Oliver Queen's blog

We have a myriad opportunities for change this year. We can put Larry Kissell over the top, and I'm sure we can find a Democratic upset out there, somewhere. Our goal should be to make the North Carolina Republican Congressional Delegation the easiest to remember in the South - because there will only be 4 Congressmen and 1 Senator after this year.

So why not help out and see if we can get over 100 by the fundraising deadline? If you gave your 10 for Jim, maybe you can give 20 to Hagan. Or do what RobertP does, and cut out that pizza dinner this week. But whatever you do, lets give the media a story they can't ignore - well-funded Democrats prepared for victory in November.

a Democratic Congress!

A little background: I've been living out of my truck since September, working for various progressive Democratic causes across the country. In September, I went to Jena. In the fall, I led a grassroots group to save mass transit funding in Charlotte, NC while working on the Democratic coordinated campaign for the local races in Charlotte. In November, I started working in Iowa for Joe Biden. And in January, I moved to Chapel Hill to work for Jim Neal. But I'm turning 23 today on the 23rd, and I'm ready to work for a Democratic Congress the best way I know how - with ActBlue!

What's kept me sane has been the generosity and energy of the volunteers on all of these campaigns. I met some of the nicest people (and best cooks) I've ever met in Iowa, while activists in Chapel Hill graciously opened their houses to me. I owe a lot of friends - some of them bloggers here at Daily Kos - a big thank you for their help (a few of them even thought enough of me to elect me as a Democratic Presidential Elector in NC-12 earlier this week).

So, in the spirit of gratitude - all I want for my birthday is Democratic victory in November! More below the fold ...

Since starting his campaign for the United States Senate, Jim Neal has been learning from voters all over North Carolina by visiting churches, Democratic Party organizations, twenty colleges, and more than twice as many counties. He’s had dinner with state troopers at Bill’s truck stop on I-85, been stuck in traffic in Charlotte, and he can’t stop drinking sweet tea from Bojangles’. His grassroots campaign is reaching out to North Carolina like no Democrat ever has before, but he needs your help to win the May 6th primary.

If Gov. Sebelius can be pro-choice and anti-death penalty in Kansas, why can't our Gubernatorial candidates can be against the death penalty in North Carolina?

If an openly gay candidate can replace a disliked Republican in New Hanover County (where there are 1-2% more Democrats than Republicans), why can't an openly gay candidate can replace a disliked Republican in a state where there are a third more Democrats than Republicans)?

If Larry Kissell can come out of nowhere to within tenths of a percentage point of beating an entrenched Republican Congressman, why can't someone do the same in a harder district, in this of all years?

If this isn't the year to change America, who expects that year to ever come?

Though it feels like I just got back to North Carolina and the world wide web, it's not time to go back to blogging quite yet. Duty calls.

As a few of you learned this past Saturday at the State Executive Committee meeting in Hamlet, I have taken a job as the Statewide Political Director for the Neal for Senate campaign. This was not a decision I made lightly, or without a few weeks of consideration - but it was the right decision. Though many campaigns were quick to send job offers to those of us that became unemployed after Iowa, I chose the Neal campaign for many reasons - our strong grassroots support, our impressive volunteers, the historic nature of the race, and our very real chance to get rid of Dole.

The eyes of the world are upon us. Here in Iowa, the thaw has begun. After long, dark days of harsh cold, it's supposed to warm up for the caucuses today. The ice is receding. The new winds are taking hold in preparation for the magic of a January night under the stars. Our party is united for change, for hope, to fight, to lead on (or before) day one. We're united for peace through strength, for an America that rises like a sun as the snow melts. We're fired up and ready for Bush to go. We have plans - for Iraq, for Pakistan, for restoring our Constitution. The Fire Fighters are for us, as are the service workers, the middle class, the single parents, the teachers, the farmers. The archetypal Americans are for us because we are for them. The children from the Norman Rockwell paintings are weathered and as old as 2007, but they will be standing for Biden and Dodd and Edwards and Obama.

Today we're more than ourselves - we're teams, we're beliefs, we're opinions, we're percentages of state delegates but we're united. Interconnected. By November the ice will have given way to the grass and its roots and the luminous splendor that grows forth from it. We are already a part of the campaigns that we have been waiting for - the change we have been working for - the judgment and experience that anticipates the action to bring our country back on its feet, proving that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

Our spite will succumb to the stupor we will feel when the blessings of America are returned to us. God Bless America. Let's celebrate our democracy. Happy Caucus Day everybody.

Frontpaged. A.

As most of you know, I've been away from North Carolina for awhile, with many positives and negatives as a result. Negatives include icy roads, a lack of sweet tea/BBQ/Cheerwine, and 19-42 hour days. Positives include friendly people, a fun (if taxing) job, and being able to stay out of the Sheriff debacle in Mecklenburg County.

I've heard many different viewpoints concerning the special election, but I've wanted to see how young people back home feel about the Sheriff situation, to gain a more objective viewpoint. This might pique your interest:

In an online poll conducted by Facebook Polling, only 17% of respondents in the "Charlotte, NC" network believed that Mecklenburg County Sheriff apointee Nick Mackey should be allowed to take office.