Thursday, March 13, 2008

A good sign for Democrats

I realized today that I know something about a Democrat challenging a Republican incumbent in every GOP held Congressional district in North Carolina.

As I sit here right now I couldn't tell you who the nominee was against Sue Myrick, Howard Coble, or Patrick McHenry two years ago. Although I know who ran against Walter Jones and Virginia Foxx now, I certainly didn't know who they were at this point in the cycle two years ago. The only candidates I knew challenging Republican seat holders were Tim Dunn, Larry Kissell, and Heath Shuler. Dunn dropped out a couple weeks later.

I don't know if folks like Daniel Johnson, Roy Carter, Marshall Adame, Harry Taylor, Jay Ovittore and other folks running against them in Democratic primaries are going to win this fall. But I do know it's a sign of significantly improved candidate recruitment that I can name all the players on the team more than seven months out from the general election.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Isn't it likely you were unaware of the '06 challengers because you were working in a wholly different field at that time? I wonder if the public in Greensboro knows whom is the challenger to Coble this election.

Anonymous said...

Jay Ovittore is one Dem in the primary. He is young and blue-collar, a breath of fresh air compared to the stale break of wind Coble provides.

Who would of thunk a Congressman who was elected a quarter century ago, would have higher name recognition than a challenger who was not even in double-digit age when the incumbent was first elected?

Tom Jensen said...

Brian,

No that's not likely. I was the statewide President of the College Democrats at this point in the election cycle two years ago and very aware of what was going on in various contests around the state.

 
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