Why Do Republicans Persecute the Young Rather Than Try To Win Their Votes?

So a gentleman asks me at the Farmer's Market, "Why don't the Republicans try to win hearts & minds of college students instead of constantly trying to block their votes?"

Excellent question.

Why have Luke Eggers (sockpuppet for his brother, the Republican county attorney Stacy C. Eggers IV --"Four") and Bill Aceto made their project to discourage AppalachianState University students from voting so transparent, so obvious, so vulnerableto negative public reaction?

Why would Eggers and Aceto provoke a public scolding by the Chief Judge of the Wake Superior Court? Why would they act to invite the unbecoming label of "unconstitutional" to be attached to their official behavior by that same judge?

Why would they return to the exact same behavior and identical official decision to deny an Early Voting site on the ASU campus, which sort of begs for a new lawsuit that targets them personally for repeating their stupidity and acting to harm the constitutional rights of an entire class of citizens?

Why would they?

Why wouldn't they, rather, along with their Watauga Republican overlords, try to win the votes of college students instead of continually trying to squelch them? Why do they display hostility toward college-age voters in such a public way rather than send their ambassadors to this and other college campuses to persuade the young voters to their side?

Young Republican Tommy Adams spent many hours on campus trying to get votes when he ran for County Commissioner in 2012, but he lost. Why? Dunno, but it seems fairly obvious that whatever Republican candidates are peddling, the college age voter ain't buying.

Modern Republican conservatism evidentally turns off college students faster than an unbelieveably boring professor. Perhaps the contemporary Republican "brand" in North Carolina knows full-well that it'll never attract the young in substantial numbers -- at least, not if they're honest about what they intend to do in office -- and it's just easier to shut off ballot access for the 18-25 year-olds.

Dirty Laundry

The Watauga Tea Party uprising against Virginia Foxx grows, if not by leaps and bounds, at least by leaps.

Add the local GOP establishment to what is being rose up against.

And don't fail to read the comments at the end.

NC Universities, Better Buckle Your Seat Belts!

The signs are multiplying and they are explicit.

The Boss of the North Carolina Republican Party sees our state's universities as Public Enemy No. 1. A fundraising letter just went out from one of Art Pope's many political tentacles, the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, that said in part (and we're not making this up):

The people have spoken. President Obama will be our president for the next four years. 

While we congratulate the president on his victory, conservatives are asking themselves why he won. One reason is our universities.

For years they have failed to give undergraduates an understanding of markets, the role of free enterprise, and the problems of a highly redistributive state. Obama himself lacks that appreciation, which is part of why our economic slump continues.

The Pope Center is dedicated to restoring balance to our colleges and universities. We expose misguided, one-sided courses that attack capitalism and we help students on campus see other aspects of important issues in U.S. history. We encourage universities to teach analytical skills that citizens need. Step by step, we are showing how to bring change to our universities....

Ah, "an understanding of markets." From people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

The Boss Man, Art Pope, who principally funded the Clown College take-over of the NC General Assembly, has also gotten himself appointed to an important University of North Carolina advisory committee, along with his fellow conservative millionaire Fred Eshelman. Pause for a musical cue:

Dum-dum-DUMB!

The outcry against Appalachian State University students getting some kind of mythical special coddling, because they're allowed to vote at all in Watauga County let alone have their very own polling place on campus, has become boilerplate conservative dogma over at The Watauga Conservative. Damn students mess everything up!

More recently, one of the leaders of the Watauga Tea Party Conservatives, Nate DiCola, has written one of the more hilarious public fantasies about the baleful influence on local elections of Appalachian State University students. They are a force to be "overcome." A bit more analysis of 2012 Watauga election stats might have revealed to Mr. DiCola that it wasn't ASU students who defeated Adams, Gable, Oliver, Jordan, and Foxx. It was fellow Republicans, for widely different reasons. Take a look at straight-party voting stats. It was Republicans who did not vote straight party, and it was because of one or more of the above candidates. They split their tickets.

Nevertheless, ASU students are getting blamed for ending civilization, and they are consequently in for some heavy weather with this new Republican governor and his Tea Party troops in the General Assembly. The first thing they'll do is move Early Voting off campus. Count on it.

Then they'll continue to cut budgets. And from the tenor of the Art Pope fundraising letter above, I would expect to see some public demonization of individual professors, or of whole programs of study.

Here's the Thing

Four Eggers' decision to vote against extending Early Voting hours only makes sense as a partisan vote. As the Republican member of the Board of Elections, he seems very stingy with ballot-access. I've tried to figure any other rationale that makes sense for a member of the Board of Elections to vote not to extend voting hours to people snowbound on Tuesday. (If you don't know the history ... previously.)

In the High Country Press coverage of the protest arising out of Mr. Eggers' vote, he professed himself "befuddled" (or perhaps that was the headline-writer's term) about the resulting uproar. Anyway, Mr. Eggers said he couldn't understand what all the hub-bub was about. (Please note for the record that his "no" was sufficient to sink the proposal to extend Early Voting hours at the County Courthouse from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday and to extend Early Voting hours at the Student Union on the campus at Appalachian State University from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.)

The elephant in the room, if you'll pardon the expression, is the fact that, in addition to being the Republican member on the Board of Elections, Mr. Eggers is also actually the attorney hired by the sitting Republican majority on the Watauga County Commission. Does no one see a conflict of interest here?

Apparently, the orthodox majority over at The Watauga Conservative see Mr. Eggers' vote against extending Early Voting as the correct partisan decision, that not extending Early Voting at the Student Union increases the chances that Republicans will win everything, which would mean that Mr. Eggers could continue to work as attorney for a Republican majority on the County Commission. His chances might fairly be said to go up if fewer students vote. That's certainly the transparent calculus of Tommy Adams, one of the Republican candidates for County Commission who has been working the polls at ASU since Day One (and who most certainly supported Mr. Eggers' decision not to extend the voting opportunities any further than already allowed).

In other words, Mr. Eggers has a financial stake in how this vote comes out, and it seems more than slightly irregular that he is able to exercise power in this instance to protect his financial interest.

Debate Night: The Undercard

By Atticus Finch Jr.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012, will probably be remembered as the presidential town hall slugfest in which Mitt Romney revealed his little black binder of women AND challenged President Obama on the Libyan consulate tragedy only to be spanked by moderator Candy Crowley. All I could think of was the Saturday Night Live regular “Emily Litella” saying “Never mind!”

The presidential race was actually the last debate of the night. Earlier in Raleigh the candidates for NC governor also squared off.

And here in Watauga County, this little bird found a discreet spot to watch a local debate hosted by the ASU Student Government Association in collaboration with ASU College Democrats and Young Republicans. Watauga County had its own slugfest Tuesday night at 7pm at the Broyhill Center.

First up was Elisabeth Motsinger, running for U.S. Congress in NC's 5th district. Mrs. Motsinger shadow-boxed her empty podium opponent, answering politely all questions while her opponent was uncharacteristically silent. Motsinger said economic recovery must trump debt reduction and that "focusing on small business is the key, not big business pretending to be small business."

Candidates for NC House district 93 then squared off. Incumbent Jonathan Jordan took a page from Bill O'Reilly's "rumble" with Jon Stewart by bringing visual aid placards with fancy bar charts. If the audience was feeling any Oooooohs and Aaaaaahs over Jordan’s graphic skills, it politely suppressed them. Former House representative Cullie Tarleton struck a blow when he summarized Jordan's budgetary approach "in five words: cuts, cuts and more cuts." Jordan raised the Boone water intake issue, of course, but he resisted reading from Tarleton's 2009 House Bill 1101 this time and instead blamed the Town of Boone. Tarleton quickly pointed out that "the Republican leadership stopped Jordan's attempt to undermine the project."

NC Senate candidates Roy Carter and Dan Soucek provided the greatest contrast. Mr. Soucek was poised and smarmy in his delivery. He explained that he introduced Senate Bill 949 to eliminate Boone's ETJ in order to create a dialogue about this issue. (Oh. That was your intention! Next time, consider a phone call.) Mr. Carter animatedly argued for education saying we're losing our best and brightest by cutting the Teacher Fellows program. Interesting turns of phrases also heard: "voodoo budgeting” (Carter’s accusation), "someway somehow is not a plan" (Soucek’s rejoinder).

Last up were the six candidates running for three Watauga County commissioner seats. Six questions spread across the three races made for a (very) brief opportunity for these candidates.

Last week at the Farm Bureau forum, Tommy Adams claimed "personal property rights" is what his campaign is all about, but tonight I don't think I heard that term even once. Ah yes, the audience of ASU students doesn't own property. So instead he continued to push the business park idea for the old WHS site as the economic solution for the county. (Even as multiple offers have now been tendered, and one accepted.)

This little bird apologizes for becoming mesmerized by Adams' comment on voter fraud and a State Bureau of Investigation case file in Boone in 2005. It was in 2005 that the Templetons tried to take over the Boone Town Council. It’s my understanding that it was Tommy Adams himself who was the object of that investigation. He was accused of trying to help the Templetons by inducing ASU students who were not residents of the town to claim they were and vote for the Templeton slate. Which made it more than slightly amazing that Mr. Adams would raise the issue as an accusation against Democrats.

Republican incumbent commissioner Vince Gable, running against John Welch, again reminded us of what a great job he has done ensuring our county debt is well managed and not a problem. Since fear of debt is a Republican staple, no one gasped. In the last race, Perry Yates said, "I agree with Virginia [Roseman]" and Virginia Roseman said, "I agree with Mr. Yates."

Remainder of debate summed up this way: no gaffes, no home runs. Actually after watching Romney later in the evening, I have to say that no gaffe is a home run.

At the Farm Bureau Candidate Forum

By Atticus Finch Jr.

The Farm Bureau held a candidate forum on Thursday. Candidates for the Watauga County Commission and candidates for NC House and Senate participated.

The crowd was, as they say, in Perry Yates’ wheelhouse. He and his family have been farming land in Shawneehaw since before the Indians were here! He’s running for County Commission as the Republican substitute candidate for Tim Wilson, who got into trouble and had to step down back last March.

Despite a crowd apparently stacked agin ’em, most of the other candidates held steady. County Commission candidate Virginia Roseman noted the “if-you’re-not-native-you’re-not-squat” vibe in the room and passionately said that she wasn't born here but this is now her home and she's working for it.

Commission candidate Tommy Adams was a bit weak. He kept saying things like "I agree with most of what's been said" and reminding us over and over that he's a low-taxes-and-personal-property-rights advocate.

Lots of questions about regulations, supporting farming, building inspectors and health inspectors run amok, etc.

Some tussling among the NC House and Senate candidates. Incumbent Senator Dan Soucek said, "Look at our records. Two of us up here have not raised taxes, and one of us has." Candidate for the NC House Cullie Tarleton answered, "I'm proud of my record, Dan." House incumbent Jonathan Jordan read a sentence from Tarleton's water bill and declared, "That gives your water rights to the state," thereby laying the bomb that starts the stampede. (Jordan did the exact same thing – holding up Tarleton’s water bill and reading a sentence out of context and saying “that gives your water rights to the state” – at last Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce candidate forum. Johnny Appleseed never planted more little seeds!)

Everyone had stories connecting them to farmers. Check!

In the parking lot afterwards, some unknown voice jeering, "Did you hear little Danny Soucek say he planted three tomato plants as a boy!"

Deborah Greene, Candidate

Deborah Greene, candidate for Watauga County School Board, came in fifth of seven candidates in the May 8th primary. She led the effort in Watauga County to pass the anti-gay amendment, and she lost that fight. Since then she’s been expanding her base thusly:

1. Attacking Appalachian State University students as “useful idiots” and “the little sheep” bleating “baah baah baah” as they vote. Greene has demanded that the state Board of Elections and the local Board of Elections shut down all future Early Voting sites on the ASU campus.

2. Attacking the Watauga County Republican Party: “What Republican Party? There isn’t one,” she wrote on the Watauga Conservative on Monday.

3. Attacking specific Republican Party candidates as non-conservatives, specifically Tommy Adams, who is running for County Commission and who evidently opposed Ms. Greene’s beloved “marriage amendment.”

4. Attacking the Town of Boone and its “goons,” by which she appears to mean the citizens who serve without pay on the Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment. She has been the primary cheerleader for Sen. Dan Soucek’s disgraceful Senate Bill 949, The Big Developer Enablement Act of 2012.

5. Insulting the residents of Roby Greene Road as selfish “urbanites” for fighting the location of an asphalt plant in their neighborhood

Ms. Greene’s most recent postings on Watauga Conservative reveal that she sees the 2012 elections as a holy war by “the rural people” against ... well ... pretty much everyone else. It’s a somewhat strange electoral strategy on her part to seek an elected office by self-consciously narrowing her voter base. (Note on Deborah Greene's blog activity: She regularly posts under a variety of screen names and may well be the majority poster on Watauga Conservative.)

She’s announced, for example, that “Allen Trivette's 194 Tire is the Meat Camp headquarters for conservative candidates only (others not welcome)”  (Watauga Conservative, June 11). OTHERS NOT WELCOME could be Deborah Greene’s candidate slogan. We expect to see it on yard signs any day now.

BWAA-HA-HA

A letter posted on-line at the Watauga Democrat today from Tommy Adams ("We Need Leadership") makes this claim about half-way through about the BP oil disaster in the Gulf:

"The White House sees this crisis as a political opportunity and is committed to exploiting it for all its worth."

Excuse me? Who is trying to exploit this disaster as "a political opportunity"?

Could it be Tommy Adams, listed currently on the North Carolina Republican Party website as "Assistant Secretary" of the statewide GOP?

There seems to be a lot of LUV for this disaster from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, who suggested that maybe President Obama had the BP well blown-up deliberately; or from Texas Congressman Joe Barton, who said he was "ashamed" of the White House, lamenting that the Prez was "shaking down" BP; or from Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who called the $20-billion compensation escrow fund agreed to by BP a "redistribution-of-wealth" socialist plot; or from failed Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who demanded that the feds call in the Dutch to build a dike; or from Republican Minority Leader in the House John Boehner, who first said that U.S. taxpayers should pay for the clean-up but retracted that in favor of saying that BP must pay all the costs but will not allow his Republican troops in the House to vote on lifting the federal liability cap.

Who's playing politics, Mr. Adams?

And what would Republicans support so far as action goes, anyway? Effective regulation and oversight? Noooo. They hate government.

But they sure as hell are enjoying the benefits of this particular disaster. Hope it brings down this president, if possible, if the massive unemployment and their refusal to lift a hand to help the unemployed doesn't do it first.