Eighth District's Goodwin Sees His Lead Grow for NC Insurance Commissioner in Two Independent Polls

The Eighth Congressional District's past chairman has taken his largest lead yet in the race for North Carolina Insurance Commissioner.

Wayne Goodwin sees the numbers as evidence of many months of hard work meeting at least 500 new voters a week and contacting thousands more weekly by mail, by email, and through surrogates. "Now is the time when all of my grassroots campaigning will start to bear fruit," he said. Goodwin is currently North Carolina's Assistant Insurance Commissioner and the Democratic Party candidate seeking to succeed incumbent Jim Long.

With less than 44 days until Election 2008 concludes, the trend in Statewide polling for this and other Council of State offices has been favorable for Democratic candidates. (For the poll summary from the pollster's related blog, go here.)

On that point, Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling said, "Incumbent Democrats and those in open seats, like (Treasurer candidate Janet) Cowell and (Wayne) Goodwin, should win comfortably."

Even the conservative Civitas poll showed Goodwin in the lead over John Odom, except the gap was even greater: That poll placed Democrat Wayne Goodwin ten points over the inexperienced Odom.

Goodwin isn't taking anything for granted, though. In fact, his schedule will "ramp up" this week and will continue at a frenetic pace through November 4th. "These poll numbers are a snapshot. To build on that snapshot I'm going to work even harder than before to show voters why I'm the only qualified candidate running for Insurance Commissioner," he said.

Observers from across the political spectrum - Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated voters - say that there is just too much at stake with the complex job of Insurance Commissioner to allow any other candidate for Insurance Commissioner to prevail. These same observers point out that the Republican candidate owns three muffler shops and has no actual experience or knowledge of the office of Insurance Commissioner.

For more information about the campaign, go to www.WayneGoodwin.org.

Fight Voter Fatigue and Promote Voter Education: Watch Video of Dem Council of State Candidates Today

All too often we hear about voters who vote for candidates appearing at the "top of the ticket" and forget to continue choosing from other Statewide candidates below Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General.

It is not unusual for at least 10% of voters to drop off, leaving many parts of their ballot unmarked.

While some folks blame voter fatigue, I believe just as many ignore the "down ballot" races because they do not know anything about these offices or the backgrounds - or just the names - of these candidates. (This is quite sad given the vital role the Council of State offices have in our daily lives.)

Living in the video age and as members of the MTV generation, the Democratic candidates for the North Carolina Council of State have prepared a video - for the first time ever - that will help address this problem head on.

The video provides very informative information about these Executive Branch offices up for election in 2008.

Please go to the accompanying YouTube link and watch this short video.

Then share it with everyone you know by email or download it for viewing by voters in your community. I recommend that you show it at community meetings, especially prior to and during the 2008 Early Vote period between October 16 and November 1.

This way you will have done your duty to fight ballot fatigue and promote voter education!

Eighth District, Young Dems Plan Caravan on Sept 6th

Be sure to mark your calendars -- Democrats will roll into and through and all over the Eighth Congressional District next Saturday, September 6th!

Here is the schedule:

North Carolina Young Democrats
8th District Bus Tour
Saturday, September 6

Come out and support our candidates and help change
North Carolina! Canvassing and Fellowship!

Scheduled Arrival Times and Stop Locations:

10:00 AM – Cumberland County*
Cumberland Democratic Headquarters 1712 Owen Drive, Fayetteville

11:15 PM – Hoke County*
Burlington Park, on Prospect Ave.,(right off Main Street) Raeford NC

12:10 PM - Scotland County *
Scotland Co HQ, 109 East Church Street Laurinburg NC

1:10 PM – Richmond County *
Rockingham Democratic HQ 201 East Washington St, Rockingham

2:00 PM – Anson County*
McDonalds 1114 East Caswell St, Wadesboro

2:50 PM – Union County *
Hill Top Restaurant 1602 East Roosevelt Blvd, Monroe

3:45 PM – Mecklenburg County *
Obama for Change HQ 1523 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte

5:00 PM – Cabarrus County*
Cabarrus Democratic HQ 166 N. Church St, Concord

6:00 PM – Stanly County *Stanly - Albemarle Market Street Station - West Main Street, Albemarle Contact: Desi Shine for details at 704-991-6683 or desimain@hotmail.com

7:00 PM – Montgomery County
Kissell for Congress HQ 106 E. Main St, Biscoe

9:30 PM – Cumberland County Cumberland Democratic Headquarters 1712 Owen Drive, Fayetteville End of the Tour

*Priority stop
Join us for a day of activism! Volunteers will canvass at each location, spreading the word about our exciting Democratic ticket. For more information about the complete tour, contact: Zack Hawkins at president@ydnc.org

* * * * *
Congratulations, in advance, for the work by YDNC President Zach Hawkins and all the Young Dems who have diligently worked to make this key event happen!

Rising Star Report: Kudos to Eighth District's Phillip Gilfus!

We hear at Wayne's World believe in well-deserved "atta boys", and this one fits right into that mold.

Twenty-seven year old Phillip Gilfus of Cumberland County - and a fellow Eighth District Democrat - has been making some major waves lately.

Phillip, one of our young Iraq War veterans and presently attending Campbell University Law School, not only won a much-coveted and hotly contested race representing North Carolina on the Democratic National Committee but he also was the recent subject of an excellent column in the Raleigh News & Observer by longtime reporter Rob Christensen.

Additionally, Gilfus is a key leader within the Young Democrats of North Carolina.

He serves as the editor of the Campbell Law Observer, a publication that is regularly distributed to thousands of attorneys around the State and elsewhere.
Several weeks ago Phillip also authored an op-ed piece that appeared in the Fayetteville Observer-Times. (Gilfus appears on the left in the photo below.)

And, as if that were not enough to fill one's plate, he secured victory in another election during the May 2008 meeting of the Eighth Congressional District convention in Cabarrus County.

Gilfus is smart, tenacious, and a gifted young leader.

I recommend that Wayne's World readers watch Phillip Gilfus very, very closely. Why? Because I predict he is going places and will do great things in the name of public service!

GOP Insurance Commissioner Candidate Upsets NC Firefighters

Eighth Congressional District Democrats and other readers of the Wayne's World blog should find the following post of interest because it impacts the 2008 elections in a major way.

9/1/08

REPUBLICAN INSURANCE COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE ODOM OFFENDS NC FIREFIGHTERS: GOP Faux Pas Helps Democrat Wayne Goodwin

Last week in Winston-Salem the NC State Firemen’s Association held its 121st annual conference in tandem with the 76th annual meeting of the NC State Fire Chiefs Association.

As part of his actual job, Wayne Goodwin presented a Department of Insurance (Office of State Fire Marshal) update. Goodwin’s brief update was strictly to be about department legislation and official OSFM matters, and he was to be introduced only in his current role.

However, leaders of the NC State Firemen’s Association reported that immediately before the Winston-Salem program began they received an intense call from the campaign of John Odom, Republican candidate for Insurance Commissioner. Odom demanded “equal time” as Goodwin. When told that the conference was non-political and that Goodwin was only there as part of his State job (as he had for years), Odom’s campaign refused to back down. The Association granted him a few minutes to speak to the joint conference as a result.

According to firefighters and fire chiefs in attendance, the Odom campaign’s rudeness and unacceptable politicizing of the conference are considered major errors on Odom’s part. From many reports Odom actually cost himself significant votes by forcing himself into the non-political meeting.

Consequently, Odom gave his opponent, Wayne Goodwin, an even bigger boost from firefighters statewide.

“I believe Republican John Odom owes the firefighters and fire chiefs of North Carolina a huge apology,” said Wayne Goodwin. “Our hometown heroes deserve respect, and the Odom campaign’s actions during this conference are unacceptable,” said Goodwin. Goodwin is the Democratic candidate for Insurance Commissioner and currently the Assistant Commissioner of Insurance and Assistant State Fire Marshal.

Goodwin has been individually endorsed for Insurance Commissioner by Paul Miller, Executive Director of the NC State Firemen’s Association; and many firefighters and fire chiefs across North Carolina.

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As folks used to say in Latin, res ipsa loquitur, which means the above "speaks for itself." Eighth Congressional District and all NC voters are encouraged to visit www.WayneGoodwin.org for more information about the Goodwin campaign for Insurance Commissioner.