Political Digression Thread -- Save UP! Move the politically focused stuff here

[AirNostrumMAD]

14 hours ago, gman430 said:

The red wave is coming.  

Well so far this isn’t aging well. 
 

We shall see the final results but. Doesn’t look like a red wave, meh thinks. 

[gman430]

42 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Well so far this isn’t aging well. 
 

We shall see the final results but. Doesn’t look like a red wave, meh thinks. 

Yeah, the Georgia and Pennsylvania Senate races could easily both go blue keeping Democrats in control of the Senate. Runoffs will decide for sure.

Edited November 9, 2022 by gman430

[gman430]

Fetterman just won Pennsylvania. I told you all…huge red wave. In fact, it will be a tsunami when everything is said and done. 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by gman430

[LKN704]

There would have likely been a red wave if Gen Z and younger millennials (18-30) didn't show up in droves to vote. Polling shows that voters in the 18-30 age range predominantly care more about climate change, social issues (abortion/LGBT/racial equity), gun control, and the state of democracy, rather than economic issues/inflation, which seems to influence older voters, especially those in the 45-65 age range. 

In all seriousness, I wouldn't put it past some far-right members of the GOP start to publicly suggest we should raise the voting age, or at least attempt nation-wide steps to inhibit younger people from voting, like possibly banning polling stations from college campuses. 

On a different note, I feel bad for Cheri Beasley. While Budd won by almost 150k more votes, I can't help but what the outcome would have been like if Beasley had gotten more national support from the DNC and given more of a spotlight per se in the media. All throughout the evening there was much more coverage on the PA/GA/AZ/NV/OH Senate races, and essentially no coverage on the NC race. ABC played a cringe one minute clip of Beasley supporters doing the Cha Cha Slide 

I'm also kind of surprised that North Carolina would elect a far-right candidate to the Senate. As it stands, Budd is an election denying, authoritarian-loving Representative, who wants to ban abortion and gay marriage and on his website, highlights "stopping socialism" as a key issue. Nice.

[tarhoosier]

Email from Jeff Jackson last night while I slept. I have supported him with donations in both his races this cycle. Yes, I know this was prepared ahead of time and there was another in case he lost, and it is a bcc to a (likely) large group but I have never had this response from any candidate I supported in the past, especially as part of the celebration. evening 

Decency, honor, gratitude.

 

EDIT: it was addressed to me by name not as a mass mail without identification.

 

I know it’s late, but you were one of our strongest supporters and before I head home, I wanted to give you the good news: We won.

Our election party just finished. I’m typing this on a laptop in the storage section of the local brewery where we just had a few hundred people join us for our win. This is the last thing I’m doing before I get in the car and head home for the night.

But I wanted to say thank you. You were essential in helping us win, and I’m genuinely grateful.

More soon, but for now, thank you!

Best,
Jeff

Edited November 9, 2022 by tarhoosier

[CLT2014]

2 hours ago, LKN704 said:

I'm also kind of surprised that North Carolina would elect a far-right candidate to the Senate. As it stands, Budd is an election denying, authoritarian-loving Representative, who wants to ban abortion and gay marriage and on his website, highlights "stopping socialism" as a key issue. Nice.

That sounds in complete alignment with the views of much of rural North Carolina (still a huge chunk of the state's population) and the Charlotte suburban counties. While much of the Triangle is blue (Wake, Chatham, Orange, and Durham counties), Mecklenburg is the only reliably blue county in the Charlotte metro area. Union County, Gaston County, Cabarrus County, Iredell, and Rowan are all red counties that basically cancel out the blue vote in Mecklenburg (about 1 million people in the red Charlotte area counties and 1 million in Meck). When you include the South Carolina counties like York and Lancaster, the Charlotte metropolitan area would be a majority red / pro-GOP metro area. Its most glaringly obvious in workplaces in Charlotte... you can almost tell who lives in Mecklenburg versus who is anti-Meck and lives in the surrounding counties a few minutes into a convo. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by CLT2014

[AirNostrumMAD]

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

That sounds in complete alignment with the views of much of rural North Carolina (still a huge chunk of the state's population) and the Charlotte suburban counties. While much of the Triangle is blue (Wake, Chatham, Orange, and Durham counties), Mecklenburg is the only reliably blue county in the Charlotte metro area. Union County, Gaston County, Cabarrus County, Iredell, and Rowan are all red counties that basically cancel out the blue vote in Mecklenburg (about 1 million people in the red Charlotte area counties and 1 million in Meck). When you include the South Carolina counties like York and Lancaster, the Charlotte metropolitan area would be a majority red / pro-GOP metro area. Its most glaringly obvious in workplaces in Charlotte... you can almost tell who lives in Mecklenburg versus who is anti-Meck and lives in the surrounding counties a few minutes into a convo. 

I've always been under the impression - after years of hearing Triangle people mention it - that Charlotte is one of the more conservative metropolitan areas in the country whereas the Triangle has been one of the more liberal ones (and is typically in the top 2-5 most educated areas of the country depending on the ranking but it always makes it). Another difference between the two politically I think is Mecklenburg Democratic majority comes from socially conservative Black Republicans whereas the Triangle is fueled by it's African American population * and *  white liberals with degrees.

While Ted Budd is disappointing, the most impactful things on Charlotte will be state and local government and I'm going to guess that the status quo is to stick around which means good luck getting the silver line or large investments in rail or many urban issues or pro-density, middle housing, etc. type bills.

In NoVa, I haven’t read through all what they’ve passed (given the various and independent cities) but I’ve already seen where referendums for mass transit funding has won with like 70% approval and just a glance it looks like several hundred million from those municipalities. I’m not even sure that’s legal to vote on in NC & pass?  It’s nice when every election you typically see pro-urban policies widely passed for all sorts of issues that when I lived in Charlotte (5 years ago now, Yeesh) we were begging for some TIGER grants for a couple little projects. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[SouthEndCLT811]

The one status quo that is at risk is the NC Supreme Court flipping to 5 to 2 GOP.  And while not a supermajority NCGA will have the ability to redraw the 2024 maps.  And the only reason our state got to 7-7 congressional representation this time was the state supreme court pushing for fairer maps.  Which worked!  But likely won't be there in two years.

Edited November 9, 2022 by SouthEndCLT811

[nicholas]

3 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I've always been under the impression - after years of hearing Triangle people mention it - that Charlotte is one of the more conservative metropolitan areas in the country whereas the Triangle has been one of the more liberal ones (and is typically in the top 2-5 most educated areas of the country depending on the ranking but it always makes it). Another difference between the two politically I think is Mecklenburg Democratic majority comes from socially conservative Black Republicans whereas the Triangle is fueled by it's African American population * and *  white liberals with degrees.

While Ted Budd is disappointing, the most impactful things on Charlotte will be state and local government and I'm going to guess that the status quo is to stick around which means good luck getting the silver line or large investments in rail or many urban issues or pro-density, middle housing, etc. type bills.

In NoVa, I haven’t read through all what they’ve passed (given the various and independent cities) but I’ve already seen where referendums for mass transit funding has won with like 70% approval and just a glance it looks like several hundred million from those municipalities. I’m not even sure that’s legal to vote on in NC & pass?  It’s nice when every election you typically see pro-urban policies widely passed for all sorts of issues that when I lived in Charlotte (5 years ago now, Yeesh) we were begging for some TIGER grants for a couple little projects. 

I think that's somewhat skewed by CH and Durham which both lean pretty far left (to the point of hampering new development even in urban areas).  Raleigh is comparatively somewhat moderate.

I think the Dems would have had a better chance at the Senate if Jeff Jackson had run.  From what I've seen he has been much more visible and connected with a lot more voters than Beasley has, and even though I lean slightly to the right I have a lot of respect for how he has conducted himself here in NC so far and he definitely would have gotten my vote (that said I did vote for Beasley as I was not a fan of Budd).

[kayman]

On 11/9/2022 at 12:21 PM, AirNostrumMAD said:

I've always been under the impression - after years of hearing Triangle people mention it - that Charlotte is one of the more conservative metropolitan areas in the country whereas the Triangle has been one of the more liberal ones (and is typically in the top 2-5 most educated areas of the country depending on the ranking but it always makes it). Another difference between the two politically I think is Mecklenburg Democratic majority comes from socially conservative Black Republicans whereas the Triangle is fueled by it's African American population * and *  white liberals with degrees.

While Ted Budd is disappointing, the most impactful things on Charlotte will be state and local government and I'm going to guess that the status quo is to stick around which means good luck getting the silver line or large investments in rail or many urban issues or pro-density, middle housing, etc. type bills.

In NoVa, I haven’t read through all what they’ve passed (given the various and independent cities) but I’ve already seen where referendums for mass transit funding has won with like 70% approval and just a glance it looks like several hundred million from those municipalities. I’m not even sure that’s legal to vote on in NC & pass?  It’s nice when every election you typically see pro-urban policies widely passed for all sorts of issues that when I lived in Charlotte (5 years ago now, Yeesh) we were begging for some TIGER grants for a couple little projects. 

I have to disagree. 

Charlotte is more densely developed and centered on one county (Mecklenburg), but they are as progressive as the 3 core Triangle counties.  Actually, there are way more socially progressive and educated black folks (like myself) in Mecklenburg than elsewhere in North Carolina. You can’t find as many black artists, hippies, or eclectic communities elsewhere as Charlotte.  Also Charlotte has the state's largest black and brown LGBTQ population. Right now, Charlotte is basically the only place in NC with 2 black openly gay, progressive elected officials (LaWana Mayfield and Danté Anderson) in office. We're (black folks) why it's now 59-60% blue in Mecklenburg. Durham is the only county more blue than Mecklenburg by 2-3% but it will match or surpass that in the next few years.

There are some black Republicans, but they are a significantly small minority of the black population in Mecklenburg. Many of them have left Mecklenburg due to the drastically shifted political climate from purple to blue here. You have more black Republicans proportionally in the Triad, along the US 74 corridor, and eastern parts of the state. Look at the precinct maps of majority black counties like Anson, Roberson, and Richmond counties as proof.

Charlotte's political progressiveness will start to show up in Cabarrus and Gaston counties by the end of the decade. Mostly as a result of the cost-of-living, quality jobs, and availability of lower cost more affordable housing in Cabarrus and Gaston counties for black and brown populations. Similar to what you are seeing with diverse populations existing in surrounding counties around Atlanta,  Houston,  and Washington because of the black and brown populations.

Cabarrus isn't blood red, more like magenta-purple. It's 54-46 split at the moment but it's shifting more and more purple. The election of now-former Harrisburg Town Councilperson Diamond Staton-Williams, a progressive black woman, to the NC House (District 73) which makes up all of southern Cabarrus County on Tuesday is proof of the shift. Cabarrus has the fastest growing black and Afro-Latino population of all of the state's counties, so Cabarrus is shifting quickly.  Gaston is right behind Cabarrus.  I've been told several times that Cabarrus has a transit referendum in the works at the moment. 

Jeff Jackson's new congressional district (14th) is half way in Gaston. Eastern half of Gaston along with Gastonia is more purple than red. It's the gerrymandering of the seats is why it appears more conservative than it really is. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by kayman

[kayman]

Another thing we have to keep in mind is the significant demographic differences between Charlotte and the Triangle.

Durham has been historically black and liberal white due to Duke. Chapel Hill and Raleigh have historically had small black populations. Raleigh's black population was always only in SE Raleigh, which is being gentrified out now. 

Charlotte's black population have always been more progressive yet religious. The political action and presence have been since the election of Harvey Gantt and only gotten stronger.  The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in Mecklenburg County is a very powerful group.  They can make or break candidates running for office these days. They recently have assisted in the formation of a partner organization in Cabarrus County, the Black Political Caucus of Cabarrus County (https://www.bpcccnc.org/). I'm not even sure if anything is as powerful as the BPC in the Triangle. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People as close as it gets.

Look at the culture and who represents each in elected representation and leadership positions from municipal levels, county level, and state representatives (NC House and Senate) shows you which have more progressive and racially diverse populations. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by kayman

[Windsurfer]

40 minutes ago, kayman said:

Another thing we have to keep in mind is the significant demographic differences between Charlotte and the Triangle.

Durham has been historically black and liberal white due to Duke. Chapel Hill and Raleigh have historically had small black populations. Raleigh's black population was always only in SE Raleigh, which is being gentrified out now. 

Charlotte's black population has always been more progressive yet religious. The political action and presence has been since the election of Harvey Gantt and only gotten stronger.  The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in Mecklenburg County is very powerful group.  They can make or break candidates running for office these days. They recently have assisted in the formation of a partner organization in Cabarrus County, the Black Political Caucus of Cabarrus County (https://www.bpcccnc.org/). I'm not even sure if anything is as powerful as the BPC in the Triangle. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People as close as it gets.

Look at the culture and who represents each in elected representation and leadership positions from municipal levels, county level, and state representatives (NC House and Senate) shows you which has more progressive and racially diverse populations. 

Love this perspective.  What do you think helped Mecklenburg, besides the churches?  Families like the Alexanders?  JCSU?  Stable neighborhoods, busing ?

Edited November 10, 2022 by Windsurfer

[kayman]

1 hour ago, Windsurfer said:

Love this perspective.  What do you think helped Mecklenburg, besides the churches?  Families like the Alexanders?  JCSU?  Stable neighborhoods, busing ?

I think everything you mentioned above significantly contributed to that.

Also the strength of the explosive growth of the black entrepreneur class, black artisans, and black hipsters flocking to Charlotte as well. There's also the major migration of HBCU graduates and post-graduates from across the Carolinas to Charlotte because of the very prominent black culture here as well. I know graduates from all of the Triangle's HBCUs (Shaw, NCCU, & St. Augustine), NC A&T, WSSU, and Fayetteville State University along with graduates from the 4 HBCUs in Metro Charlotte who have all flocked or remained here.  Finally, Charlotte is now on the radar as one of the up-and-coming black economical upward mobility cities like Houston, Atlanta, and Washington. 

Over the past several months, the Urban League and NAACP chapters along with other political organizations have been mobilizing the HBCUs' student bodies such as JCSU and Livingstone to be politically organized and engaged in local communities. 

It's a major coordination effort which has yielded in more young, black progressive candidates running for elected offices and organizing things around voting in the coming years around Charlotte. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by kayman

[AirNostrumMAD]

4 hours ago, kayman said:

I have to disagree. 

Charlotte is more densely developed and centered on one county (Mecklenburg), but they are as progressive as the 3 core Triangle counties.  Actually, there are way more socially progressive and educated black folks (like myself) in Mecklenburg than elsewhere in North Carolina. You can’t find as many black artists, hippies, or eclectic communities elsewhere as Charlotte.  Also Charlotte has the state's largest black and brown LGBTQ population. Right now, Charlotte is basically the only place in NC with 2 black openly gay, progressive elected officials (LaWana Mayfield and Danté Anderson) in office. We're (black folks) why it's now 59-60% blue in Mecklenburg. Durham is the only county more blue than Mecklenburg by 2-3% but it will match or surpass that in the next few years.

There are some black Republicans, but they are a significantly small minority of the black population in Mecklenburg. Many of them have left Mecklenburg due to the drastically shifted political climate from purple to blue here. You have more black Republicans proportionally in the Triad, along the US 74 corridor, and eastern parts of the state. Look at the precinct maps of majority black counties like Anson, Roberson, and Richmond counties as proof.

Charlotte's political progressiveness will start to show up in Cabarrus and Gaston counties by the end of the decade. Mostly as a result of the cost-of-living, quality jobs, and availability of lower cost more affordable housing in Cabarrus and Gaston counties for black and brown populations. Similar to what you are seeing with diverse populations existing in surrounding counties around Atlanta,  Houston,  and Washington because of the black and brown populations.

Cabarrus isn't blood red, more like magenta-purple. It's 54-46 split at the moment but it's shifting more and more purple. The election of now-former Harrisburg Town Councilperson Diamond Staton-Williams, a progressive black woman, to the NC House (District 73) which makes up all of southern Cabarrus County on Tuesday is proof of the shift. Cabarrus has the fastest growing black and Afro-Latino population of all of the state's counties, so Cabarrus is shifting quickly.  Gaston is right behind Cabarrus.  I've been told several times that Cabarrus has a transit referendum in the works at the moment. 

Jeff Jackson's new congressional district (14th) is half way in Gaston. Eastern half of Gaston along with Gastonia is more purple than red. It's the gerrymandering of the seats is why it appears more conservative than it really is. 

I guess I should say, I feel like the White Democratic vote in the Charlotte area and Mecklenburg county are generally more progressive, typically college-educated younger and monolithic whereas the African-American population is a more diverse of age, income, etc of Democratic supporters. Not that there is no large coalition of African-American progressives. 

But Maybe that’s my mis-perception of white voters in the area, but the support doesn’t seem broad for Democrats from white people across age, religion, etc I think that’s why the Triangle is more blue than Metrolina. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[kayman]

6 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I guess I should say, I feel like the White Democratic vote in the Charlotte area and Mecklenburg county are generally more progressive, typically college-educated younger and monolithic whereas the African-American population is a more diverse of age, income, etc of Democratic supporters. Not that there is no large coalition of African-American progressives. 

But Maybe that’s my mis-perception of white voters in the area, but the support doesn’t seem broad for Democrats from white people across age, religion, etc I think that’s why the Triangle is more blue than Metrolina. 

Charlotte has the same problems that exist in Metro Atlanta and Greater Houston, the progressive coalitions are mostly black and brown diverse populations with white progressives making up the remainder.  We all know why the majority of said white populations in outlying areas of each aforementioned regions refuse to support the racially diverse coalitions for those urban area Democrats, and it's pretty obvious that it's bias and willful ignorance. The bigoted rhetoric of the GOP candidates elected shows that.  However, we ought to reflect on how Cabarrus and Gaston counties are politically shifting, but it is not because of the existing majority white populations already there. 

Generally speaking, the Triangle and Austin are anomalies in the US South because they're both mostly white yet educated regions that vote mostly Democratic.

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by kayman

[kermit]

While l think that connections between politics and equity markets are completely overblown (and often misinterpreted for ideological reasons), I do think its interesting no one in the wider world has mentioned the correlation (but not necessarily causation) between Tuesday's election and US equity performance since many contests were settled.

Lets go Brandon?

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by kermit

[Popsickle]

3 hours ago, kermit said:

While l think that connections between politics and equity markets are completely overblown (and often misinterpreted for ideological reasons), I do think its interesting no one in the wider world has mentioned the correlation (but not necessarily causation) between Tuesday's election and US equity performance since many contests were settled.

Lets go Brandon?

 

 

The bump the equities market experienced yesterday-the day inflation numbers came out- is not related to the election results which are still not final. They are related to a slowed, but sadly still increase in inflation. 

[kermit]

18 hours ago, Popsickle said:

The bump the equities market experienced yesterday-the day inflation numbers came out- is not related to the election results which are still not final. They are related to a slowed, but sadly still increase in inflation. 

Yea, I got that. But had the red wave materialized, I am sure the narrative around the market bump would have been very different.

(and if we wanted to give political credit for the decline in the inflation rate (which would be inappropriate since it is a global phenomena) then it should probably go to the  policies of the current administration)

Edited November 12, 2022 by kermit

[NCMike1990]

US inflation peaked at 9.1% in June and is projected downward over the next year. By the end of 2023, it's projected to be around 1.9%.   https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

"Inflation Rate in the United States is expected to be 7.80 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the United States Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 1.90 percent in 2023, according to our econometric models."

[kayman]

https://www.wcnc.com/article/money/charlotte-city-manager-marcus-jones-pay-raise-wheres-the-money/275-7189a133-5015-4413-9fe0-f2d83bd0d1ac

Okay, I'm at the point where the City of Charlotte must change its form of municipal government from council-manager to mayor-council. Nobody who isn't held directly accountable to the taxpayers via the ballot in local government should be getting paid this much in a Charlotte's city size. That's a salary practically $35,000 more annually than the US president. It's time as we (taxpayers/citizens) need a full-time mayor along a full-time city council with a full-time legislative staff to provide interpretation and synopsis of municipal ordinances, budget summaries, etc. for the City of Charlotte elected officials. There is no transparency nor accountability in current Charlotte municipal government bureaucracy. 

If the city is to have a day-to-day management, that official needs to directly report to someone who is an elected official & chief executive officer (strong mayor) held accountable to the citizens. That elected official  can terminate the city management if demanded by public pressure. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by kayman

[rancenc]

9 hours ago, kayman said:

https://www.wcnc.com/article/money/charlotte-city-manager-marcus-jones-pay-raise-wheres-the-money/275-7189a133-5015-4413-9fe0-f2d83bd0d1ac

Okay, I'm at the point where the City of Charlotte must change its form of municipal government from council-manager to mayor-council. Nobody who isn't held directly accountable to the taxpayers via the ballot in local government should be getting paid this much in a Charlotte's city size. That's a salary practically $35,000 more annually than the US president. It's time as we (taxpayers/citizens) need a full-time mayor along a full-time city council with a full-time legislative staff to provide interpretation and synopsis of municipal ordinances, budget summaries, etc. for the City of Charlotte elected officials. There is no transparency nor accountability in current Charlotte municipal government bureaucracy. 

If the city is to have a day-to-day management, that official needs to directly report to someone who is an elected official & chief executive officer (strong mayor) held accountable to the citizens. That elected official  can terminate the city management if demanded by public pressure. 

[kayman]

8 hours ago, rancenc said:

Do you really believe that? 

That's the National Civic League, which is an organization whose entire mission is lobbying for every municipality to be a council-manager form of government.

Corruption is happening now with the current form of municipal government. See this:

https://www.wcnc.com/article/money/city-charlotte-overlooked-qualified-businesses-uncertified-talent-coach/275-c0c65be2-04b2-4ee7-9463-601545445aac

The city management bureaucracy doesn't even adhere to its minority and non-white business inclusion policy in place. Equitable resources cannot be expected to directly  respond to citizens from a professional staff that really doesn't have much of a connection to the community. The government is of the people, politics,  not a bunch of individual bureaucrats that sees things as just a professional job. That's one of the biggest gripes of the majority black, west and north side and mostly black and brown east side communities is that Charlotte city government isn't connected to the people nor citizens representing them.

A pro/con analysis from a non-bias source:

Municipal Research and Services Center: Common and Issues and Pro/Con Arguments in Elections to Change Form of Government

Council-manager works fine for smaller municipalities with more homogenous socioeconomic and demographics makeup with few entities and services impacting its citizens.  However, larger municipalities over 100,000 or greater in population with more diverse socioeconomic and racial demographics have a need for stronger, dedicated, directly reflected elected officials in leadership roles who are able to provide direct access to their political officials and more accountable.

How exactly can a part-time, city council with 2-year terms with no full-time staff of their own able to hold a full-time city management bureaucracy accountable when they barely have 18 months to do their part-time job with another election cycle always pending?  Less not forget about the rapidly growing, increasingly diverse citizens who are quickly becoming disenchanted with the way our municipality government ignoring their concerns and demands of more direct representation and accountability.  Charlotte isn't a small municipality so treating the multiple dynamics that are at play within this huge entity as much is foolhearted.

The whole part-time elected official position is one of the reasons why there isn't any institutional knowledge amongst elected officials in across Charlotte to get things done or fixed in the non-wealthy and non-white neighborhoods.  If it wasn't for the strong corporate and very powerful philanthropic leadership here then this city would have long been dwarfed by and fallen behind peer major cities. 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by kayman

[kayman]

NC a ‘lawless’ land for HOAs and community associations

https://www.wbtv.com/2022/12/05/nc-lawless-land-hoas-community-associations/

Another reason why we need to hold the developers more accountable and allow such free-for-all including lobbying for impact fees here in Charlotte like the Triangle are allowed to do.  Essentially us the citizens are at their whilms to do right by us. The developers are not paying their fair share including impacts upon schools, parks, water/sewer, and traffic conditions. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by kayman

[tarhoosier]

Jeff Jackson is posting the post-election, pre oath of office activities of a new congressman on his substack. Friendly, casual conversational style and interesting to see how things work in D. C. Only today realized it might be interesting to those other than I. He is my representative.

[email protected]

https://jeffjacksonnc.substack.com/

[LKN704]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Jeff Jackson is posting the post-election, pre oath of office activities of a new congressman on his substack. Friendly, casual conversational style and interesting to see how things work in D. C. Only today realized it might be interesting to those other than I. He is my representative.

[email protected]

https://jeffjacksonnc.substack.com/

While in a perfect world I would never support him as he is too much of a centrist for me (but would end up voting for him if I lived in his District as no Democrat left of center would like every win a NC Congressional race), I admire and respect elected officials like him who run these type of sessions and try to maintain a form of intimacy/familiarity with their constituents. 

The House is so fascinating to me as there are hundreds of Representatives that are essentially "nobodies"  you never hear about on the national level but appear (at least from the outside) to be decent, hard working folks that want the best for their constituents. 

Edited January 2 by LKN704