Watauga Dems
optimistic for election One-stop voting starts Thursday
By Scott Nicholson
The Watauga County Democratic Party held a fall rally
Saturday at Watauga High School, expressing optimism for the coming
election.
Several hundred people gathered to hear from candidates and organize
for the early, one-stop voting that begins Thursday.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we really stand at a moment in history
where we are at a crossroads,” said Chris Willis, who served
as master of ceremonies for the rally. He noted voters could make
the change “and place people above profit and the need to
think globally but act locally.”
He said 45 million people lack health insurance and another 90
million are underinsured, suggesting Democrats had a better plan
to address economic issues.
Kelly Sechrist, speaking on behalf of her father, N.C. Sen. Steve
Goss (D-45), said Goss understood the plight of the middle class.
“He is not a cookie-cutter politician who is robotically
passing bills that benefit only a few,” she said.
She said Goss, a retired pastor, “has done what we have sent
him to Raleigh to do and it is also our duty to not re-elect those
who have not done what we want them to do.”
Although the race is listed on the ballot as non-partisan, several
Watauga County school-board candidates were on hand to garner
Democratic votes.
School-board candidate Joni Horine said the county needed to focus
on why so many students dropped out, and said the school board
needed to work with the county commissioners to provide affordable
housing for teachers.
School-board candidate Marsha Walpole said the state should train
for high-tech jobs: “Watauga County children are going to
be ready for those jobs.” She said the school system would
continue to be a partner with local universities, colleges and
businesses.
School-board member and candidate Steve Combs said he was proud
of the school board’s work over his 10-year tenure. He said
through perseverance and hard work, the county would soon have
a new school. He said the county was providing a $200 supplement
each year, and the school system should continue to provide strong
vocational programs.
County commissioner Winston Kinsey said Watauga County didn’t
have the economic problems experienced by much of the country,
and said on a national level, a Democratic president would solve
a lot of problems. He encouraged people to let him know if they
had any complaints.
Commission candidate Tim Futrelle said he was excited about the
campaign and being able to serve the county. He said he supported
sustainable growth, bringing “green jobs” into the county,
and said the county could be good environmental stewards while
it grew.
N.C. House of Representatives incumbent Cullie Tarleton (D-93)
told the crowd, “You are the grassroots. You are the ones
who make it happen.”
He said the next step is getting people to the polls. “If
we assume that because things are so bad it’s going to be
a Democratic year, and if we assume we are going to win, we are
going to wake up and we are going to lose,” Tarleton said.
Roy Carter, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Fifth District,
said, “I knew going in that I would not be able to match
the incumbent financially, dollar for dollar, because it’s
my philosophy and my belief and my pledge that I won’t accept
PAC (political action committee) money from groups that would
influence my vote. That’s big oil, big pharmaceuticals, big
insurance and big banking. I’ve said that from Day One, so
I knew that those folks would not be available to me.
“I’m out to prove that a regular guy that works tirelessly
can be successful in a federal race. I think it’s a sad commentary
when regular people such as myself feel hopeless and helpless
because they can’t personally fund a campaign.”
Carter said it was important to have a teacher in Congress. “When
I’m elected, I believe I’ll be the second public-school
educator out of 445 representatives,” Carter said, saying
the campaign issues had changed on an almost-monthly basis. “Six
months ago, everybody thought health care would be the big issue
of the campaign. Then everybody was sure energy was the central
issue of the campaign. Now, the general public thinks, rightly
so, that the economy is the central issue of the campaign.”
Carter said federal government should have a role in health care.
On energy, he said he’d favored working toward alternative
energy sources and shifting money toward them and away from oil
companies. He said drilling done in the right way would provide
relief from high gas prices in about 10 years.
“However, if we don’t enhance clean alternative fuels,
the gain from drilling will not match the demand,” he said,
noting the economy had regressed because of lack of oversight
and “greed at the highest levels of marketplace.”
Carter faces incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx. Tarleton
faces Republican Dan Soucek and Libertarian Jeff Cannon. Goss
faces Republican Jerry Butler.
In local races, other school board candidates in the non-partisan
race are David Ward and Deborah Miller. Kinsey, Futrelle and incumbent
commissioner Jim Deal are unopposed.
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