Kaine hails N.C. victory against voter ID
BY CASH MICHAELS
BOB THE CHRONICLE
If there was any doubt about the
importance of North Carolina as a battle
ground state in the upcoming presidential
election. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has
come here to put all doubts to rest.
Not only has the state changed demo
graphically since the 2012 presidential
contest that saw President Barack Obama
lose by just 100,000 votes to Republican
challenger Mitt Romney, but Senator
Kaine, the vice presidential running mate
with Democratic candidate Hillary
Clinton, made it very clear recently in an
exclusive interview that the campaign is
paying very close attention to the recent
U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rul
ing striking down North Carolina's voter
photo identification law, which the three
judge panel made clear in its ruling was
geared by GOP lawmakers to suppress the
African-American vote.
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has
petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay
the appellate ruling and allow voter ID to
be reinstated for the November general
elections. During their many visits to the
state, both GOP presidential candidate
Donald Trump and his running mate,
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (who as in
Winston-Salem Tuesday) have come out
in favor of voter ID.
Right after the appellate ruling, Sen.
Kaine, who visited Asheville, Fayetteville
and Greensboro earlier this month, said
given his 17-year experience as a civil
rights attor
ney in
Virginia
and year as
a Jesuit
missionary
under the
military
dictatorship in Honduras, he was very
sensitive to the voting rights struggles of
African-Americans in North Carolina.
During the interview, it was clear Kaine
has been following North Carolina's voter
ID case very closely.
"The thing that is very disturbing in
North Carolina and in many states is this
concerted effort, especially since
President Obama was elected in 2008, to
really curtail [black voter] participation,
whether it's erecting new challenges with
respect to IDs, or making it harder to reg
ister [to vote], reducing early voting ...
when you see these things happen, it's
tragic."
Sen. Kaine, who has litigated voting
rights cases, was impressed with the
appellate court's unusual North Carolina
ruling. ?
"When you get a court to declare it's
striking down voting restrictions because
there was an intentional effort "with sur
gical precision" to put up barriers [to vot
ing] in front of African-Americans, that is
such a rare factual finding by a court. In
this case, they made a rinding that it was
intentional discrimination."
Sen. Kaine said he's been telling
North Carolina audiences "... if anybody
tells you your vote doesn't matter, you
should tell them, 'It sure matters to the
other side.'A lot of folks are working hard
to make it harder for you to vote. Please
value your own vote as much as some
body else values trying to stop you."
When asked why he feels there is a
clear choice between Clinton/Kaine ver
sus Trump/Pence, Sen. Kaine says he
boils it down to three questions - 1) In
terms of the economy, do Americans want
a "You're hired president" or a "You're
fired president" when it comes to who has
the better plan to grow the economy and
create 300,000 more jobs in North
Carolina; 2) On the international front,
"Do you want a trash-talker or bridge
builder?" Clinton, as a former Secretary
of State and diplomat, already knows how
to build alliances with foreign leaders.
'Trump is trash-talking everybody but
[Russian Pres. Vladimir] Putin," Sen.
Kaine maintained, noting the only foreign
leader the Republican president speaks
highly of.
Finally, Kaine says character is also a
deciding factor between Trump and
Clinton. "Do you want a kids-and-fami
ly-first president,' or a 'mo first presi
dent?"' Kaine asks rhetorically, noting
that Clinton has been involved with chil
dren and family issues long before she
entered public life, while during his busi
ness career, Donald Trump has rarely
identified himself with a family cause or
issue.
The first of three presidential debates
is Monday, Sept. 26, followed on
Tuesday, Oct. 4, by the only vice-presi
dential debate between Sen. Kaine and
Gov. Pence. Each debate is scheduled to
be carried live by the four major broad
cast networks, PBS, C-SPAN and the
three major cable news outlets.
Democrats
from page Al
form. He mentioned,
"During their visit to
Winston-Salem in July,
trade and offshoring jobs
was the central theme, but
we all know where Donald
Trump has his own brand
named goods manufactured
and it's not in America."
But he didn't stop there.
Besse noted, since being
named governor, Pence has
given incentive payments
to companies who have
closed plants in Indiana to
move their operations over
seas.
I hat s not the way to
make America a better
place," he said. "Hillary
has a plan to build infra
structure in our nation."
According to Besse,
Clinton's 100-Day Job Plan
would help the North
Carolina economy create
over 300,000 new jobs,
while Trump's plan would
cost the state 100,000 jobs,
plus a deep recession.
While sporting an "H"
pendant in support of the
Clinton campaign, Adams
also discussed Clinton's
economic plan. She said,
"Hillary Clinton and Tim
Kaine are working to build
an economy that works for
everyone and not just those
at the top.
"Hillary has an eco
nomic plan that puts work
ing families first by break
ing down baniers for peo
ple from all walks of life,"
she continued, "by making
crucial investments in
infrastructure, manufactur
ing, research technology,
clean energy and small
businesses."
Next, Adams discussed
Clinton's track record for
putting children first. She
noted, as First Lady she
helped pass the State
Health Insurance
Assistance Program
(SHIP), which provides
health care for eight mil
lion children across the
country.
"As President, she will
fight to expand health care
options for rural North
Carolinians by protecting
the Affordable Care Act,
doubling funds for primary
care services, and support
ing innovation in medi
cine," Adams said:
While discussing the
Trump campaign, Adams
said the people of North
Carolina deserve better
than Donald Trump. She
said he has made his cam
paign about tearing down
people, and tearing them
apart.
"Along the way, all of
his proposals show that he
has no idea of how to do
this job," she said. "We
need the next president to
bring us together and put
families first. We can't
afford a loose cannon in the
White House who will
divide people and also hurt
our economy as well as our
national security."
When asked about
Trump's recent statements
that minority voters don't
have anything to lose and
should vote for him, Adams
said, "We have everything
to lose.
"African-Americans
and people of color are still
struggling and coming into
our own. So we have to
realize that with every
presidential election and
every off-year election,
there is an opportunity to
improve our quality of
life," Adams noted.
"Everything we do in
this country is political.
When we don't vote, what
we see is what we have
Photo by Tevin Stinson
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, City Council Members Dan Besse and DD. Adams held
a press conference to discuss why Donald Trump is the wrong choice for voters
in North Carolina.
??? ? m i
Photo by Todd Lock
A crowd filled most of the ballroom at the Millennium Center to hear Donald
Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Pence
from page Al
but still had several local
politicians speak before he
came out. Forsyth school
board member Lida
Calvert-Hayes talked about
starting her own business,
S&L Painting and
Decorating, and touted
Trump's business back
ground as one that America
needs.
"It's time for a change
and we are the only people
who can make that
change," she said.
Attorney general candi
date Buck Newton and
13th district U.S. House
candidate Ted Budd spoke.
The crowd booed mentions
of letting more Syrian
refugees fleeing from ISIS
into the country, and broke
out into chants of "lock her
up," referring to presiden
tial candidate Hillary
Clinton.
"Well, if I can find
some North Carolina laws
she violated, I'll do my
best," Newton told the
crowd.
Though polls show
Tramp is disliked by the
majority of voters and trail
ing Clinton nationally,
Pence said that the
Republican Party is united
behind him.
"Now this movement is
united, this party is uniting
and we're going to make
Donald Trump the next
president," said Pence.
Pence described Trump
as "something new and dif
ferent" that voters want. He
said Trump was a "leader"
and "truth teller." Trump
has made continuous head
lines for his controversial
statements. Among his lat
est was a tweet that said the
killing of NBA superstar
Dwyane Wade's cousin
illustrated his arguments on
why African-Americans
will vote for him.
Pence attacked Clinton,
accusing her of leaving
Americans to die in the
Benghazi terrorist attacks.
Numerous Congressional
investigations into the
attacks did not fault her for
the casualties. He also
accused her of having a
"pay to play" scheme as
secretary of state with
Clinton Foundation donors
getting access to the State
Department, which the
Clinton campaign has
denied.
He promised Trump
would repeal all of
President Barack Obama's
executive orders, sign a
moratorium on any new
"red tape" on businesses,
lower taxes "across the
board" for businesses and
individuals, and exploit all
domestic energy resources,
especially coal.
Pence made little spe
cific outreach to minorities
while speaking to the most
ly white crowd. He did say
that Trump has been reach
ing out to all Americans
and will make the country
great again for everyone.
He accused Democrats of
being racially divisive. A
Public Policy Poll released
on Tuesday showed that
Ginton has 73 percent sup
port among African
Americans and Latinos,
while Trump only has nine
percent.
Pence promised to
return to North Carolina
many times before Election
Day.
"Make no mistake
about it, North Carolina
will loom large in the des
tiny of this nation," said
Pence.
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