http://burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssuesLegislation.SponsoredLegislation

Quote :

"3. S.RES.110 : A resolution congratulating the University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team for winning the 2008-2009 NCAA men's basketball championship. Sponsor: Sen Burr, Richard [NC] (introduced 4/22/2009) "

I thought that was a nice reprieve from my standard rant of:

Quote :

"Obstructionist - Even with the military. In addition to participating in filibuster threats, he held up Duckworth's nomination to a key position in the office of veteran affairs despite her strong qualifications. He specifically also let generals travel from Korea and Hawaii to Washington DC for a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee and then canceled the meeting as a part of a larger party wide effort of obstructionism to not even let meetings happen. Economy - When he was first learning of the severity of the recession he told his wife to go to the ATM day after day taking out all the money it would allow b/c he was convinced that in a few days "the last thing that would come out of the ATM is money" (I can't recall his exact quote, but that isn't far off) which earned him the nickname Bank Run Burr. And, after his meeting with representatives from Goldman Sachs, who then gave the max allowed contribution to his campaign, he took a strong stand against Wall Street Reform. Washington Incumbent - This one might not be a big deal to everyone, but I know for some people they don't like politicians who have been in Washington forever, and Burr has been in Washington for nearly 2 decades. But after nearly 2 decades its hard to name any big Burr accomplishments. War - Burr says we still need several more years of war. Whereas Elaine has attacked President Obama on amount of conflict we're involved with. Women's issues - He voted against Frank's anti-rape amendment which passed with many Dem & GOP votes. He also voted for domestic violence to continue as a pre-existing condition. Gay Rights - He's against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell and favors an amendment to the US constitution to write in a ban of gay marriage which even his Libertarian opponent has called him out on for wasting government time/money on trying to rewrite the constitution with more of his social conservatism. Environment - He tends to rate horribly here. According to Wikipedia: "Burr has generally received low ratings from environmental-protection organizations. In 2007-2008, for example, he received a rating of 0% from Environment America[17], 12% from the League of Conservation Voters, and 29% from Republicans for Environmental Protection." And he's taken plenty of cash from big oil like Haliburton, BP, and others which is reflected in his voting record."

8/12/2010 1:28:58 PM

It's hard to watch something that never existed.

8/12/2010 6:36:08 PM

After all this time I'm still convinced people voted for him because they thought he was Perry Mason.

8/14/2010 10:21:37 AM

http://www.lcv.org/feedback/choice/

I've already pointed out Burr's environmental record. Here is a chance to help make sure more voters know about it.

As a side note:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/burr_on_mosque_controversy

Quote :

"Republican Sen. Richard Burr said he opposes building the religious center there. "I do not support the building of a mosque at Ground Zero,” Burr said in a statement, reports Rob Christensen."

Notice how the reporter says religious center, and Burr calls it mosque at ground zero.

8/25/2010 5:48:48 PM

I have a pretty good feeling Elaine is going to take him. Am I wrong for feeling so confident?

8/25/2010 5:56:45 PM

August 6th Rasmussen Poll...

Burr 49%
Marshall 40%
Other 3%
Undecided 8%

I think that once Burr starts using his substantial war-chest to highlight Marshall's anti-business, big gov't positions, his lead will grow.

8/25/2010 10:54:51 PM

Racists and fearmongerers always win. My money's on Burr.

8/25/2010 11:22:42 PM

^^As many have already pointed out right here on tdub finding Rasmussen cheering on their favored party is no surprise. Ras has also just been bad about tracking this election in general saying the polling is jumping around 10+ points in one direction or another from poll to poll.














A much better view is to look at everyone together which even with Rasmussen included has this within striking distance:



[Edited on August 26, 2010 at 12:15 AM. Reason : .]

8/26/2010 12:13:38 AM

Here is talking point memo's multiple poll outlook on this race:



[Edited on August 27, 2010 at 1:58 AM. Reason : their provided embed code doesn't work w/ tdub, here's a screenie instead]

8/27/2010 1:54:04 AM

Why would we want to add another vote to continue the Obama economic nightmare?

8/27/2010 9:54:18 AM

Interestingly, Beitler has 8% on that. That's honestly not too bad. I've met the guy and heard him speak, and he's definitely right on. Of course, I also told him that the chances of winning as a Libertarian candidate are not great, which he's aware of, but the guy knows what he's talking about. He worked in finance, and he articulates some of the specifics of why our banking system is total fraud better than I can. His position is, "if you want more of the same, vote for Burr or Marshall," which is exactly right. They will do what the political leadership tells them, for good or for bad.

8/27/2010 1:30:26 PM

^
But with Marshall, you will get more of the same..only faster.

8/27/2010 11:36:29 PM

[Edited on August 27, 2010 at 11:46 PM. Reason : lag induced double post]

8/27/2010 11:45:56 PM

Burr has never been a small gov advocate, but he is a social conservative in all the bad ways. And of the democratic options Cunningham had DSCC backing, Marshall was opposed by the washington dems and she has challenged the President on war issues.

8/27/2010 11:46:20 PM

^
Burr advocates much smaller go'vt involvement with the economy than Marshall. Marshall's views on business are in lock-step with Obama's "Spread the Wealth" "Punish the rich" mentality.

As I have said before, Burr leaves a lot to be desired...but the economy is priority #1 as far as I'm concerned. We need to get the gov't out of the hands of those who despise capitalism.

8/28/2010 10:40:26 PM

I don't think pro-war, pro-bush tax cuts for the wealthy, pro-wasting gov time on social conservative stuff like constitutional amendments counts as small gov or pro-balanced budget.

Accepting your premise that only Republicans don't hate capitalism... Can you name a 3 or 4 measures Burr has sponsored or co-sponsored that have actually passed in his 16 years in congress that show how he has supported small gov?

8/29/2010 12:44:52 AM

Quote :

"Accepting your premise that only Republicans don't hate capitalism.."

I think you're putting words in my mouth. There are some Rhino Repubs that are hardly pro-economic freedom. And I don't think all Democrats hate Capitalism. My contention is that we have turned the control of our gov't/economy over to a far left group in Washington who are unable and/or unwilling to get the economy out of the toilet.

Obama has almost no people on his staff that have any business experience. He is not equipped either through experience or with his political philosophy... to re-spark this economy. He is the wrong guy at the wrong time.

I'm hoping that Burr and a batch of newly elected economic conservatives will help show Obama how to revive an economy through tax-cuts and a less regulation. Burr, even with his many flaws, will be more trusted to fight against Obama's failing economic policies than Elaine Marshall.

8/29/2010 10:37:27 AM

If business was all we needed to provide for the common welfare, I don't think we'd have people needing any sort of services from the government.

That last post pretty much reads like every conservative editorial written on the subject in the past year.

And furthermore: where's the great record of businesspeople doing so much better managing an economy? Can someone point to a time in the past 50 years where we had "businesspeople" (or anyone for that matter) running things at a time where there weren't glaring economic inadequacies?

If anything, they do their best to take care of their own (see: contracting under Bush, Reagan)

[Edited on August 30, 2010 at 3:32 PM. Reason : .]

8/30/2010 3:29:30 PM

Never seen this particular brand of campaign ad before.

Richard Burr's Fairy Tale

8/30/2010 4:11:56 PM

^ what do you mean? That seems like a bog standard campaign ad...

8/30/2010 7:34:06 PM

Quote :

"glaring economic inadequacies? "

Tell me about it. The wealthiest 10% of income earners pay 70% of the income taxes.




People are finally realizing what the Dems are doing to this economy.

8/30/2010 11:39:58 PM

^ lol

You are delusional. It's sad that facts don't actually convince people like you when you're wrong, it only hardens your incorrect views:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/?page=full


Yeah... it's the democrats that destroyed the economy, right?

Not to mention that Obama has already embraced the corporatist agenda you're pushing, by cutting taxes on corporations, and he's now trying to cut them even more, as well as push lending for small businesses (that the Republicans are currently blocking).

You are the stereotypical ignorant tea party member. You have no conception of the facts, yet you blindly attack Obama.

8/31/2010 12:28:25 AM

Obama wants to raise taxes on the job creators starting Jan 1. How does that re-start the economy?

His $814 billion stimulus has failed to curtail unemployment increases.

Currently, The Democrats have a clear majority. Why is Obama berating the GOP for not voting for his bills? Why isn't he attacking recalcitrant Democrats who are not voting his way?

He bemoans politics, but then attacks the minority.. when he knows that it's many of his own party who are fearing Nov. 2, and rejecting his failed policies.

8/31/2010 10:24:45 AM

^^You're just as much of a partisan as the rest of them. The blame for this crisis cannot be blamed on a single party. It should be blamed on decades of career politicians that were more interested in enriching themselves (or their friends) rather than acting in the longterm interest of the people. Despite the dog and pony show that the two parties put on, they all agree with the basic premise that we should continue borrowing money to fund government expenses. Yes, Republicans are talking fiscal responsibility now, but does anyone really believe that they're going to do what's necessary once they have power?

8/31/2010 10:42:27 AM

Ever heard of the filibuster threat?

Quote :

"continue the Obama"

Quote :

"with Obama's"

Quote :

"Obama has almost"

Quote :

"help show Obama"

Quote :

"against Obama's"

Quote :

"Obama wants"

Quote :

"Why is Obama"

After 16 years if Burr was going to be a small government advocate, he'd have started by now.

8/31/2010 10:48:09 AM

Quote :

"The survey found that Burr remains somewhat unpopular with 38 percent approving of the job he is doing and 42 percent disapproving. But the majority of voters (54 percent) didn't know enough about Marshall to have an opinion."

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/burr_43_marshall_38

8/31/2010 4:59:04 PM

Quote :

"The wealthiest 10% of income earners pay 70% of the income taxes."

So fucking what? Cry me a river.

I'd like to say something more intelligent than that, but it's my gut response. Who cares? They're doing fine, and many of them are fleecing the living shit out of us. Are you really going to act like our economic system is somehow unfair to the top when they're dependent on gaming it to stay there?

[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 5:24 PM. Reason : .]

8/31/2010 5:23:59 PM

^^
Gosh.. you left out some juicy tidbits from that same article...

Quote :

"Republican Sen Richard Burr leads Democrat Elaine Marshall by a 43-38 percent margin in a race in which there has been a sharp dropoff in Democratic interest from two years ago, according to a new poll. The survey of likely voters by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic leaning firm in Raleigh, has Libertarian candidate Michael Beitler polling 6 percent with 13 percent of the voters undecided, reports Rob Christensen. Burr holds a 20-point lead over Marshall among independent voters, according to the survey."

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/burr_43_marshall_38

8/31/2010 6:24:38 PM

A few examples of Burr being pro-big gov spending, anti-choice, and anti-being allowed to burn flags.

http://thatsmycongress.com/senate/senatorRichardBurrNC111.html

Quote :

"S.Amdt. 2558 to H.R. 3326 The White House didn't ask for them. The Defense Department didn't want any more. So in September 2009 Senator John McCain did the sensible thing and introduced an amendment, S. AMDT. 2558, to a defense appropriations bill. McCain's amendment would have removed 2.5 billion dollars in spending on the construction of new but unwanted C-17 planes. Senator Burr voted AGAINST this progressive measure. "

Quote :

"S.Amdt. 65 to H.R. 2 In this country, abortion is a legal procedure. It is also legal in many other countries. But the Mexico City Gag Rule (instated by Ronald Reagan, rescinded under Bill Clinton, then re-instated under George W. Bush) prohibited organizations receiving federal funding from even mentioning available legal abortion resources when providing service to women overseas. If a woman asked a member of such an organization where a safe and legal abortion clinic might be, that person couldn't say a word. Senate Amendment 65 to H.R. 2 would have extended the Mexico City Gag Rule for another term; by voting NO on January 28 2009, 60 senators brought the gag rule to an end. Senator Burr voted YES to pass this regressive measure. "

Quote :

"S.J. Res 15 A law passed to ban the burning of the American flag would be promptly struck down as unconstitutional because the 1st Amendment to the Constitution declares that freedom of speech shall not be abridged. Some consider free speech to be a good thing; others consider it to be an impediment. S.J. Res 15 is a bill before the Senate to remove the pesky impediment of free speech. S.J. Res 15 would amend the United States Constitution to remove protection for speech that "desecrates" (that is, renders unsacred) the flag of the United States. It would allow people to be thrown in prison for showing disrespect to the American flag. By declaring the flag to be a sacred object, the sponsors of this constitutional amendment would establish a national civic religion. The dogma of this religion: that it is necessary to dilute actual American freedom in order to protect the symbolic representation of American freedom. Senator Burr cosponsored this regressive bill. "

9/8/2010 12:01:32 AM

^
Any examples of how Elaine Marshall would be a bigger champion of smaller gov't than Burr?

9/8/2010 1:40:17 AM

^Getting us out of war is a pretty big one vs Burrs wanting "several more years" of war, not canceling meetings to punish ppl (just an example of why Burr's pay check is wasted), tax relief for low/middle-income families and businesses (they are one vote shy of passing the "Small Business Jobs Relief Act of 2010" but Burr is standing in the way), he voted for the bank bailout (which one could argue is good or bad, but given your political persuasion I assume you'll count that as not being small gov), and he voted for No Child Left Behind.

And the question isn't just how small we can make government, its how effective we can make government (especially since Burr isn't a champion of small gov) and Burr loses that argument big time.

I know I'm not going to be able to convince you that any dem is pro-small gov, but since Burr isn't for small gov either, I hope you'll consider things like effectiveness, environmental record, war record, and his social conservatism which pushes gov into people's private lives.

9/9/2010 3:43:12 PM

Burr using a Hagan commerical (same old men in rocking chairs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCJdtgluBY&feature=pyv&ad=5459585258&kw=richard%20burr&gclid=CIDp57GQ-6MCFdJL5QodLCmOLA

9/9/2010 3:57:36 PM

From Marshall's website....

Quote :

"That's why it's a shame Senator Burr and his special interest cronies in Washington are fighting tooth and nail to block a bill to aid small businesses. The bill gives a $12 billion tax cut to small business owners and creates a $30 billion fund to help community banks extend credit. Both measures will help struggling small businesses expand and start hiring workers."

The tax cut is offered only if you invest in new equipment or research, but then Obama wants to raise taxes on the very people who could have afforded to invest. He holds a carrot out to you and then slaps you with the other hand as you reach for it.

Why would a small business person even want to get a bank loan when there is so much anxiety over Obama's planned tax increases starting Jan 1st (higher income tax, higher capital gains, and higher dividend taxes).. not to mention the uncertainty created by his plans for more regulations, cap n tax and Obamacare.

Redistribution will never create economic growth.
By her own website, Marshall has signed on to supporting more of the these same failed Keynesian stimulus approaches that have already proved their ineffectiveness.

9/10/2010 12:18:18 AM

Socks``:

Quote :

"we both support Marshall over Burr this fall. Though maybe for different reasons, since I mostly care about Burrs horrible stance on most environmental issues."

I wanted to respond to his comment, without taking someones turn in the common ground thread. But I just read that if Burr holds his seat he'll take over as the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. After the GOP take over this fall, we are going to be putting this man in many ways in charge of our energy policies.

[Edited on September 11, 2010 at 3:50 AM. Reason : .]

9/11/2010 3:47:01 AM

Earth posted the chart above earlier in this thread, but like a week later it tied up again:



My point is that I think this close to an election its a better bet to look at specific candidate numbers rather than generic candidate numbers for a given race.

9/11/2010 7:44:57 PM

Burr is definitely in the hot seat. But just as Kay Hagen was swept in with Obama. Burr might keep his seat because of the republican turn-out to protest Obama and the Dems.

9/11/2010 10:52:24 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — U.S. Sen. Richard Burr continues to widen his lead over Democrat Elaine Marshall in his bid for re-election, according to a WRAL News Poll released Tuesday. SurveyUSA polled 582 likely voters statewide Friday through Monday and found that, if the election were held now, Burr would garner 58 percent of the vote to Marshall's 34 percent. Only 2 percent of respondents were undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Two months ago, Burr held a 46 to 36 percent lead in a similar poll. In the latest poll, which comes one month before one-stop early voting begins, Burr has erased the gender gap by beating Marshall among both male and female voters. Marshall had previously held a slight edge among women, but Burr now leads that group by 51 to 42 percent. Burr also holds substantial leads among all age groups and income and education levels among voters, as well as in the Charlotte, Greensboro and eastern North Carolina areas. The Triangle remains a dead heat between the candidates. He has a favorable image among 36 percent of the 862 registered voters polled, while 26 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him and 30 percent were neutral. Twenty-seven percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of Marshall, with another 25 percent unfavorable and 36 percent neutral. David McLennan, a political science professor at Peace College in Raleigh, said Burr has benefited from a conservative voting record that prevented a Tea Party challenger from running against him. "He's been able to avoid what other Republican senators around the country have had to deal with, which is an attack from the right as well as an attack from the left," McLennan said. "The three debates are going to be critical for her to kind of knock down Burr and make some headway with voters," he said."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/8287777/

9/15/2010 10:32:16 AM

I don't like Burr, and won't vote for him (though I'd never vote for Marshall either), but there's no way he is going to lose. $6+ million to a couple hundred thousand (at most)? My guess is at least a 6 point spread in the end, probably closer to 8-9.

9/15/2010 10:20:46 PM

Again, not as important as local numbers. Burr's $ means he gets to go first on TV ads, so his lead is going to grow some right now, but Marshall will go to TV when people are actually voting which is the most important time. And with at least 3 debates next month, things should close in again. She has positive favorability, she just needs to get her name out there more, and lots of debates will help.

Burr's campaign funding breakdown of inside vs outside of state in recent years (to see who is funding those TV ads):

Years Inside% Outside%
01-02 34% 66%
03-04 40% 60%
05-06 51% 49%
07-08 40% 60%
09-10 46% 54%

And you can discount count old fashioned campaigning across the state

Recent weeks pics from Wilmington to Charlotte & beyond (she's heading to the mountains again this weekend):












[Edited on September 21, 2010 at 1:55 PM. Reason : .]

9/21/2010 1:54:28 PM

There is no way in hell I am voting for Big Oil Burr. The man is just a tool of those special interests and others.

9/22/2010 2:01:52 PM

^
Then enjoy your higher taxes, cap n trade, obamacare, and more unemployment and recession.

9/23/2010 12:30:50 AM

9/23/2010 10:26:39 AM

Quote :

"Burr is definitely in the hot seat. But just as Kay Hagen was swept in with Obama. Burr might keep his seat because of the republican turn-out to protest Obama and the Dems."

Hagan caught coattails from the Obama upswing but she also ran against essentially an absentee candidate who even Republicans couldn't get excited about.

9/23/2010 10:29:53 AM

Quote :

"Go Elaine Go! October 8th MarshallBomb for Elaine http://goelainego.com/"

Early voting starts in like 2 weeks, so one last big push before buying TV ads. Thought I'd share.

10/8/2010 2:24:20 AM

One thing I like about Elaine Marshall is that she understands the potential of e-government and promotes the digialization of voting, taxes, public service forms, legislation records, etc. Candidates often claim to be pro-technology when asked to state their position on the subject, but it's rare to see one who has actively pursued it.

10/8/2010 9:04:28 AM

The campaign has certainly reflected e-outreach. They've participated in about every online contest they've had a shot in, won several of them too. They are trying an online money bomb. And one of their latest things was naming their final statewide tour (lots of constituent submitted names, they narrowed down to the best, and put them up for a vote and went with the name ppl voted on).

Here is their latest prop to pass out on that statewide tour:


Of course, the big thing is they are starting to air their TV ads this weekend when voters are paying the most attention (early voting starts in exactly 2 weeks). And there are 3 debates in those 2 weeks. Burr's warchest, mostly funded from outside NC, is buying him a lead, but the polling still says of those who know both Marshall & Burr, they prefer Marshall. TV ads, 3 debates, & a statewide tour in the final two weeks before voting starts, can hopefully balance the scales.

[Edited on October 8, 2010 at 3:39 PM. Reason : .]

10/8/2010 3:12:35 PM

Remind me why withdrawing your money from the bank is a bad thing, again? If you recognize that the dollar is weak, and that is indeed a dying currency, why in the world would you keep your savings in dollars? If you're keeping more dollars in the bank than you need for 3-6 months of living expenses, you're making a monumental mistake.

[Edited on October 8, 2010 at 4:46 PM. Reason : ]

10/8/2010 4:42:58 PM

^I think this covers that pretty well.



http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=465567

sarijoul:

Quote :

"he's a party shill and it's gotten him nothing. i looked up his votes a while back and this dude almost NEVER strays from the republican majority (it was like one time out of one hundred votes) at least dole occasionally strays from the party line."

RevoltNow:

Quote :

"he has no clout within the senate and is incredibly unpopular. 6 months ago he was tied for 80th in terms of popularity of sitting senators."

Just came across this thread while looking for that video clip, I'm surprised I never noticed that thread before, it had some interesting quotes... especially about even Dole being better than Burr.

[Edited on October 8, 2010 at 5:17 PM. Reason : .]

10/8/2010 5:12:03 PM

New Marshall Campaign ad airing now:



Builds on this sentiment from the primary:



[Edited on October 10, 2010 at 5:19 PM. Reason : .]

10/10/2010 5:16:13 PM

I can't believe we voted for this lady over the soldier. Damn it.

10/10/2010 5:38:33 PM