As you might remember reading last week “on some political gossip Web site,” it was reported that State Senator Kay Hagan (D-Greensboro) was reconsidering a challenge to Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). Today, Hagan announced she's officialy in the race and came out of the gate swinging:
“To make a difference in North Carolina, we need change in Washington,” Hagan said. “We need a Senator to make our voice heard. We need a Senator who will stand up, lead and make a difference. That's what I've done, and it's what I'm going to keep doing in Washington.”
“We need accountability to end the war in Iraq so we can re-invest those resources here at home. How can Washington reject health care for 123,000 North Carolina children, while continuing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this mismanaged war?” Hagan said. “Making those kinds of decisions is hard, but I know it can be done – because those are the kinds of fights I've led in the State Senate.”
Hagan joins businessman Jim Neal in the Democratic primary.
was promptly endorsed by former governor Jim Hunt.
Is it just me, or do these two things seem related?
I’m no expert at NC politics, but I would guess Hagan’s decision is more directly related to Grier Martin’s decision and only tangentially related to Jim Neals. Hagan dropped out because she thought everyone was going to back Martin. When he decided not to get in, she reconsidered. Now, concerning Neal. If Neal had been a stronger candidate, it may have prevented her from jumping in. But in addition to being gay, he has never run for office before. On paper, Neal seems like a great guy. Perhaps, we can get him to run for a different office first and to build up a base.
Hagan decided not to run because she wasn’t going to run against Grier Martin. Then when he opted out, to our surprise, she realized she bowed out too soon.
Again, “Enough people are saying it must be because Jim Neal came out, so it has to be true.” Doesn’t hold up as legitamit evidence to back your claim.
Unless you have legitimat evidence to support it being because Jim Neal came out of the closet, quit parading Kay Hagan as a symbol of an anti-gay sect in the Democratic party.
Like I said on MyDD… Just because a lot of people say aliens exist, doesn’t mean they exist. Without the legitamit evidence, you look kind of paranoid.
Or maybe Neal came out in order to strengthen his position before Hagan’s anticipated announcement. A study done by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund showed that candidates who clearly come out early in their campaigns tend to eliminate that issue as fodder and are perceived by many voters as more honest and forthcoming than other candidates. Surprisingly, even many conservative voters perceive them that way and are willing to consider voting for them. (I believe that his announcement should be a signal to all that this man has done his homework and is a serious contender.)
Or maybe these two announcements are simply related by the fact that they happened fairly close to each other.