Valerie Jarrett vs Angry Business Leaders; Tax Cuts Not Games!

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Business: Barack Obama's Corporate Outreach Not Enough


After Business Leaders sank Millions into the Midterms to defeat Democrats, a chastened Obama administration is seeking reconciliation with the Corporate community.

But after two years of building frustration, the executives say they won’t be won over by another round of private lunches and photo opportunities at the White House.

If President Barack Obama has any hope for a truce with corporate America in time for his 2012 reelection campaign, he needs to drop the name-calling, try to see their point of view better and step up with some specific proposals.


(See: Poll: Non-voters split over Obama)


“No amount of relationship-building is a substitute for policy,” said Johanna Schneider, executive director for external affairs at the Business Roundtable, which was once one of the administration’s most enduring corporate allies.

“We have to see some concrete policies that will help grow business because everyone’s goal is to grow jobs. This isn’t hocus-pocus. There are concrete steps to take for job growth,” she added.

The White House is embarking on a new round of corporate outreach, said Valerie Jarrett, a key White House adviser, who told POLITICO in an interview that she is lining up a fresh round of private, luncheon sessions and that other events could be in the works.

The White House is also mulling over an Obama appearance at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — even though the group spent about $75 million attacking Democrats and assisting the Republican takeover of the House. (See: Obama plans truce with Chamber)

“Our position moving forward is to find as many opportunities as possible to interact with the business community,” said Jarrett. “The president is very interested in the coming weeks in hearing additional input from the business community.”

The White House’s relationship with the corporate world has always had a sort of Mars-Venus quality to it. Business leaders say Obama simply doesn’t get them and has no one in the White House with corporate experience or who is steeped in the daily challenges of operating in a global economy. It didn’t help when Obama lashed out at “fat cat bankers” on Wall Street at the height of the regulatory reform effort or attacked BP, a onetime White House ally on energy reform, in the midst of the Louisiana oil spill. (See: OMB's Lew confirmed after hold lifted)

The message to other sectors: "You could be next," said one corporate lobbyist.

Some White House officials, in turn, privately express frustration that the business world seems to give Obama no credit for supporting bailouts of Wall Street and the auto industry as well as an economic stimulus bill that likely spared the country a deeper recession. Many CEOs now are enjoying hefty corporate profits and a Dow at healthy levels in part because of Obama’s efforts in steering the economy through the global meltdown, administration officials contend.

But the stakes for Obama couldn’t be higher, economically or politically, in rebuilding relations. Cooperation with the business community is vital for job growth and economic recovery. Expanding trade and cutting the deficit, two other Obama priorities, will require Republican votes — which the business community could deliver.

David Cote, the chief executive officer of Honeywell Corp. and a supporter of the White House policies, said gains can occur with a concerted effort by the administration.

“The administration is being thoughtful about getting input. You will see more outreach,” said Cote, who recently traveled with Obama to Asia to highlight trade and serves on the White House deficit commission. “I find it hard to believe people in the business community will turn a deaf ear to that. I don’t view that as being unrecoverable.”

In September, Obama called for deep investments in infrastructure projects. He also proposed expanding and permanently extending the research and development tax credit and allowing businesses to write off 100 percent of the expenses for new plants and other investments immediately — three items on the business community's wish-list for years.

Other administration officials are also reaching out.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met privately with Chamber President Tom Donohue during the White House Asia trade trip and appeared before the Chamber’s board a week after the midterms — a striking departure from a White House-Chamber feud that briefly grabbed headlines last year and during those very same elections.

On Dec. 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are scheduled to meet with the Business Roundtable, an association that includes the CEOs of the nation’s largest companies.

But there have been some bumps along the way.

Last week, Treasury’s Gene Sperling appeared at a retreat for technology executives. “He expressed a desire to work closely,” said one attendee. “Then, when we brought up the issue of repatriation [the opportunity for corporations to bring overseas earnings back to the U.S. at lower tax rates], he openly showed frustration with us for just bringing the subject up.”

It’s a complaint heard often from the business community. “Access isn’t the issue. The question is: Where is the delivery?” said one corporate representative who, like others, sought anonymity to speak freely.

Greg Brown, CEO of Motorola and an administration ally, said the White House had to take necessary but politically difficult steps to stabilize the economy. But he also noted, “Now that we are moving from stability to growth, I think there is an acknowledgment that the relationship needs to get closer and we collectively need to find common ground.”

To achieve that, the White House must overcome a hefty wariness in the business community about Obama’s populist bent that exploded into open warfare during the midterms when wealthy individuals and corporations spent more than $200 million trying to defeat Democrats.

“The amount of money they spent was rather stunning,” said an administration official.

One of the most striking break-ups of 2010 was between Obama and the Business Roundtable.

From the start of his administration, Obama framed the coalition of CEOs as the grown-up alternative to the Chamber. In turn, the Roundtable CEOs made a conscious decision to try to work with the White House.

But as final negotiations over health care heated up earlier this year and several of their concerns were left unresolved, frustrated voices dominated the monthly CEO meetings. They grew even louder when the White House turned to Wall Street regulatory reform.

Still, the CEOs voted in February, March, April and May to stay at the table. In June, they gave up.

Why? The infamous consumer watchdog office? The new health care mandates? No, say insiders familiar with internal discussions, the roundtable walked away because of a group of technical fixes to the health care and Wall Street reform laws they sought — and in some cases were assured would be done — that never got done.

For instance, one provision they wanted deleted from the Wall Street bill gives labor leaders and other minority shareholders a chance to change the way corporate boards are formed — viewed as a “poke in the eye” by the Roundtable’s CEOs.

Another removed a tax incentive for providing retiree drug coverage, which roundtable officials warned would increase Medicare costs and force companies that dropped the coverage to publicly restate their earnings because of the lost tax breaks.

When several did, the headlines that followed linking their action to the reform bill prompted a profanity-laced call from former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and threats of hearings on Capitol Hill.
And a third curbed corporate trading of special purpose derivatives, a long-standing revenue-generating mechanism that wasn’t related to the highly speculative trading that led to the economic collapse.

“These weren’t issues that got the president any votes or political leverage,” said one insider to the conversations. “These were issues that demonstrated that this administration doesn’t get it. It’s like talking to your dog.”

The Roundtable’s Schneider conceded that “the tone and tenor of the dialogue wasn’t as collegial as one might have hoped.” But she said the trade group kept up a dialogue with the White House and that several Roundtable CEOs were on Obama’s recent Asia trip, which became “an important relationship-building effort.”

Other executives complain that the White House continually promised a “hard pivot” to job creation and the economy that never fully materialized, at least not in a way that made corporate America feel it could be part of the solution.

“There was no challenge to come work together for a common purpose,” one executive said. “There was never a call for weekly conference calls with the president and demands to go get stuff done. That’s the power he has as president. And instead they kept pushing people away.”

The way Jarrett sees it, the White House was dealt a bad economic hand and had no choice but to move aggressively with legislation that had sweeping and intrusive impacts on the private markets — a course Obama had not necessarily advocated when he launched his presidential bid before the economic meltdown.

As a consequence, the business community had a lot to digest about what exactly the Obama administration meant to them, which created some uncertainty about the course ahead.

Now that the administration is drafting the regulations to implement the reform laws, White House officials said, tensions should ease as business leaders see that they are coordinating to ensure there are no unintended consequences.

Jarrett also said trade, tax reform, deficit reduction and education are all areas where the business community and the White House share common ground and could join ranks for action.

Brown, of Motorola, said it will take “compromise, conviction and courage” for both parties to make the changes necessary to improve the economy and create a robust job environment.

“The fact of the matter is these are tough times, politically charged and very emotional. As a country, there is no easy formula or short cut here. This is tough stuff,” he said.

“We’re coming out of a dark tunnel, and it’s been hard. It’s been hard on everybody, the public and private sector. Now, we need to lock and go.”


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Sources: CNBC, MSNBC, Politico, Google Maps

Richard Burr vs. NC Democrats: No Real Contender In Sight...Yet

(Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) discusses the cost of Health Care.)





Burr looking less vulnerable amid changing environment

The changing political environment could be helping Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) avoid a serious challenge in 2010.

Public Policy Polling, the Democratic-leaning firm based in North Carolina, just put out new numbers on Burr that show him leading a generic Democrat 45-34. Four months ago, Burr trailed that generic Democrat 41-38.

Burr has also extended his lead over all of his potential Democratic opponents to double-digits, including leading Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) 44-33 and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall 44-32. Marshall is in the race; Etheridge is weighing it.

Burr's favorable numbers remain largely unchanged, so it doesn't appear to be anything that he's doing. But perhaps more than any other state that voted for President Obama last year, North Carolina is experiencing buyer's remorse.

Obama's approval rating in the state has sunk from around 60 percent early this year to the mid-40s, with more North Carolinians disapproving of him than approving of him.

Burr, who looked like one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents at the beginning of the year, will likely remain a target because of his favorability numbers, but he's looking to be in better and better shape, and that could scare away someone like Etheridge.




Burr's Poll numbers looking better

There is probably no politician in the country whose fate better exemplifies the shift in the national political climate over the last four months than Richard Burr.

His approval this month comes in at a very mediocre 36% with an almost equal 35% disapproving of his work in the Senate. In June his approval spread was a nearly identical 34/35.

Despite there being no change in Burr's popularity his prospects for re-election have increased significantly. He now leads a generic Democratic candidate 45-34. He trailed 41-38 on that same June poll. So he's seen a 14 point improvement on that front over the last four months despite a stagnant approval rating.

The independents on this poll provide a fascinating prism into the current political landscape. By a 39/36 margin they disapprove of the job Burr is doing. But they then turn around and give him a 44-24 lead against a generic Democratic candidate. The pretty clear message when you see numbers like that is 'we don't like you, but we like the alternative even less.'

One number that is particularly good news for Burr on this poll is a 56-28 lead among senior citizens. They're unhappy with the Democrats on health care and tend to make up a larger portion of the electorate in midterm elections than they do in Presidential years.

In head to heads against some specific potential Democratic opponents Burr leads Bob Etheridge 44-33, Elaine Marshall 44-32, Dennis Wicker and Kenneth Lewis 44-30, Kevin Foy 45-29, and Cal Cunningham 46-27. Those leads for Burr are artificially high because there are considerably more undecided Democrats than Republicans in each of them, owing to none of the Democratic hopefuls being particularly well known statewide.

Burr's lack of personal popularity is still a problem for him- if one of the Democratic candidates mounts an unusually strong campaign or if the national political climate shifts back away from the Republicans he'll look just as vulnerable as he did earlier in the year. But for now he's in a much better position than he was for the first half of 2009.




Burr would trade seat for better economy

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr said this week he’s willing to sacrifice his seat in Congress if it would turn the economy around.

"If I was somehow magically given a chance to turn it around and not keep my seat," he said, "I would do it without hesitation."

Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, spoke in a wide-ranging interview with the Statesville Record and Landmark this week about the economy, veterans affairs, the war in Afghanistan and health reform, Barb Barrett reports. He faces re-election in 2010.

In the interview, Burr says he worries most about the economy.

He told the Statesville paper he plans to vote in favor of extending unemployment benefits, a measure being studied in the Senate that has been opposed by some Republicans. Burr wants funding for the extension to come from the stimulus bill.
Burr earlier told Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, that he thought Americans were more interested in jobs than a check.




Burr headed to Afghanistan

Republican Sen. Richard Burr is heading to Afghanistan later this week.

News of the trip was disclosed at an economic conference Monday morning in Durham by Bob Ingram, a close friend of Burr, who introduced the senator, a Republican from Winston-Salem. No details of the trip were immediately available.

The Burr trip comes at a critical time when the administration of President Barack Obama is deciding whether to increase the U.S. troop commitment to that country to fight the Taliban.




Lewis has $184,000

Kenneth Lewis has $184,000 through the end of September.

According to federal election records through the third quarter, Lewis has raised $264,816 in his bid to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

Notable contributors include several lawyers at Womble Carlyle, the firm where Lewis works. Other contributions came from Chapel Hill consultant Leonard Buck ($2,400), Durham investment advisor Isaac Green ($2,400) and Christopher Quinn ($2,400), president of Imprint Learning Solutions, a Durham marketing firm.

Dome will be writing posts about the campaign fundraising results for the third quarter as they become available. Burr's report for the quarter is not yet online.




N.C. secretary of state to challenge Burr

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is the first big-name Democrat to challenge Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) in 2010.

Consultant Thomas Mills said Marshall has sent paperwork to file for the race. He said a formal announcement would be forthcoming, but that “she’s in.” The committee is a full-fledged campaign committee and not an exploratory one.

Marshall joins attorney Kenneth Lewis in the Democratic primary. Rep. Bob Etheridge, state Sen. Cal Cunningham and former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker have considered running as well.

Marshall was elected to her current post in 1996 and ran for Senate in 2002, losing the primary badly to the party’s chosen candidate, Erskine Bowles. Despite the statewide post, she has relatively low name recognition and will have to drastically increase her fundraising.

Burr’s favorability numbers haven’t been strong, and President Barack Obama’s and Sen. Kay Hagan’s (D) wins in the state in 2008 have Democrats anxious to add another one.



Who will run against Richard Burr?

When he runs for re-election next year, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is almost sure to face a strong, well-financed Democratic opponent determined to duplicate Democrats’ success in 2008.

Burr just doesn’t know who it will be.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, the top choice of many Democratic leaders, told supporters yesterday that he will not run for Senate because he wants to remain in North Carolina. Cooper’s decision clears the path for a wide-open field of Democrats who are considering a run against Burr, a one-term senator whom many see as vulnerable.

“North Carolina is a swing state. It’s going to be competitive. You can expect millions of dollars in special-interest money to be spent,” said Paul Shumaker, a political strategist for Burr. “The Democrats did it effectively in 2008, and they’ll try to do it in 2010.”

Indeed, Democrats are feeling invigorated by last year’s success, in which Kay Hagan pulled off an upset of former Sen. Elizabeth Dole. They believe that Burr is just as vulnerable as Dole was, and they hope to unseat him with the same flood of new voters that came out in support of Barack Obama last year.

Burr’s approval rating is just 36 percent, according to a poll taken this month by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm. That’s a dangerously low number for an incumbent, and it’s nine points lower than Dole’s approval rating at the same point in the cycle two years ago. The poll, which surveyed 755 North Carolina voters, was taken from May 8 to May 10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.

“I will tell you that this is a very winnable race,” Morgan Jackson, a strategist for Cooper, said yesterday after Cooper ruled himself out of the race. “It’s not all that different from two years ago.”

The election is still 20 months away, but both sides are laying the groundwork for a tough campaign. In the Dole-Hagan race, the combined spending by both candidates and outside groups was nearly $50 million.

The 2010 race is likely to be in line with that.

Burr, who is from Winston-Salem, has already started mailing cards to Republicans and unaffiliated voters, and he has set up a Web site targeting new voters. Those are clear signs that Burr wants to avoid the mistakes of the Dole campaign, which failed to attract many newly registered voters and got trounced by the Democratic Party’s early-voting drive.

“In 2008, the turnout program for Republicans was a 72-hour turnout program,” Shumaker said. He promised that the Burr campaign “will be doing a lot of things differently.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have already published a Web ad attacking Burr. Their most important task now is to find a candidate to run against him.

Cooper, a likable, politically moderate candidate with strong crime-fighting credentials, was aggressively recruited by party leaders. But he said in an e-mail to supporters that he wants to continue his public service
in North Carolina rather than move to Washington.

Another heavily recruited candidate, U.S. Congressman Heath Shuler, D-11th, also said recently that he will not run for Burr’s seat – though he may reconsider now that Cooper has dropped out.

If Cooper and Shuler both stay out of the race, a Democratic primary is likely.

The only person who has publicly expressed interest so far is Kenneth Lewis, a lawyer who lives in Chapel Hill and was a fundraiser for Obama last year.

Cal Cunningham, a former state senator from Lexington, is also seriously considering a run. He is an Army reservist who recently returned from Iraq, and he has been making the rounds at various Democratic functions across the state. He works as a lawyer in Winston-Salem for the law firm Kilpatrick Stockton.

“I’m getting a lot of encouragement,” Cunningham said yesterday.

Behind the scenes, the list of other names being floated as potential candidates is long. It includes other North Carolina congressmen, current and former state legislators, elected officials in the state’s executive branch – and even Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards.

The situation is reminiscent of the prelude to the Dole race, when many high-profile Democrats, including then-Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, were urged to run against Dole but declined.

Finally, an initially reluctant Kay Hagan, who had little statewide name recognition, was persuaded to enter the race.

She ended up beating Dole by nine points.

“The lesson from Kay Hagan is: Step up to bat,” said Gary Pearce, a veteran Democratic consultant. “Kay Hagan stepped up to what people thought was an unlikely race. And she’s a U.S. senator.”

The Breakdown: Who might run against Burr?

Attorney General Roy Cooper’s decision not to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr clears the way for a long list of other Democrats who are rumored to have some interest in running. Here are 10 of the top names being mentioned:

• Cal Cunningham, former state senator. Cunningham, a captain in the Army reserves who recently returned from Iraq, is young (just 35) but politically connected. He has been increasing his visibility lately by traveling the state and speaking at Democratic functions. He lives in Lexington and works as a lawyer in Winston-Salem.

• Walter Dalton, lieutenant governor. Dalton is a moderate Democrat and a good campaigner. After serving in the N.C. Senate, he was elected last year to be lieutenant governor, a job with high visibility but little real power.

• Bob Etheridge, U.S. congressman for the 2nd District. Etheridge is a popular congressman and former state schools superintendent. But he may be unwilling to give up his influential new assignment on the House Ways and Means Committee.

• Kenneth Lewis, a lawyer and Democratic fundraiser. Lewis publicly expressed interest earlier this year in running against Burr. He has worked on previous Senate campaigns and Barack Obama’s campaign in North Carolina.

• Elaine Marshall, North Carolina’s secretary of state. Marshall ran for U.S. Senate in 2002, losing in a Democratic primary. She is popular among women voters, a group in which Burr has polled well.

• Grier Martin, state representative from Wake County. Martin was recruited in 2008 to run against Elizabeth Dole, but he declined. Like Cunningham, he is an Army reservist, and some Democrats believe his military credentials would make him a strong candidate.

• Charles Meeker, mayor of Raleigh. Meeker is said to have ambitions for higher office, and he is popular in Raleigh, the state’s second-largest city.

• Brad Miller, U.S. congressman for the 13th District. Miller, like Martin, was heavily courted in 2008 to run against Dole. Like Martin, he declined to run and may be kicking himself.

• Richard Moore, former state treasurer. Moore lost the Democratic nomination for governor last year in a tough primary against Bev Perdue. He may not want to risk another loss, but he is ambitious and charismatic.

• Heath Shuler, U.S. congressman for the 11th District. Along with Cooper, Shuler was considered a top choice among party leaders to challenge Burr, but Shuler said recently he is not planning on running. With Cooper out, Shuler could reconsider.




Senate Democrats Lose Top Recruit in NC

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced today that he will not challenge Sen. Richard Burr (R) in 2010, robbing Democrats of a top recruit in a state President Barack Obama carried in 2008.

"While I am honored by the encouragement I've received, I don't want to go to Washington and serve as a U.S. Senator at this time," said Cooper in a statement. "I am committed to public service and I want to serve here in North Carolina rather than in Washington."

Knowledgeable Tarheel State strategists said Cooper's decision was based heavily on his desire to be governor and his interest in staying in state rather than federal office in order to accomplish that goal. (Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue was elected in 2008 and will likely stand for a second term in 2012 so Cooper has a while to wait.)

Without Cooper, the Democratic bench is somewhat thin.

Reps. Bobby Etheridge and Heath Shuler, who has already said no to the Senate once, as well as former state Treasurer Richard Moore, who lost a primary to Perdue in 2008, is also mentioned.

But Cooper was a "A" candidate who was running even with Burr in polling and not getting him forces Democrats into a re-recruitment effort that is unwelcome at this point in the cycle. (It's worth remembering that Sen. Kay Hagan was far from national Democrats first choice as a candidate in 2008 but went on to beat then Sen. Elizabeth Dole anyway.)

Senate Democratic recruiting is off to a decent but not stellar start. In addition to Cooper, Florida chief financial officer Alex Sink took a pass on the Sunshine State's open seat (she is now running for governor), and former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley decided against a run in Illinois. (That could be a blessing in disguise, however, as state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the strongest potential Democratic candidate, is re-considering a Senate bid.)

The clear recruiting successes to this point are in Missouri -- where Secretary of State Robin Carnahan has cleared the field -- and New Hampshire where Rep. Paul Hodes will have a clear shot at the Democratic nomination. Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek wasn't the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's first choice but early returns suggest he will be a solid candidate.

Several primaries are shaping up for Senate Democrats including in Kentucky and Ohio. In each state, two statewide officeholders are preparing to face off against each other.

Democrats got some good primary news late this afternoon when Rep. Steve Israel decided against challenging appointed New York Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand in a Democratic primary.

"In the interest of providing New York and our country with a united front for progressive change, I have decided to continue my efforts in Congress and not pursue a campaign for the U.S. Senate," said Israel.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Under The Dome, Charlotte Observer, The Fix, The Hill, Roll Call, Public Policy Polling, Senate.gov, Politics.MyNC.com, The Heritage Foundation, This Old State, Youtube, Google Maps

John Lassiter's Campaign Manager Needs To Step It Up Or Foxx Will Win

Okay folks by now many of you know that the Charlotte Observer has officially announced its endorsement of Charlotte Mayoral Candidate Anthony Foxx (Democrat).

Am I surprised? No.

The Charlotte Observer has historically endorsed Democrat Candidates for Public Office more so than Republicans.

I didn't say this publication NEVER endorses Republicans. I said historically it tends to lean more so towards Democrats.

Thus I wasn't surprised when they announced their support for Anthony Foxx.

Regardless of the CO's endorsement, my support for Republican Mayoral Candidate John Lassiter remains strong.

Nevertheless I'm sort of disappointed at Lassiter's Campaign Manager, Perry Lucas.

I've had the pleasure of communicating with Ms. Lucas via e-mail.

Although I've never met her in person, she was very nice and professional (tone of her responses) but something definitely needed to help John Lassiter win this race is missing in her personality.

Ms. Lucas seems to be a nice, Southern lady who doesn't allow herself to become easily offended.

Nothing wrong with those Character traits however this is a Political race not a Beauty Pageant. (No Offense)

During Political Races a little fire in one's blood doesn't hurt.

Ms. Lucas' lack of "fire" is hurting Lassiter's campaign.

While I along with many other Constituents may find Lassiter to be a better candidate for Charlotte's next Mayor, this victory isn't just going to fall in Lassiter's lap.

Foxx is gaining momentum because he's hungry for this victory.

Do I think that Foxx would make a better Mayor than Lassiter? No but he's hungry.

Charlotte is facing one of the most critical Economic downturns since the Great Depression.

Lassiter as a Successful Small Business Expert could be just what Charlotte needs to steer this city out of Financial Despair but his Campaign Manager hasn't allowed Voters to see Lassiter's expertise in this area.

Nor much of anything else for that matter because she's protecting him.

No doubt Foxx is going to pick up supporters who are going to vote for him just because he's a Democrat and Black, same as Lassiter is going to pick up supporters who will vote for him along Republican Partisan lines and because he's White.

No biggie on this one.

Where the rubber meets the road is when a Democrat chooses to vote for a Republican, when a Republican chooses to vote for a Democrat and when Independents go to cast their ballots.

The ability to reach voters outside of one's Political Party, outside of one's race and reach Independents requires an Extremely Persuasive voice. One that can communicate an Interesting Message.

Which is why Foxx who several weeks ago was trailing Lassiter, is now gaining ground.

His communication skills and his hunger.

However all isn't lost and there is still time for Lassiter to bounce back but only if he does these 4 things:

1) Start giving the right answers. Lassiter can't just communicate with the Wealthy White crowd. He has to reach out (when communicating) with all of Charlotte.

This doesn't mean we expect him to lie because I don't believe that Foxx is going to do half of what he says he going to do.

I mean come on Foxx hasn't really done anything in four years as an At-Large City Council Member, so I surely don't expect him to do anything more if he's elected Mayor.

Nevertheless Lassiter needs to be more engaged and communicate his Ideas and Vision clearly, while not letting Foxx get under his skin.


2) Lassiter needs to stop leaving all of his campaigning to his Campaign Manager Perry Lucas and make HIMSELF more accessible.

Shake hands more, do some neighborhood tours (not just the Wealthy communities), ride the train and talk to people, etc., Get out among the Constituents!

Show the Voters that he really cares.

If not the voters are going to think he too busy to become Charlotte's next Mayor.


3) Lassiter needs to get hungry, actually he needs show that he's Starving to become Charlotte's next Mayor.


4) Last but certainly NOT least, Lassiter needs to get some FIRE in his belly.

Show the Voters that he is the one best suited to become Charlotte's next Mayor versus his opponent.

This is a race. Its a Contest! There is no gray area.

Its not about Race.

Its not about Age.

Its not about Political Affiliation.

Its not about Polls.

Its not even about who has raised the most Campaign money.

Instead its about genuinely caring for your Constituents (from the heart) and being Hungry enough to Win.

So Hungry you will eat, sleep and think Victory until crossing the finish line.


Either Lassiter wants to win or he doesn't.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Daily Kos, Charlotte Biz Journal, Public Polling Policy, Charmeck.org, Charlotte Conservative.com, Google Maps

Mass. AG Martha Coakley Stakes Claim For Sen. Kennedy's $3 Mil + Seat...GOP Contenders Remain Secretive

MSNBC----

Mass. AG announces bid for Kennedy seat

(A Special Election has been set for January in Massachusetts to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat as speculation grows over whether his widow, Vicki, will run or be appointed to the position. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports.)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

BOSTON - The race for the Senate seat left vacant by the death last week of Edward Kennedy has gotten off to a cautious start, despite a tight five-month election schedule that leaves little time for campaigning.

So far, only one major candidate — state Attorney General Martha Coakley — has officially announced intentions to run for the seat.

Other possible contenders decided to hold back in part to see whether a member of the Kennedy family might decide to enter the race — including Kennedy's widow Vicki Kennedy or his nephew, the former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II.

Another possible contender — former U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan — said he is "thinking about" a run for the seat and hopes to make a decision by the end of the week.

Meehan, now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, is waiting to see whether a Kennedy jumps in. Meehan has $4.8 million in his federal campaign account, the largest sum of any potential candidate.

"There's a lot of speculation about whether Joe Kennedy or Vicki Kennedy would run and I think either of them would make a great senator," he said. "Certainly if one of the two Kennedy candidates decided to run, I would support them."

Gut Check

Other possible candidates include several members of Massachusetts all-Democratic congressional delegation — Reps. Stephen Lynch, Michael Capuano and Edward Markey. All three have sizable federal campaign war chests, including $1.3 million for Lynch, $1.2 million for Capuano and $2.8 million for Markey as of June 30.

Capuano said he hopes to make a decision in the next week or so, and in the meantime he's reaching out to political allies and completing more mundane tasks like upgrading computers.

"I'm doing my own gut check now," Capuano said. "This is not something I take lightly. I want to make sure there's a legitimate path to victory for me."

Capuano, who has Joe Kennedy's old House seat, suggested he would be unlikely to run if Kennedy seeks the seat.

"If Joe's in it, it's awfully hard to run against someone you respect so much," Capuano said.

Another Democrat weighing a run is Gloucester attorney Edward O'Reilly, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. John Kerry in last year's Democratic primary.

"I am very seriously considering it. I ran for the same office less than a year ago and received 31 percent of the vote," O'Reilly said.

GOP contenders remain tight-lipped

On the Republican side, potential candidates were even more tightlipped.

Former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, have all been mentioned as possible candidates, but none responded to requests for comment.

Other political figures decided to take their names out of the running.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray issued a statement saying that despite receiving "words of encouragement from many supporters suggesting that I consider running for the United States Senate seat," he will keep his day job.

"I look forward to running and winning re-election with Governor Patrick in 2010," Murray said.

Gov. Deval Patrick, in response to a reporter's question on Monday, also snuffed out a suggestion that he might have his eye on the Senate seat, saying he remains focused on his job as governor.

Quick decision

Potential candidates will have to decide fairly quickly if they're in or out given the quick pace of the special election.

The first major deadline, Oct. 20, is less than two months away. That's when candidates vying for their party's nomination must deliver the signatures of at least 10,000 voters to local officials for certification to secure a spot on the Dec. 8 primary ballot.

The final election is just six weeks later on Jan. 19.

Voters are facing their own deadlines. The last day to register for the primary is Nov. 12, and for the general election the registration deadline is Dec. 30.

While possible candidates have their eye on the special election, Massachusetts lawmakers were gearing up for a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 9 on a contentious bill that would change state law to let the governor make an interim appointment to the seat until the election.

Gov. Patrick supports the change, but House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, and Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, haven't said whether they back it.

Democrats are facing charges of hypocrisy from critics who point out that just five years ago, they changed the law to block then-Gov. Mitt Romney from naming a fellow Republican to fill the seat if Kerry, the Democrats' presidential nominee, won his White House campaign.

Before that change, the governor was allowed to appoint a nominee until the next general election. As part of the 2004 change, Democratic lawmakers also blocked the possibility of Romney naming an interim senator.

Patrick said it's unfair to let Massachusetts to go five months without two voices in the Senate. He said he'd ask for a guarantee from whoever he named as interim senator not to run in the special election.

National Democratic leaders including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also support the interim appointment. They say they need as many votes as they can during the debate on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Kennedy died last week of brain cancer at age 77.


Price of Kennedy's seat: $3 million-plus

Most of the prospective contenders for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat have demurred when asked about their interest, but several are well-stocked for a January special election that figures to spawn an intense, expensive and compressed battle for the Democratic nomination.

As many as seven current or former Massachusetts Democratic congressmen have been mentioned as potential Senate candidates, and between them, they’ve stockpiled nearly $16 million that could be used to fund campaigns for their party’s Dec. 8 special Senate primary, which will likely determine the next senator from deep-blue Massachusetts.

To be sure, some of the seven have downplayed the possibility that they’d seek the seat and others would face long odds of winning the nomination if they threw their hats into the ring. But national fundraisers, Massachusetts political strategists and sources close to the prospective candidates all agree that having a financial head start will be a huge advantage in a race where the ability to quickly raise and spend vast amounts of cash could be determinative.

“The money will be a huge factor,” said a Massachusetts Democratic operative, who asserted that to be a viable special election candidate, Democrats will need to raise between $3 and $4 million before December. Others predict the putative entry fee could be north of $5 million — or more for candidates with lower statewide name identification.

Former Rep. Marty Meehan, who left Congress in 2007 to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, could drop that much on a campaign right now. At the end of June, Meehan had $4.9 million in his campaign account — by far the biggest account of the seven — and on Tuesday, he wouldn’t rule out a run.

Behind Meehan were Democratic Reps. Ed Markey, who reported $2.9 million in the bank at the end of June, Richard Neal ($2.5 million), Stephen Lynch ($1.4 million), John Tierney ($1.3 million), and Michael Capuano ($1.2 million), according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Kennedy’s nephew, former Rep. Joe Kennedy, whose decision on whether to enter the race is expected to go a long way towards shaping the field, has $1.8 million in his campaign account, though he last ran for Congress in 1996. Both his committee and Meehan’s have continued accruing interest and dividends from investments, which yielded a combined $550,000 this year alone.

Since Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008, Markey, Neal, Lynch, Tierney and Capuano have raised a combined $2.4 million and have been active on the fundraising circuit, though none is expected to face competitive reelection bids.

Some of their campaign cash can be attributed to the benefits of some being in powerful congressional posts in the majority (which might be expected to diminish the lure of starting anew in the Senate) as well as being in safe seats — their reelection campaigns are not nearly as costly as members of Congress in competitive seats. And part of the allure of the special election is that no one would have to risk giving up their current seat to run.

Lynch and Capuano — neither of whom is particularly well-known beyond their Boston-area districts —would need to raise north of $5 million to fund the type of television advertising campaign necessary to boost their name identification, asserted Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor at Tufts University.

By that rationale, Berry said, state Attorney General Martha Coakley — who has already obtained the papers necessary to enter the race — wouldn’t need to raise as much.

“Her name identification statewide is very high, and her favorables are very high,” said Berry, though he stressed that her lack of a cash-flush federal campaign committee puts her at something of a disadvantage starting out.

Earlier this year, she acknowledged having a previously unknown federal testing-the-waters account which she used to pay for a portion of a poll that tested her viability as a Senate candidate. But most of her fundraising has gone to her state campaign account, which paid for the bulk of the poll and which in mid-August reported $692,000 — none of which can be used for the Senate race.

Nonetheless, Berry said Coakley has been “preparing for this by contacting her donors without explicitly saying she’s running, keeping her name in front of their eyes, and communicating with her body language that she’ll be back. She’s plowed the ground. She’s planted the seeds, and now she’s ready to harvest.”

Coakley is expected to lean heavily on well-developed state and national fundraising networks of women activists, including EMILY’s List, the powerful bundling network that backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights.

The group has been informally advising Coakley for months on things like building a political organization, said a source close to EMILY’s List.

“They’re doing a good job preparing for this thing,” said the source. “They’ve got a real political operation and she’s got a pretty good personal circle, so I think she’ll be able to raise some money fairly quickly.”

Though Joe Kennedy hasn’t been on the political fundraising circuit for years, he’s also expected to be able to quickly raise big money.

If he throws his hat in the ring with Coakley, Berry said “it’s going to be an arms race with all the heavy weaponry, and she won’t regard any amount as enough. It’ll be a battle of the titans and the other candidates will fall by the wayside.”

The ultimate campaign wildcard, however, would be Ted Kennedy’s widow Vicki Kennedy, who has repeatedly told friends and allies she is not interested, but continues to be the subject of Senate seat speculation.

“Vicki Kennedy has the capacity to raise enormous sums of money,” said Berry, asserting her husband’s allies would side with her if she ran. “The real question is whether she had the fortitude to be able to do that while she’s mourning.”



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Sources: MSNBC, Politico, Google Maps