POLITICAL
Gay politician speaks to Foxx constituents
One-time U.S. Senate candidate
featured speaker at 5th District
convention
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
STATESVILLE, N.C. — The goal:
Galvanize Northwest North Carolina’s moder
ate and liberal Democrats. The hope: The
ouster of radically conservative U.S. Rep.
Virginia Foxx.
h«
That was the stated purpose of the
Democratic North Carolina Fifth District
Convention on May 16 at Mitchell
Community College.
Party members welcomed one-time candi
date for U.S. Senate, openly gay politician Jim
Neal, as the featured speaker as they started to
chart a course toward possible victory in the
2010 midterm elections.
“I don’t plan on attacking Virginia Foxx,
per se,” Neal told Q-Notes a couple days prior
to his speech. “I want to use Virginia Foxx, her
ignorance and complete disregard for family
values as a teaching opportunity”
Neal said Foxx “crossed the line” when she
said the 1998 hate crime murder of Matthew
Shepard was a “hoax” in late April.
The state’s Fifth District covers almost all
of Northwest North Carolina, including the
mountain town of Boone and part of the
Triad’s Winston-Salem. David
Crawford, the district’s Democratic
chair, says the district’s conserva
tive nature makes it difScult to
organize and win.
“The energy Obama generated
everywhere seemed to bring out
the opposition here,” he told Q-
Nbfes.'Tt galvanized our opposition
— that’s not just Republicans, it is
conservative Democrats, too.”
Crawford said he thinks
Foxx’s move to the right is just a
part of the game. “The fact that
Virginia Foxx is on this crusade to make
herself look outrageously, radically right, I
think that is calculated on her part. I think
that is how she thinks she is going to ener
gize her base.”
Running a campaign portraying Foxx’s
actions as counterproductive for the district
will be the key to success. “We can elect a mod
erate democrat here,” he said. “It is a question
of presenting somebody who is palatable to the
people who have voted for Virginia Foxx, to the
Democrats who have voted for her.”
Neal understands the frustration of dis
trict Democrats. Although he doesn’t live
there, he’s more than happy to help con
stituents find a way to bring new representa
tion to the area, replacing the “out of touch”
elected official they currently have.
“She isn’t only reflecting poorly on herself,
but she’s up there to represent the people of
the Fifth District, to represent North Carolina,”
he said. “She’s an embarrassment. She needs
to be fired.” t
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Meeting Date:
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Program:
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MAY 30.2009‘QNotes 17