Welcome back Larry!

Happy to have you back with us, Mr. Kissell!
Tell us about the 8th CD this time around!

Welcome back to FDL, Larry– and thanks for taking time out of your busy campaign to stop by a talk with us. I’m dying to know if Robin Hayes will be at the event with Bush tomorrow and, if so, will they go investigate the living standards on the base? Or is this strictly Photo-op time?

Good to see you again, Larry (I remember your visit in 2006)

Thanks for having me back! It’s good to see you Howie and Egregious.

I’m thrilled to be here. It’s especially an honor since as you know George Bush will be in my District tomorrow in a last ditch effort to sell his failed Iraq policy and save his biggest ally in Congress, my opponent Robin Hayes.

That’s why we’ve set up this page to send Bush and Hayes a message.

http://www.actblue.com/page/realitycheck

As you may know we lost by 330 votes last time, and now more than ever the people of the 8th District are ready for change. The latest polling has us leading Hayes 42 to 40.

Sending a message to George Bush that the troops are more than just a photo op? Priceless.

I’m in for a donation!

Welcome back, Larry.

Does Bush hope to find OBL at Ft. Bragg?

Larry – you gotta ask yourself – Is Bush all that the incumbent has left, or are they simply missing a huge part of the electoral equation? (Not that I mind…)
The President is radioactive!

Howie, that’s an excellent question. If Robin Hayes isn’t with Bush in person, he’ll be there in spirit. Hayes has proven that when it comes down to the wire, he always stands by his man.

As for the barracks, I hope that President Bush plans on visiting them, because much like New Orleans, they’ll get cleaned up if the President’s coming.

You can Digg this post HERE

Thank you so much! I’ve enjoyed our talks, and still stand in awe of your support.

Hayes has been far too close to Bush to try and pretend he isn’t his ally now.

Larry, I’d like to know where you stand on two issues: telecom immunity and torture.

Larry, do you get a sense how the race is going so far, compared to 2006?

You are one of the finest candidates I’ve encountered for a very long time. You are going to be a terrific Representative, for ALL the people in your district.

Is Bush going to do a tour of the barracks that was in the news while he’s at Ft Bragg.

Or is he going to try to pretend he had no responsibility for that?

Add me to the list of folks who are IN AWE of Egregious!

And so nice to see you back here at Blue America/Firedoglake, Larry! Welcome.

Great answer!

Thanks for joining us again – and I’m looking forward to your taking the Oath of Office next year.

I wish all of you could meet the good people of this District. The Associated Press has ranked North Carolina’s 8th as one of the 20 most economically devastated Congressional districts in the country.

The Nation magazine was here recently and they did a great story they called Mill Hill Populism that you can read on my website. It really painted an accurate picture of the grace with which our people are suffering this economic downturn.

On telecom immunity, if they weren’t breaking the law, they have nothing to worry about. If they were breaking the law, then they have to suffer the consequences. We’ve had enough of corporations and the government playing loose with the rules. And that applies to torture as well.

Howie, name recognition isn’t the problem this time. The belief that we can actually beat Hayes isn’t the problem this time. To be honest with you, running in a District that’s been so hard hit economically, money remains a challenge.

My opponent has already spent a million dollars this cycle trying to hang on to power, but as I like to say, from our campaign’s vantage point of still being two points ahead in the polls, he’s going to need every dime to try and explain his record.

Here in Florida, a semiconductor company closed their manufacturing plant and we lost 400 jobs and gained Home Depot and Lowes jobs, much, much lower pay. People would support any program which could bring 1 million manufacturing jobs to America, we want our jobs back.

Thank you so much. I always enjoy being with you and can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the support this community has given our campaign.

We’re closing in on $10,000 for Larry at Blue America. Let’s try to reach that goal as a first step towards getting this really exceptional man into the U.S. Congress.

In addition to being good economics, that’s good national security. It is a shame that America makes so little of what we consume.

Okay Howie, I’m allowed to be in for $25 according to Kobe — who wants someone to match him, Katie and Lucy.

Anybody want to kick in? It’s hard out here for a poodle.

Greetings, sir, and thank you for challenging the odious Robin Hayes again. As you travel around the eighth district, what are the questions voters most often ask you? What issues do they raise to you? What are their primary concerns in 2008, and what will drive their vote to you this year?

Thank you, Larry Kissell, and thanks to your family for the mighty sacrifices a campaign entails. I’m in for $25 — would anyone like to match that?

Thank you! As a candidate that gets up every morning and teaches school all day before coming here to the campaign office to raise money and then going to campaign events at night, you can’t imagine what a big deal $10,000 is for us.

Again, you have the thanks of me, my family and the people of this District.

I’ll match the person who matches Jane. Do it here and let’s hit that $10,000 mark for Larry like we did this year for Donna Edwards, Tom Allen, Darcy Burner, Charlie Brown, and Vic Wulsin. Larry’s the closest of any of our candidates to getting there.

Thank you for being here, sir. What do you consider to be the first issue that you need to address when you get to Washington?

Teddy, thanks you so much for the contribution and good question.

The voters of my District are concerned about the future. Even people with good jobs, like the ones who work over in downtown Charlotte are seeing outsourcing hit their co-workers.

Over in the eastern part of our District where the military is the economic engine, there is uncertainty from military families stretched thin after multiple deployments.

The central part of our District was the canary in the coal mine, and we started losing jobs soon after Robin Hayes came to office. Teddy, people are worried and the feeling is that Washington is doing nothing.

Hi Larry, how do you deal with this senario?

That is what led to offshoring our jobs, NAFTA and the destruction of union shops. Here people are proud not to pay prevailing wage. “The goose that killed the golden egg”…we are the consumers in the worlds largest economy, around $12 trillion plus while the total world economy is over $21 trillion. We pay about $3 trillion in tax.
With disposable income downward bound our GNP (gross national product) and tax base will shrink as well.
Warren Buffet was said we were 1/4 into the financial crisis or credit crunch now.
We as local communities have to become sustainable to succeed in this economic environment. For large urban areas that is less possible. We are in a serious political hammerlock. Thanks to the Neocon policies of the Bushco administration. We are also running out of the ability to hock our future. Let’s get the progressive think tanks working this out. The “Free Market” doesn’t cut it anymore. We need a plan folks. What do you recommend Larry?

How do you plan to counter the fact that Bush talks about smaller government, but actually increased the size more than any other administration in history by dollar amount. Except for Medicare, Part D nobody even knows what we got for it! I am sure you know, but the war is off budget using supplementals, but not off deficit.

Larry, what would you do to help restore Congress’s oversight role as a co-equal branch of our government?

OK, a sweetener for the $10,000 Larry Kissell drive: the person who puts us over the $10,000 mark today, gets a package of 25 new CDs. Here’s our Blue America page.

The economics of our District is first and foremost. Unfortunately, that isn’t a simple problem, so the solution isn’t simple either. It will require reforming education, trade, energy and putting families’ interests above those of special interests.

Oops. I missed that Howie had already asked about the barracks up above.

Larry, one of the prevailing myths over the last thirty plus years of politics is the idea that Democrats do not support the military and that the Republicans are the group who does things for the active troops.

Has your campaign been able to refute that myth locally with the folks at Ft Bragg? I don’t know specifically about your opponent but would wager that his voting record does not reflect the rhetoric. With the Webb GI Bill and all the multiple rotations to the war zone, do the military folks and their families still buy the myth?

Are you getting any help from the rest of the Democratic N.C. delegation there? I would imagine Brad Miller would love having you as a colleague in DC.

Our economy is built on the premise of cheap gas. It affects every facet of our economy when we see the price of oil increase at the current rate.

A comprehensive energy policy will have far reaching effects in our economy. It will give us jobs, and will reroute hundreds of billions of dollars that are now leaving this country, to be invested in this country.

Sandman, that’s one of the main issues that got me in this race. Early in my campaign, I traveled around with a debt chart to demonstrate how out of control Washington has been in spending our children’s future. I keep a debt clock on my website because I worry that the debt is so large that the average person can’t comprehend it.

We all have to realize that even though Republicans talk about smaller government, it’s Democrats who have ever actually taken the steps to create smaller, more effective government.

Have you gotten a commitment from the DeeCee Democrats to support your race this go-round? Is there anything we can do in that regard? (You know the National Democrats think so highly of us out in the blogosphere! *g*)

I’ve been disappointed that the new majority hasn’t been able to move as fast as I would like them to, and I’m sure as they would like to do, to be able to do just that.

Members of Congress have to stop the politics and start the governing. This is a problem in all of Washington, too much politics, too little governing.

I have faith that the day is coming when we can get things back in balance again. I know we’re headed in the right direction.

Anyone here a member of DKos?

Would you post a note about our chat this afternoon and the HUGE prize Howie will give to the person who puts Larry over the 10k top?

Teddy, the national folks have realized quickly they missed our race last time and they assure us we have their full support this time.

I spend a lot of time giving Washington a hard time, but there are some good folks who are working hard to help us win and I’m very appreciative.

Pups, this is exactly the kind of person we want to see in Congress representing us. Please dig deep to contribute to Larry’s election through Blue America and help him take out another Bush Republican!

For all the hundreds of comments we’ve seen here wondering where are the candidates that believe in real democracy, government acting for the people — this is your chance.

Thank you so much for everything. I really appreciate you having me back. You and Howie in particular have gone above and beyond for our campaign.

I’ve really enjoyed chatting with everyone tonight. I hate to run, but I hope you’ll have me back.

Thank you!

Goodbye Larry and thank you so much for coming to firedoglake again! Best of luck on your campaign and please come and visit us again sometime.

We all want to see photos of Bush and Hayes hugging and kissing tomorrow

I wanted to tell you I have an ad idea, a picture of the 363 tons of Cash transfered to Iraq, just because the Iraqi Finance Minister asked us to. It was pallets and pallets of cash, it was just nuts for our country to give this money away. A picture of that compared to some local need, would make a great ad. Best of Skill and Luck in your race.
Our Country and Our Time is Now.

Done

I was the first recommender!!!! The first time I was ever first! Everyone should recommend Teddy’s diary. I think the Kos folks love Larry too– and we’re pretty close to $10,000.

Recommended. Let’s spread the word!

Swopa upstairs with some talk about change

And I do so hope that Larry Kissell helps to make the Changes we all know are needed

Just to clarify – no one’s put larry over the top yet- so the prize and matches howie and jane put up are still active.

Good luck — and thanks for help saving our Republic.

howie-i am having problems on the total-up page at blue america—–
5 candidates, and tip page…….won’t take it……have blue bar at top for long time……so clicked to stop it, then hit submit again, won’t take it, so hit enter, cuz page adress said
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/blueamerica08

should i just start over? don’t want to be charged twice……

p.s. was i supposed to get one of the al franken books a few weeks ago? thought so, if so, i didn’t receive it. if not, must not have been quick enough.

dmac I’ll get this to Howie for you. You might be able to find out if the charge went through by dialing the telephone number on your credit card, to ask about recent charges. Hope this will work out and we really appreciate your support.

at 57—thanks ’grege, i tried twice, then started over from scratch. third time’s a charm.

it worked……..

and tell him to let them know that for dialup people, it is the slowest site of any and if i didn’t really want to contribute, would be too much of a hassle. takes around 15-20 minutes if all goes well……
(since it’s so slow, i don’t want to have to go back in there just to do the ’contact us’ thing…)
and still lookin’ for the check box for campaigns that says don’t waste money on me sending postal mail info, email only is ok. they can spend it on something else, if i’m not in their district or don’t know anyone that lives there, don’t need the physical paper for anything……vic wulsin’s stuff i use, i leave it places in her district. everyone else is of no use to me and a waste of money.

so, pass that on, too, ok?

gracias bonita.

: )

wooooowwww, i just saw the prize howie offered!!!! holy cow!

Hey dmac, third’s the charm! Happy to hear that it worked. Wish things were faster for dialup, I don’t have the answer to that one.

I hear you on the not getting more paper. What I do for that is the first time they send something in regular mail, I write back or email back and ask to be taken off the mailing list.

One kind of strange thing about mailing lists for a small operation like a district campaign [or my charity] is that sometimes it creates extra work and extra time for the staff to take out the letters for the couple of people who contribute, but who have asked not to get mail. I am happy to have their donations but it does make extra work for me every single mailing. Just one perspective, ymmv.

Thanks for helping Larry Kissell throw the Republican incumbent out!

’grege–thanks, so which is more cost affective to eliminate? the mailing, or the staff time devoted to not mailing it?

doesn’t matter to me, just wanted them to save the cost of the paper and the postage and the work of the person stuffing it or the cost of the person deleting it from the list?

and ’grege–nowadays with computer lists, not adding them to the printing label list in the first place would take care of that, and when someone makes a contribution with a ’check’ by the no mailings list, then you just wouldn’t add them to that mailing list……would just see if they’re on/add to email list….that’s how i’d do it.

Sometimes, on a day too rainy to send volunteers out to canvass door-to-door, a campaign is delighted to have some donor letters to print out, stuff in envelopes, stamp and seal. Volunteers are the lifeblood of a campaign, and it’s anathema to send them away with nothing to do. Office work like that is rarely done by actual staffers; it’s saved for the rainy day when eager volunteers show up needing something to do.

That’s how I justify getting wonderful mail from the candidates I support, anyway.

Not sure which would be more cost effective. My data is anecdotal. It’s gotta be ok to ask to be taken off the mailing list in any case. You can always give another donation even if they don’t contact you.

One donor asked me not to send her a thank you letter when she made a contribution. That just felt wrong to me, I wanted to let them know the check had arrived and that I appreciated it. Of course, their wishes were honored.

tsf and ’grege, thanks…you’ve both given me two things i hadn’t considered, i hafta say, i do like reading the mail and i do like seeing all of the different approaches and logos and styles of writing from the different campaigns, is interesting to see what is done in different parts of the country and different styles of the candidates…i just wondered if it was taking from the campaign and didn’t like that thought.

and yes, ’grege i know how you feel about the thank you letters, my mom always wants to make sure those that contribute to her fundraising efforts are appreciated…..and did i tell you that ’abilities first’ cerebral palsy center in ’m’ got enough money to buy another ’walk lift’ and more money for their residential area???? whoppin’ big grant that mom ’helped’ with…(that’s how she puts it)…was a proud day when she presented the check, she does good…..it was either 10k or 45k, can’t remember which one is which……i am so proud of her and dad…..and you, for caring and doing.

/s wanna buy a raffle ticket for osu football season tickets for cerebral palsy? heh he…..the michigan home game can be sold on ebay at 400 bucks minimum………only sell about 2600 of them……she or someone she has sold them to has won 3/5 years…..last year the winners were huge fans and showed up dressed in osu garb—three generations were there, they met in a parking lot–even the granddaughter had on an osu cheerleader’s outfit……/s

howie—-thanks!!!! package mentioned at 56 was in the mailbox when i checked it today!!!! stuff in the mail!!! stuff in the mail!!!!! appreciate it!

Fast, yes?

Blue Am at your service.