11/14/2004

It's good to be Chief "I know the game," Alston said. "I've played the game. And I've played the game well." The Tribal Council has spoken. I generally agree with Allen Johnson's assessment of the new Guilford County Board of Commissioners, but I don't think I could have pulled it off using the same analogy. 1:36:51 PM      comment []

	11/4/2004

FTAA really does exist (shock!) I hate to say I told you so, but the very day after the election Bloomberg announced that it is now safe again to go full speed ahead on creating an EU for the Americas under the FTAA. If you are signed in at the Wall Street Journal search for this article: Bush Win Boosts Prospects For Latin American Trade Pacts By CHARLES ROTH November 3, 2004 6:35 p.m. Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -- The outlook for the expansion of free trade in the Western Hemisphere has brightened considerably following Republican party victories in U.S. elections Tuesday. Contact me now if preserving the United States as a free and independent country is something that you have an interest in.  Don't wait till the final stroke before midnight like others of the former sovereign nations in Europe.  The EU prototype is staring us right in the face.  It is not rocket science to figure out what is going on here. 11:40:21 AM      comment []

	11/3/2004

Willpower In my forum discussion at Irving Park Elementary, I mentioned a case in point where a school system was saving something in the $500,000 to $700,000 range in a $3.7 million dollar annual budget for maintanence by outsourcing its janitorial service. This was certainly not a slam dunk decision.  During a public forum the board had to have the fortitute to withstand the whithering appeal of the 30 workers being let go and their friends.  But the board did hold firm.  Does GCS have this kind of willpower? 5:19:22 PM      comment []

Thanks to my poll workers Let me not forget to thank all my poll workers yesterday: My wife, Alex, Max, Jordan, David, Hunter and Jeff! Thanks team! Except for Jeff, we all had some good eats last night at East Coast Wings before heading downtown to the Old County Courthouse. Note: The picture of Jeff here shows how absolutely dead almost the entire District 7 became after about 12:30pm yesterday.  I drove around looking for the hottest poll but talking to workers they all dropped off to a trickle half-way through lunch.  Wait times were down to 30 minutes to no one in line whatsoever.  It was a slooow afternoon in District 7.  Voters should have waited till the end instead of waiting in line for 1-3 hours earlier in the cycle. 4:45:36 PM      comment []

Libertarians coming to a door near you... Not having obtained the minimum 10% vote totals yesterday in the US Senate and Governor's races required by the severe ballot access laws of North Carolina, the LP of NC has begun its campaign to begin raising signatures again so our candidates can appear on the ballot in 2006. As our astute pre-election pollsters had identified this was going to be the case we were able to begin this process as of election day yesterday. (Doing this during early voting is denied per state law.) In Guilford County our most successful petitioner at the polls yesterday was Rachael, a friend of NC Senate candidate Rusty Sheridan.  She picked up a few hundred signatures from both voters and pool workers alike.  A tribute to the gentlemanly campaign in District 7 for Board of Commissioners, Rachael found that the poll workers at Greensboro Day school for both Mike Winstead and Mike Barber were more than happy to keep the spirit of competition alive by signing the LP ballot access petition.    How can you refuse someone that offers to hold your sign and do your job while you help us out.  Both these guys showed real class and even without someone as effervescent as Rachael I am sure they would have been happy to put their name on the state mandated petition we have to seek signatures on.  Unfortunately, we did not find that this good spirit at the grass roots campaigning level works itself up the chain.  Here are our reports from encounters with two well known Democrats yesterday at the polls.  Apparently their public boasts of support for tolerance and diversity do not cross party lines...even to the party that supposedly steals votes from their main competition: LP poll worker and constituent Seth Ilys: "Hello Congressman Price, would you care to help keep the Libertarian Party on the ballot in North Carolina?" Congressman David Price (waving hand), "No, No, No thank you.  I don't sign petitions.  (adding with a warm smile I  hope you keep your ballot line..." LP poll worked and prospective constituent Susan Hogarth: "Hello Mr. Bowles, could you help us keep the Libertarian Party on the ballot in North Carolina?" Mr. Erskine Bowles: "No, I'm sorry.  I do wish you well though.  And (with genuine fake sincerity) I support your effort!" You can see how it would not be hard for someone like Michael Moore to document aristocratic political leaders acting like jerks to regular people. 4:36:46 PM      comment []

Non-Voting voters   Yesterday (and over several other days) in Guilford County "the most important election ever in anybody's lifetime" occurred.   In this life or death struggle however, 13 out of every 100 people casting ballots, whether by understanding or ignorance or write-in, choose not to confer any legitimacy upon either of the two demopublican candidates.   Guilford County Unofficial Results Presidential Race votes % Kerry 89,407 51.3% Bush 84,167 48.3% Badnarik 831 0.5% Total Presidential votes 174,405 100.0% Total Ballots Cast 200,563   Non votes for President* 26,158 13.0% *Including Badnarik non-votes for demopublican Presidential candidates = 13.5%. 3:37:22 PM      comment []

County Comish Election Results Well, I didn't win.  But it was worth it. District 7 Comish Total % Barber 13020 48.01% Winstead 13487 49.73% Capo 612 2.26% I did beat the spread as they say, which was certainly one of my targets.  However, with the general consensus that GOP leaning voters are more apt to vote for Libertarians, a Barber victory by a tiny margin would likely have put my campaign more on the map.   Looking at the 467 vote spread between Barber and Winstead also means it sure would have been nice to get things just a few hundred more votes tighter.  I could have enjoyed sitting back and watching the excitement of a recount.  As it was though, it was certainly still exciting being part of perhaps one of the most expensive County Commissioner races in the state.  Winstead $100,000 plus and counting and Barber in the neighborhood of $30,000 --- that's a lot of money for a job that pays about $14,000/year.  Must be something more to it ya think? I do want to thank the 612 people who voted for me.  I know who many of you are because you told me.  Others I can guess by looking at the precinct results.  I did do best in my home precinct so I can stay on good terms with my neighbors. My family is a bit tired this morning but they all enjoyed being part of the action. I follow with a few quick post election commentaries before getting right back to work...stop the FTAA and all that. 3:33:32 PM      comment []

	11/1/2004

Hayes-Taylor Banquet Machiko and I attended the annual Hayes-Taylor YMCA Banquet last night.  This along with the WOMAN and A&T events made up the only functions this year which I was invited to as a Libertarian candidate -- without requiring any after the fact negotiation upon finding out I was passed over in the first round. During the award presentations, the invited political candidates who did attend were asked to stand and be introduced to the crowd.  I was at a table with judges Bray, Dudley and Enochs.  County commissioner candidates attending were Skip Alston and John Parks.  My opponents were not at the event.  Had they been at my table they could have meet Thurmond and Karen who do live in District 7 -- but unfortunately had already voted.   Not sure if the seating was done to make a point.  Machiko and I were in a great position near the podium other than having to shoot pictures over the top of the Alstons' heads at the table next to us.  Interesting juxtaposition there. Enola Mixon won YMCA Lady of the Year and John Harris, III took Man of the Year.  Attorney T.O. "Pella" Stokes was recognized for being a Pearl level ($5000+) donor. We wrapped up nearly on time at  just after 6:00pm (in time for Halloween.)  On the way out we all were given a Jill Scott CD compliments of our keynote speaker Charles Whitfield of Hidden Beach Recordings. 9:24:39 AM      comment []

	10/30/2004

Election Result Headlines Libertarian Tom Bailey who the N&R pretended is not on the ballot for US Sentate came up with a hilarious set of potential headlines the paper will have to use upon his victory.  Stealing from Tom creativity, I have inserted the way next week's edition of the Rhino will have to read in reporting the results of my race in district 7 for board of commissioners: NEITHER WINSTEAD NOR BARBER WIN  SECRET CANDIDATE WINS DISTRICT 7 BARBER WINSTEAD ALMOST WIN 9:45:56 PM      comment []

"Just like voting in other countries."   The Leonard Recreation Center was absolutely jammed this morning for early voting.  The entire parking lot (which is not a small one) was overflowing.  Cars were parked on the grass on both sides of the driveway and for almost a quarter of a mile along Ballinger Road.   Making the long trek up to the polling station from the road, I did a double-take as I heard four or five extremely authentic sounding gunshots ring out in a quick succession of bursts.  Not seeing anyone fleeing for cover or hearing any screams of panic, I continued up the driveway to find that a major percentage of the regular parking lot was was full of SUV police K-9 units.    Just around the side of the polling station in the ball diamond area there was a state-wide police attack dog competition going on.  The dogs had to show both how well they took commands from their trainer and how effectively they took down a fleeing suspect who had just fired several blanks into the ground.   Talk about bad scheduling.  The gentleman working the polls for Pricey Harrison was the first to comment that he did not think it was particularly appropriate to have barking police dogs and gun fire going off around a polling station.  Mike Barber, who was coming out of the building having just voted, summed up the general feeling of our little cadre of poll works.  Amidst the barking dogs and sporadic bursts of gun fire he dead panned, "Hmm, just like voting in other countries."  We all had a good only slightly nervous laugh.  (You know, I have to admit Mike has the best spontaneous one-liners in this campaign)   I would say that lucky for the Guilford County BOE the vast majority of voters at the polling station were an exact match to demographics of the K-9 teams and their spectators.  And, just in case someone gets the idea that there is no EEO effort going on in our state's K-9 units, I have it on record here that there was at least one African American involved in the competition.  If you look closely you can make him out in this picture as the fleeing gunman.   It wasn't all just dogs and gunfire though.  Jeff Thigpen was working the crowd getting the diaper dad vote.  If there are any messes in the Register of Deeds office, Jeff convinced a lot of people today that he is a guy that is not afraid to clean them up. 9:23:05 PM      comment []

	10/29/2004

Panhandling for Votes   Son Alex and friend Jordan worked the polls at Bur-Mill park again today.  Here is their report:  "Jeff Thigpen is a really cool guy.  Kris Cooke was really friendly to us too.  The old guy working for Winstead (Sarge) seems really grumpy.  He even was putting up Republican signs like just one inch in front of other signs."   Me, "So did you have fun?"   Alex and Jordan, "Yeah. Yeah. It was cool."   Jordan, "Yeah Mr. Capo, there were even two people coming out who gave us a thumbs up and said they voted for you."   Me, "Were they together or in two separate groups?"   Jordan, "Two separate groups.  Oh yeah and there was this other guy, who as he walked in past all of us he held his hands up to his ears and said, 'eahh, eahh, eahh, I'm not hearing you...'  When he got to Alex, Alex said, 'have a nice day.' and he yelled even louder, 'EAHH, EAHH, EAHH.'    Alex, "It was soo funny!"   Jordan, "..and when he came out his wife said to us, 'he just got out of the hospital.'   Me, "You mean like the mental hospital?"   Jordan, "She didn't say.  She just said hospital.  Then she said she voted for you.  She was one of the ones that said she voted for you."   Me, "So maybe the crazy guy voted for me too?"   Jordan, "Yeah, I think so, maybe."   (I tried to get a picture of Jeff Thigpen and Kris Cooke working right in front of Alex and Jordan, but Jeff graciously differed on account of his hair being out of place, while Kris took a pass on account of not having her lipstick on.)   While Alex and Jordan were pumping flesh at Bur-Mill, Rusty Sheridan and I were on the median at Battleground and Cornwallis again panhandling for votes.  We again received an encouraging number of waves, thumbs ups and friendly beeps of horns.    Just before getting ready to pack up we were visited by two of Greensboro's finest, who in a very friendly fashion informed us that "because it is dangerous," we are not allowed to stand in the median.  Not to challenge them, but with honest curiosity, I aksed how the volunteer fireman working for Jerry's Kids manage their once a year all day campaign in the median.  One of the officers, explained that they got a permit in advance.  I thanked her for the information and after Rusty and I retired from the median we discussed the possibility of calling the city on Monday to get a permit for Monday's rush hour.    We both of course were thinking,  "OK it's not allowed because it's dangerous, but it's OK if you seek government approval FIRST.  So, it's really not about being dangerous, its about taking individual initiative without permission from the government."  Just threw that in there to show you how libertarians see the world usually.   Earlier in the day around noon, I stopped up at the Craft Recreation Center.  People were parking along the street in the only entrance/exit to the parking lot. The traffic pattern for coming and going was was cut to one lane making things a total mess.  By the time people made it to the poll workers they were not in a particularly friendly mood.    There were also three entrances to the building making circumvention of the poll workers rather easy.  Of the people not turned away by the parking mess, many turned around right after learning that wait was 90 minutes.  The whole scene was stressful and after only 20 minutes or so I myself gave up and headed downtown to the Old County Courthouse.   The wait at the Courthouse was also about 90 minutes.  But the flow of new people coming in had slowed to a trickle.  I had plenty of time to talk to the only other two poll workers out front, Pricey Harrison and Carlton Coleman.  Pricey was much more "real" in person that during her rushed performance at the A&T "meet and greet the candidtates" night.    Carlton was handing out the approved ballot for the Simians slate.  Carlton didn't know I was, but that was OK since until he told me I didn't make the connection that he was Carolyn Coleman's son.    Off and on for 30 minutes or so the three of us had a pleasant chat of no particular import.  There were only 4-5 people that came in during that time period, so I headed out earlier than I planned to do a little day time job work in Reidsville.  One the way out of town I left a campaign flyer on the office stoop of our local blog don....gosh I hope the typos I put in the "Guliford" County letterhead memo help people recognize it as a spoof.   Consensus on the hearsay of the day was that 22-25% of the votes are going to be captured in early voting. 11:46:01 PM      comment []

Demopublicans up 3 games to zero. A long time ago I stop being amazed by the remarkable feats of logic people are willing to attempt in order to justify voting for a candidate who they simply can't stand, but KNOW that candidate is the only one with a possible chance of winning. For the pooh poohers, I need to point out that I am not running for the President of the United States. I am running for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners in a district within about a 5 mile radius of my house.  I am not going to be making decisions on military action, global trade policy, or Federal abortion laws.  I am going to be making decisions on how to help a local government venture become more user friendly to the citizens it is supposed to serve on a daily basis. In my district 7 race four years ago there were just over 23,000 votes cast.  This year a reasonable estimate would be 27,000.  In a tight 3 way race that means I only have to have reach just over 9000 voters to win.  The odds are not in my favor as a third party candidate, but how can anyone insist my ultimate victory is not possible having just watched the Boston Red Sox come back from 3 games to zilch against the New York Yankees on their way to winning the World Series. We just need a few more sports fanatics to get to the polls.  On my way now to see you there... Believe! 8:56:26 AM      comment []

	10/28/2004

Running to win on principle While John Hammer was pretending I absolutely do not  exist in today's endorements issue of the Rhino, devoted fans of Orson Scott Card who read all the way to the end of his articles can find this in the current issue: (I added the bold face type.) "I attended a political evening at Irving Park Elementary where county commission and school board candidates had a chance to answer questions.  It was the first time my wife and I had a chance to form opinions of some of these people firsthand.   In the county commissioner race, we were extremely depressed.  First we had Mike Barber, sitting slumped at the table and repeating empty platitudes without enthusiasm....then we had Mike Winstead.  He kept reminding me of those Jeopardy contestants who can't figure out how to work the button so they can ring in.  The most embarassing thing was that he couldn't keep track or what it's supposed to mean to be a Republican.  Over and over again he promised to throw money at the school board...   Of the three candidates, the only one who was articulate and thoughtful was Jim Capo.  The touble is, Capo has already proven that he is committed to being completely ineffective and never getting elected because not only is he running as a Libertarian, but he is also an officer in the John Birch Society.  If you're serious about getting enough votes to win public office, you don't do either of those things.    Since he's obviously a smart guy, the only conclusion I can reach is that he doesn't actually want to win.  He just wants to come to the debates and make other candidates look stupid.  I'm just sad that he found this so easy to accomplish."   Who am I voting for? Probably Winstead, trusting that he will be inept and ineffective...."    Now, as Mr. Card only said "probably" and I do have a message asking to talk to him after he gets back into town Friday night, I will suspend flamming out here for the moment.  Right now, I will tax my willpower to contain myself to just one observation:   "The touble is, Capo has already proven that he is committed to being completely ineffective...Who am I voting for? Probably Winstead, trusting that he will be inept and ineffective...."    So there you have it.  Had I only shown myself to be inept as well as ineffective I could have won Card's vote outright that evening. 11:59:46 PM      comment []

Money Walks in District 7 Again I must don my Captain Louie Renault uniform here and proclaim, "I'm shocked --- shocked! to find I have been ignored by John Hammer in today's Rhino." I am however encouraged by the great lengths gone to to promote the name of my GOP rival, while at the same time avoiding even the mere breath of my name as a third candidate in the District 7 Board of Commissioners race.  An unforeseen strong third candidate in the race put a little fear in the ranks perhaps?  I do think though that the local Republican politicos are way overestimating the the differential in votes I am going to be winning from traditional Democratic and Republican voters.  More and more voters are not thinking in party terms these days.  People just want someone they can rely on not to take them to the cleaners and dump them for some special interest group.  And, they don't like being lied to or having to imagine some bozo really believes what is coming out of his mouth. Nonetheless, as the State Coordinator for the John Birch Society I am sure I would be letting some of my fans down if I didn't fantasize at least a little bit on the behind the scenes hard ball politics that might be in play here.  John's reference to being "impressed" that his banker is going door-to-door campaigning for the Sheriff's choice in this race caught my eye.  Here's how I imagine a conversation might have gone if the friendly neighborhood banker stopped by John's own house: John (opens door and takes a step back) "Bob!  Well hey, wow what are you doing here?" Bob the Banker (in full suit and tie) "Hello John.  Yes.  I was just here in the neighborhood campaigning for my friend whose running for the board of commissioners and I thought  heck, I'm not far from John Hammer's house.  I should stop in and say hello." John (scratches head near a spot of hair) "Well come on in, come on in, have a seat." Bob the Banker, "Thanks.  Yes.  Nice place.  I never did get around to stopping in like I promised after we did that mortgage refinancing for you.  How things going for you lately?" John, "Great great. Busy you know with the election and all.  Pretty hectic." Bob the Banker, "Good, good.  Getting a little boost these days from those campaign ads I bet." John (a little nervously), "Oh yeah, yeah.  We're looking to have a great October..." Bob the Banker (cutting in), "Probably be happy to see that credit line come down a bit, eh?" John (with some feigned assuredness), "Oh yes yes.  Never like to see it up there too high.  I think we're really starting to turn the corner." Bob the Banker (perhaps a bit coldly), "Terrible about all those cutbacks at the High Point Enterprise.  Tough market out there.  Newspaper biz is tough. Really tough. John (growing more concerned), "Well the industry is in flux.  (thinking to himself "emphasize the positive...")  Our collection agency is doing a good job though catching up with our aged receivables on our ad contracts.  Got that internet competition but I think we've got a good product there.  Bloggers are getting a little pesky.  We'll probably have to something there..." Bob the Banker (detached), "Oh!  By the way, forgot to get back to you on it yesterday.  The board is looking at the restructuring of the long term debt loan and line of credit next week.  They should have it all wrapped up soon.  They received the revised personal guarantees you and Willy signed last week.  Thanks for getting on that.  I hope to give you an answer on the whole package by the end of next week.  It's looking real good." John (pretending not to be worried), "Great. Great.  Thanks for getting on that Bob.  Willy and I really appreciate your willingness to work with us on this one." Bob the Banker (pauses to press his lips together and nod his head), "No problem John.  You've been a great customer all these years.  We've been through a lot and we always work things out.  We love doing business with you guys. I admire you working all these years to make a go of it. Lotta hard work.  Like a part of you I bet. Got a great product.  Lotta people really look forward to their Rhino.  You've become a tradition now. Most people would hate to go without...(pauses in silence and looks at his watch) Well, hey I really should be going.  Gotta make sure our guy gets a seat on the board of commissioners.  Do all you can eh to help us out will ya." John (manges a stilted chuckle) "Sure, Sure.  He's a great guy.  Already planned to help.  Love doing all I can to help the local Republican party." Bob the Banker (getting up for the door and talking with John following behind him as he walks out.)  "Thanks John.  I knew we could count on you.  A victory in this race is so important for us.  So important for the future of the county.  Glad I had a chance to stop by.  Really nice house you have here John.   Talk to you right after the election....Take care." John (closing the door slowly behind his guest) "Thanks. Sure thing Bob. You too."  11:38:09 PM      comment []

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