the ranks of the local textile industry for 27 years before free trade agreements and corporate consolidation finally took its toll and he was forced to pursue a new career as a social studies teacher. Many of his 800 coworkers were not as fortunate. Now Larry is running for Congress on an economically progressive platform in a district that's been coping with increasingly leaner times under their Republican congressman, Robin Hayes.

Hayes, mindful of his constituent's extreme distaste for the economic effects of globalization and corporate trade pacts, initially said that that he was "flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed to CAFTA," and insisted that "it's not in the best interests of the core constituency I represent," and that "there is no way I could vote for CAFTA." (Source) However, it didn't take long before the Republican strong-arms bullied and bribed Hayes into voting for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, much to the locals' disgust.

This race was originally a DCCC target, but their preferred candidate, Iraq War vet Tim Dunn, dropped out (and so did they). However, with limited resources but an endless supply of great ideas, Kissell's campaign has converted a low budget into a buzz-generating, free media-earning campaign. His best move yet was to sell gas for $1.22/gallon--its price when Hayes was first elected in 1998, as a way to tie the incumbent and his big oil supporters with high gas prices. The move was a stroke of genius for the Kissell campaign, and the event gobbled up lots of local newspaper headlines and radio buzz. The Hotline praised the move as an example that all attention-starved second-tier Democratic campaigns should follow this fall. Even national media sources like CNN were jolted, too:

How much do you want to bet that those 500 voters--Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike--became dyed in the wool Kissell supporters? Chances are, nearly all of them became Kissell converts. After all, Larry did more for them with one cheap tank of gas than Hayes has done for them in 8 years in Congress.

Recent polling shows that Kissell is well within striking distance of Hayes, but he needs your help to keep his momentum going. Based on his campaign's performance so far, Larry knows how to make your small-dollar donations go far!

Contribute to Larry Kissell and the Netroots candidates today.

Posted at 12:03 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Fundraising, Netroots, North Carolina | Technorati

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Comments

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We celebrate Larry's candidacy and write about him often and it is so encouraging when we see others take notice. Thank you for helping Larry. He deserves it and so do the people of the 8th.

Posted by: southerndem at August 24, 2006 01:30 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I was glum about our chances in NC-08 after Tim Dunn decided not to run. Kissell has proven to be a very pleasant surprise with the effectiveness of his campaign. This does not seem to be considered a top-tier race by most analysts, but it's one of those that could easily end up being an upset in November.

Posted by: Mark at August 24, 2006 02:04 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

yea i agree with mark. i was pretty enganged in some blog arguing with ppl saying kissel was legit, after raising about 25k first quarter. i mean, he still didnt raise a decent amount of money, 100k for a race like this isnt enough, but hes done enough that maybe if he gets lucky he can win on a shoe string budget

Posted by: yomoma2424 at August 24, 2006 08:54 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment