Insurance Commissioner Goodwin Rallies Duplin County Democrats During Eastern NC Visit

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin was the keynote speaker for the Duplin County Democratic Party county convention on April 12 in Kenansville.

Appearing in the historic county courthouse, Goodwin informed and inspired and regaled with humorous anecdotes as he spoke not only about his official duties but the civic obligations every voter has.

"We need to tune in to what's going on around us, turn up the volume, and turn out the vote," said Goodwin, a member of North Carolina's Council of State.

State Representative Russell Tucker introduced the speaker to the group of eastern North Carolina Democrats.

Also attending were State Senator Charlie Albertson, Districy Attorney Dewey Hudson, and other local officials and a diverse group of citizens.

As he concluded his remarks, Goodwin said "I was going to say I've got to get 'On the Road Again' back up to Raleigh but seeing how Willie Nelson fared in this county the last time he was here, I'd better not!" This aside to the classic Nelson song was a reference to a very recent event where renowned country singer Willie Nelson's band was charged with possession of marijuana and moonshine while in Duplin County for a concert. The reference appeared to evoke the most laughter from District Attorney Hudson, who is prosecuting the case.

Groundhog Doesn't See GOP Shadow, Dems Elated

Today, February 2nd, is traditionally Groundhogs Day.

Though Democrats have had a lot to be nervous about over the last few months – including the loss of the Kennedy seat in the U.S. Senate and two governorships - a partisan Punxsutawny Phil and Democratic Donkeys should see yesterday’s item from Politico.com and Gallup instead of their shadow. (After all, even groundhogs and donkeys have Internet access these days!)

Entitled “Poll: Most States Remain Blue,” Andy Barr’s column goes to prove that things aren’t necessarily as bad as they seem in 2010 for the Democratic Party.

In sum, it says that America remains in the Democratic camp nationally. Those findings are based on state-by-state polling statistics that involve a poll universe of 353,849 adults in all 50 states last year and the District of Columbia.

For Punxsutawny Phil, Democrats and progressive unaffiliated Americans, it sure beats another six weeks – or ten months – or two years – of a Republican winter!
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(c) Wayne Goodwin. All rights reserved.

Mary Donnan Leaps Into Labor Commissioner Race

A longtime Labor Department employee has leapt into the Labor Commissioner race.

Mary Fant Donnan, now employed with the highly-respected Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, filed her papers with the State Board of Elections this week. She serves as a program officer for that charitable foundation. During her time with the N.C. Department of Labor she worked during the administration of then-Labor Commissioner Harry Payne. Donnan and her family reside in Winston-Salem.

Wayne’s World will highlight more about Mary Donnan when her campaign provides further details. The same applies to information as it is supplied about other candidates seeking the 2008 Democratic nomination. Joining her thus far in the campaign to defeat Republican Cherie Berry – the self-entitled “Elevator Lady” – are Robin Anderson of Cary and Ty Richardson of Middlesex.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Long Visits Richmond County

Jim Long

Insurance Commissioner Jim Long – also known as the dean of the Council of State, or “the oldest rat in the barn” (having been bequeathed that moniker from the late Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham and the late Secretary of State Thad Eure) – joined a throng of fellow partisans for Richmond County’s 2nd Annual Morrison-Deane-Goodman Democratic Dinner & Rally. Richmond County Democrats recall that he attended the event last year as well, making him one of a handful of State officials and candidates who have joined the rally both years.

As he does at every rally where he is given – no, takes – the opportunity to speak, Commissioner Long wowed the crowd with why Democrats are needed to win up and down the ballot. He reminded folks how a few people, particularly the out-of-State insurance company CEOs, would love to see him defeated. But he will not give them the satisfaction: In 2008 he is up for a seventh term. In 2004 he led the ticket with more than 58% of the Statewide vote.

Jim Long also took the chance at the rally to have fun at the expense of Assistant Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin, who was busy snapping photos and floating around the room meeting with the 200+ Democrats. “We are so thankful that Melanie was elected to the House of Representatives to succeed Wayne. Her joining the General Assembly and his joining the Department of Insurance raised the IQ of both places,” he quipped with a smile. Earlier in the evening he joined a hearty crowd of supporters at the historic Hamlet Depot, all who turned out for the re-election announcement of State Representative Melanie Wade Goodwin.

During his service thus far as Insurance Commissioner, Jim Long has saved Tar Heel consumers more than $4 billion on auto insurance premiums alone. When you count homeowners' insurance premiums, his successful attempts to rein in insurance costs equals savings for consumers greater than $5 billion. Commissioner Long does everything in his power for the best interests of the consumer. Topping his list is low, affordable, reasonable insurance premiums. Moreover, he has helped keep a competitive insurance market in North Carolina.

Jim Long deserves reelection to the office of Insurance Commissioner in 2008.

To learn more about the Jim Long campaign and his service, check out www.jimlong.org and www.ncdoi.com

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Note to Reader: This is one in a series of synoptic posts about Statewide candidates who attended the Richmond County 2nd Annual Morrison-Deane-Goodman Democratic Dinner & Rally in Hamlet on November 8. Given that I serve as chair of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Executive Committee and am prohibited from endorsing in a primary, these posts are not and must not be interpreted as endorsements of any kind other than for Democratic candidates generally. I post these for information only, and encourage friends and supporters (and candidates themselves) who are willing to feel free to post their own comments to this entry.

Now for Something Completely Different ...

Note to Reader: What follows is NOT an endorsement. I will vote and labor furiously for the Democratic nominees – as always – for Governor and President, and every other office.

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Now for something completely different ….
By Wayne Goodwin © 20 November 2007

Today I am going to put aside my partisan hat – yes, it is possible, albeit for moments at a time – and ponder, without casting aspersions, about what in the world is going on in the GOP races for Governor and President.

This will be one of those times when I am able to dust off my Poli Sci degree and – as Spinal Tap aficionados would recognize – turn the realpolitik up to an eleven.

In doing so, this is NOT to be confused whatsoever with an endorsement: I am merely musing.

OK, here we go.

First, the North Carolina Governor’s race.

There are three Republican candidates who are definitely going to file in February 2008. They are State Senator Fred Smith, Salisbury attorney Bill Graham, and former Supreme Court justice Bob Orr.

In my opinion, anything could happen in that primary. While both Smith and Graham have ample personal financial resources (along with one having the ubiquitous name “Smith” and the other probably benefiting from a name association with North Carolina’s own world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham), I am here to tell you this: Bob Orr is a great guy. Yes, I know, our politics do not always match – in fact, mostly do NOT match. But in my personal interactions with him over the years and from what I have heard first-hand from good Democratic friends of mine, not to mention attorneys who have seen his mind at work on judicial matters, he is the real deal. He is genuine. Bob Orr is humble, salt-of-the-earth, and down-to-earth. He’s the kind of guy you’d imagine sharing a beer with. Or, at least BBQ wings. On top of that, he is the ONLY one of the three Republican gubernatorial candidates who has run for Statewide office. In fact, he has run Statewide multiple times and won multiple times. And, he’s smart as a whip. Some Republicans voting in the primary might compare him to the 2000 George W. Bush (you recall, the “compassionate conservative” version of him as opposed to the 2001-forward version) and see some similarities. (Except for the smart-as-a-whip part.) And Bush won his Party’s nomination and the White House to boot.

(P.S. Bob, when we saw each other at last week’s dedication of the new Administrative Office of the Court building in Raleigh, you point-blank asked me to include you on my blog – a Democratic blog! I promised. Here you go. Promise kept, as is my rule. … I still think your blog – entitled “More from Orr” - will make voters born in the 60s and 70s think of “Mork from Ork” instead. But I digress.)

Second, the Republican race for President.

Like the Democratic primary race for the White House, the GOP has a fluid situation on its hands with its contenders.

In this instance, you have Guliani who is the alleged frontrunner for the GOP nomination but he is philosophically anathema to much of the activist evangelical, conservative Republican base.

Romney, on the other hand, is making some of the same right-wing religious voters nervous as well, but he and Guliani both have a ton of money. With Romney’s ability to self-fund, nothing is impossible if he needs to flood the airwaves with TV commercials in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Then there is the quartet of Huckabee, Thompson, Paul, and McCain. (Other Republicans are or were also running, but are zippo on all respected meters.)

I believe Huckabee will either come in a strong second place in Iowa or he will barely edge folks – particularly Romney - in the Iowa caucuses in a few weeks. Why? Just a gut feeling. After all, he’s got feet on the ground with volunteers, he’s from a nearby state, he’s a former Governor (which is important in presidential politics), he’s a uber-conservative Baptist minister with a story to tell, and his poll numbers are rising. He has been endorsed by actor Chuck Norris and wrestling legend “Nature Boy” Ric (“to be The Man, you’ve got to Beat The Man”) Flair. And he comes from a place called Hope. (Same Arkansas hometown as President Bill Clinton.)

For Thompson, there are some indications that the bloom is off the rose. His “Law and Order” fame aside, and relative obscurity for his role in exposing Nixon’s Oval Office tapes during the Watergate hearings 34 years ago, it seems that he has not transformed the race the way some had projected. Of course, things could change among the fickle electorate in the early presidential caucus and primary season.

Meanwhile, Ron Paul is the Libertarian Party’s answer to a prayer. That party has fought for years to gain “street cred” in national elections but has time and again had a rough go at it. Paul ran on the Libertarian ticket in 1988, I believe, before returning to Congress as a Republican from Texas. As the Libertarians have wallowed lower and lower in vote totals, lo and behold a little creation called the Internet has allowed them to convalesce around Ron Paul en masse and – shockingly – contribute wads and wads of campaign cash. He is now the Internet fundraising darling. And he is going to spend his money by the bucketload in Iowa and New Hampshire and however long he can until the last penny is spent. And then he will drop out, run for re-election to Congress, and be drafted as either an independent candidate or Libertarian Party candidate for President again. I have to admit, when watching the Republicans debate I am inwardly pleased to see him jostle up things when he advocates for troop withdrawals from Iraq and other positions contrary to every other Republican running. … And is it me or is there a flurry of “Ron Paul for President” signs and bumper stickers around metro North Carolina, quite intriguing when the GOP nomination will be decided well before Tar Heel Republicans have their presidential primary in May 2008? (To prove my point, the morning after I penned the above this story ran: http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/777522.html)

Just like my comment about Bob Orr in the governor’s race above, I do have similar feelings about U.S. Senator John McCain. Once again quite many of my policy positions differ from his. But McCain, unlike every one of the other Republicans running for the White House, is the real deal. He takes tough positions (McCain-Feingold, his immigration position, anti-torture, as three examples) even when he knows it is antithetical to some of his partisans and even when it could and very well will cost him the 2008 presidential nomination. With his 2000 “Straight Talk Express” still a fond memory for the nation as it saw a maverick in action, what really gets me in my gut is this: This man is a true war hero. He survived heinous torture as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. For five years! And through it all he never has wavered from his commitment to this country. McCain could have returned an honorably discharged war veteran and located a cushy job somewhere on multiple defense contractor boards and the like. Instead, he chose and has remained committed to public service. (Fortuitously, AP ran a story proving my point: http://www.newsobserver.com/1573/story/777074.html.)

Neither Orr nor McCain may win their respective GOP nominations. But they are good guys.

Meanwhile, back to your regularly-scheduled program already in progress:

DEMOCRATS WILL STILL WIN BOTH the Governor’s race in North Carolina and the White House in 2008.

See, I told you my lapse into impartiality was momentary!


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Note to Reader: What appears above regarding the GOP is NOT an endorsement. I will vote and labor furiously for the Democratic nominees – as always – for Governor and President, and every other office.

STATEWIDE REGIONAL TOWN MEETINGS SUCCESSFUL: Democrats Strident in Developing "Action Items"

STATEWIDE REGIONAL TOWN MEETINGS SUCCESSFUL:
Democrats Strident in Developing “Action Items”
18 August 2007

By Wayne Goodwin

Over the course of 4 weeks (July-Aug 2007) I trekked hither and yon across the Tar Heel State as part of my chairing eleven regional town hall meetings.

Under the aegis of Chairman of the Platform and Resolutions Committee for the North Carolina Democratic Party, I reviewed 190 resolutions submitted from Democrats with town hall attendees.

From a minimum of six to a maximum of 60+ attendees each, folks considered and deliberated and prioritized the proposed resolutions. These folks - some of the most diehard of Democratic activists mind you, and all willing to show up for 2+ hours each on a weeknight - contributed insightful comments to the process. For a non-Statewide election year the numbers pleased me. As a comparative barometer, attendance ranged from six to 125 in 2006.

So what was on the minds of Democrats in the Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh (twice), Wilmington, Windsor, and Winston-Salem regions this year?

►They are opposed to our current continued warring presence in Iraq.
►They love and fully support our military troops and their families.
►They yearn for America to regain its respect and position in the world.
►They believe the State must be a dedicated leader in firmly urging conservation, use of renewable non-fossil fuel sources, and developing a strategy shaped by the unquestionable process of global climate change.
►They demand campaign finance reforms and efforts that result in vastly-improved ethics in government.
►They declare that special interests and legislators should not strip away the rights of consumers by divesting the Commissioner of Insurance of his dual authority to maintain low insurance premiums and a viable insurance market in North Carolina.
►They believe that the Electoral College is antiquated and undemocratic in an age of 24-7 news and more-educated voters.
►They demand universal health care coverage.
►They assert that Congress and the People must seek impeachment charges against Vice President Cheney and President Bush (in that order) for their actions of the last six years, and that if impeachment proceedings are not appropriate now then the bar will be raised so high – or low, depending upon how you look at it – that the function of impeachment will have been rendered moot for generations to come. (Bluntly, if lying about consensual extramarital sexual relations is actionable, then why not lying about the cause of war – and consequential military deaths in Iraq - and subverting privacy rights of every American civilian and politicizing the U.S. Department of Justice?)
►They demand the repeal of the Patriot Act or significant revisions thereof.
►They believe in a living wage, and the right to collective bargaining by public employees.

These are a smattering of the issues tackled by authors of these resolutions, mostly adopted by county and district Democratic conventions this year. The ones referenced, above, were most prevalent.

If you would like to have an advance personal copy of the complete Resolutions compilation that will be considered at next Saturday’s meeting of the State Executive Committee meeting, then please email me at gwaynegoodwin@gmail.com, post an entry on my WAYNE’S WORLD blog (www.eighthdistrictdemsnc.blogspot.com), or call me at (910) 997-9790. The document will be posted also on the website of the NC Democratic Party this week. I plan on posting it myself at WAYNE’S WORLD by mid-week.

That document is the work product of the last meeting in Raleigh before the full P&R committee. During the 5+ hours that evening our committee - and those persons with us by phone - slogged through the process of determining which resolutions to recommend for adoption and which ones were duplicates, moot, in conflict with our Party Plan of Organization, etc. The investment of time of these persons proved vital.

We should also express our appreciation for the many other folks who participated in or assisted in the process. In addition to the town meeting attendees, these dedicated Democrats include Jerry Meek, Caroline Valand, Sallie Leslie, Jerimee Richir, all members of the P&R Committee, the county chairs who hosted each town hall meeting, and everyone who invested their time, talents and energy into drafting resolutions over the last six months. Special recognition goes out to Richard O’Brien of Randolph County who attended many of the regional town hall meetings across North Carolina this year and in the two previous years. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my family for granting me the time to work on this process again.

Personally, for someone passionate about what we stand for as Democrats, I found the 2,000 miles added to my car’s odometer and the cerebral connections with fellow partisans spanning North Carolina well worth the effort.

After all, resolutions allow us Democrats to express ourselves on the issues of the day - whether they concern our nation, our state or our own local community. Resolutions are ways to educate and inspire. But more importantly, they are also calls to action.

Let us now persuade our fellow citizens to answer these calls to action. Remember, the 2008 election and our future is in our hands. Onward and upward!

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Open Thread for Eighth District News

This is an opportunity for Democrats to tell everyone what's on their mind or what's happening in their neck of the 8th District woods ...

A Book for Democrats to Read: Drew Westen's "The Political Brain"

After having read several positive reviews and hearing about it either on NPR or a similar news program, Melanie and I picked up a copy of Drew Westen's "The Political Brain." The subtitle is "The Role of Emotions in Deciding The Fate of the Nation." It was recently published by Public Affairs Books.

Though I am only about 75 pages into it, I already recommend it highly to all Democrats ... most particularly to our candidates and their campaign teams who handle media/message/platform development. What is most educational so far in this book is the message that Democrats often lose elections because we focus on dry facts/details/reason to the detriment of how voters are driven by emotions and passions. Mr. Westen shows how we - using hypothetical examples from real races for President - can be "passionate" and emotive in our appeals to voters while still remaining committed to the facts and what is right, proper, moral and honorable.

Once both Melanie and I have finished the book and compared notes then I'll update this post.

Meanwhile, check it out at your library, pick one up at your bookstore, or go online and order it. You won't regret it.