http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1487625.html

Quote :

"As crisis loomed, Burr told wife: Empty ATM In the 40-minute speech, Burr told an audience of about 70 business executives about the recent banking crisis and the federal government's response. He said he was so spooked after a briefing in Washington last fall that he called his wife, Brooke, back in North Carolina. "Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday," he said, according to an account in the Hendersonville Times-News. "I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.""

Way to use insider info to protect your money alone. First round goes to the as yet to be determined 2010 contender! And Burr wasn't on the best footing to start with.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/polltracker/2009/02/eye-on-the-senate-burr-on-shak.html

Quote :

"Eye on the Senate: Burr on Shaky Ground in North Carolina in 2010 The fact that he's polling under 50 percent against possible opponents who are basically unknown quantities does not bode well" if a better known figure like Attorney General Roy Cooper gets in the race. "

Dole was polling under 50 percent which is a sign than an incumbent is weak enough for a challenger to have a chance before Kay took her spot. Right now he is leading Jim Neal by 14%, and he is leading former State Senator Cal Cunningham by 19%, but in each case the undecideds make up enough to overcome those gaps. And Cooper could probably hold his own in the polls as well.

And he's gotten some less than flattering national press lately.
http://bluenc.com/richard-burr-places-hold-tammy-duckworths-nomination

Quote :

"According to the AP, Burr, the ranking Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee, asked the committee to hold off on sending her nomination to the full Senate until he can ask more questions. Um, Richard? Unless you were sleeping through the hearings, you should have had time to ask your precious questions."

So what are your thoughts about 2010? I think another moderate democrat as with Kay Hagan would actually have shot.

4/16/2009 3:23:58 PM

Moderate yes. Like Kay Hagan? No

4/16/2009 3:40:33 PM

4/16/2009 3:50:03 PM

i think burr will squeak through this one

4/16/2009 9:07:47 PM

Burr will win big, especially since its a non-govenor/presidential election year.

4/16/2009 9:16:28 PM

Bring on the new blood

4/16/2009 9:19:40 PM

Roy Cooper would take it I believe. People like that he shut down that Duke Lacrosse bullshit.

4/16/2009 9:22:15 PM

with the lack of straight ticket voting that came from Obama voters who were there just to vote for that clown combined with the discontent over Congress' wastefulness lately, it will be extremely hard for a Democrat to gain ground in the mid term elections.

4/16/2009 9:50:53 PM

congrats on posting about something different, supplanter.

4/16/2009 10:36:23 PM

Anything for you

4/16/2009 10:39:30 PM

oh, baby!

4/16/2009 10:54:23 PM

So what has Burr accomplished for NC since he got into office? I can't recall anything off the top of my head.

4/17/2009 12:51:36 AM

voted no for the stimulus...does that count?

4/17/2009 12:53:20 AM

I guess that depends if you were for or against it

4/17/2009 12:56:58 AM

pretty sure he voted no to s-chip

4/17/2009 1:01:34 AM

So apparently this thread isn't so much Burr vs 2010 Contender as Burr Vs Maddow. Burr & Maddow are disagreeing over what constitutes a Block vs a Hold. Does anyone know who is correct? (really asking here - I'm not just taking Burr's word or Maddow's word that they are right about it)

4/17/2009 2:12:22 PM

God, she's like a Liberal Bill O'Riley.

4/18/2009 3:29:51 AM

seriously

4/18/2009 3:32:25 AM

except she doesn't yell at people and (as far as i've been able to tell) is fairly logically consistent. of course she's only been on the air for a little while at this point.

4/18/2009 8:26:39 AM

Are there any names being floated as potential contenders besides these: Cal Cunningham, Jim Neal, Roy Cooper, Richard Moore, Grier Martin, any more?

4/18/2009 3:20:42 PM

Quote :

"Jim Neal"

oh jesus, whatever for?

4/20/2009 12:58:23 PM

Roy Cooper is the only name that I've heard talked about seriously.....

4/20/2009 1:16:52 PM

^^ I don't know, ask Public Policy Polling, they are the ones running his numbers & saying he's fairing better than State Senator Cal Cunningham in a match up against Burr. That said, Copper is the only one who is actually polling higher than Burr in a match up that I'm aware of.

4/20/2009 1:43:15 PM

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/05/01/burr-on-bank-flap-id-do-it-again/

Quote :

"May 1, 2009 Burr on bank flap: I'd do it again A few weeks ago, BBR reported on some controversial comments that Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) made about withdrawing family money from a bank when the financial crisis started: "On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, 'Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take," Burr said, according to the Hendersonville Times-News. "And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.' I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash." Burr's comments spread across the blogosphere and were slammed as irresponsible. Some suggested he was encouraging a bank run. Now, Burr says he has no regrets and, if similar circumstances arose, he would do the same thing again. "Absolutely I'd do it [again]," Burr told WFAE, a public radio station in North Carolina. "The exact situation we were faced with was a freeze bank to bank. And as I stated, my attempt was to make sure my wife had enough cash at home to make it through the next week." But Burr added that the bank in question was never in trouble, which raises questions about why he feared it would run out of cash. "It was not an attempt to run a bank," Burr said. "Nor was it a bank that was even considered then or now to be in trouble.""

5/3/2009 8:51:32 AM

With Burr getting more vulnerable, I hope they don't resort to a boring moderate blue dog like Hagan again. Might as well go for someone more principled and liberal.

5/3/2009 4:40:02 PM

I guess Erskine Bowles isn't gonna take another run at it?

5/4/2009 1:03:28 PM

Foreskin Bowles

I would think this would be the perfect time for a current Congressperson to step up to the plate and try to gain a position. I don't see one current member that couldn't possibly challenge Burr, save maybe Watt from the gerrymandered district.

I hope it's not Shuler though.

[Edited on May 4, 2009 at 6:04 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2009 5:55:04 PM

Cooper

5/5/2009 12:25:00 AM

a cardboard cutout of jessica biel's ass would win against Burr.

5/5/2009 2:52:43 AM

The Governor of Virginia ragging on Burr.

5/5/2009 2:39:46 PM

I like Kaine, but that was just lame.

5/5/2009 6:09:42 PM

Burr Free NC 2010:
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=68476060840

First Ad I've seen from the 2010 election season for this race:

5/8/2009 3:34:27 PM

Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse...

5/8/2009 5:48:53 PM

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper visited the white house recently, & he is polling better than Burr... I wonder if this means he will officially get into the race.

Draft Roy Cooper:
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53705781010

Draft Jim Neal:
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=54432712956

Of this list "Cal Cunningham, Jim Neal, Roy Cooper, Richard Moore, Grier Martin" list I couldn't find any other draft whoever groups. My hope is that several democrats get into the race so that we actually get a few options during this election.

5/12/2009 1:59:06 PM

I'm sorry but Jim Neal is not a viable contender against Burr. He was a mess against Hagan in the primary and he did some incredibly shady, and probably some illegal stuff, on his campaign.

5/12/2009 2:00:20 PM

^I don't foresee it ever coming to Neal vs Burr, but I do think the primary should have a few horses in the race, if for no other reason than to engage the democratic party in the election cycle sooner... it seemed to help the party last election season in NC.

And what illegal stuff are you referring to, can you be specific? I heard that Kay took a lot of money from lobbyists after promising not to, but all politicians do that, but I don't remember anything unusually shady coming from any of the 6 or so candidates in the democratic primary last time. Dole implying that Kay was an atheist & using someones voice that sounds sort of like hers as they show a picture of Kay saying something about being godless was the only sketchy stuff that I remember having any sort of legal recourse attempted (although Kay stopped going after Dole about that after she won).

5/12/2009 2:10:51 PM

Quote :

"My hope is that several democrats get into the race so that we actually get a few options during this election"

Are there some democrats who still support capitalism and individual economic rights...who are willing to stand up to Team Obama?

5/12/2009 4:02:47 PM

Well Jim has called some of the Obama supported bailout stuff as just as incompetent as Bush, and he's criticized this administration for not coming down hard enough on torture.

(I feel like any time I mention something about Jim Neal I get the response that "OMG HE ISN'T A SERIOUS CONTENDER!!!" so I'm going to preempt that by saying that my mentioning his name isn't meant to suggest he is or isn't serious)


This is from as recent as Feb:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=6653281&rss=rss-wtvd-article-6653281

Quote :

" Cooper not ruling out Senate run RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Could North Carolina's attorney general be eyeing a Senate run? He's not ruling it out. Eyewitness News caught up with Roy Cooper Tuesday and asked him about the rumors that he might try to run for the Democratic nomination for US Senate in 2010. "A lot of people have contacted me about it, people that I respect and so I've told them I would give them the courtesy to look at it," Cooper said. "I like my job as Attorney General. I am making a difference. I've had a lot of people to ask me about it. So, I'm going to look at it but make a decision very soon." Cooper wouldn't say when that decision will be made. "

5/12/2009 4:35:51 PM

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

Quote :

"N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has decided not to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr next year, dissapointing Democrats who saw him as potentially their strongest candidate."

Well, Cooper is out. Looks like we're stuck with bank-run-Burr whether we want him or not.

5/15/2009 1:47:12 PM

^ I must say, Burr is lucky. I think Cooper would have defeated him.

5/15/2009 10:42:56 PM

I would love to see a long-standing House member such as Price, Etheridge, or Miller switch over to the Senate. Any of those three would win the primary and the senate seat by a landslide.

5/16/2009 2:10:15 AM

Quote :

"Are there some democrats who still support capitalism and individual economic rightssupport my vision of capitalism and individual rights as defined in the pages of the most superior and exhalted Ayn Rand, the only perfect philosopher ever, except maybe Bastiat who I will mention to make it sound like I'm well-read and a "classical liberal" and not just an objectivist...who are willing to stand up to Team Obama?"

Come on ED, be honest.

I heard someone mention Mike McIntyre from the coast, he's probably got the moderate cred to win, but I seem to remember him being pretty pro-expansionary military policy and defense industry (since he represents Ft. Bragg and Camp Lejune).

[Edited on May 16, 2009 at 9:35 PM. Reason : .]

5/16/2009 9:34:20 PM

Quote :

"I would love to see a long-standing House member such as Price, Etheridge, or Miller switch over to the Senate"

Are you sure?

Quote :

"Washington, D.C. - Today the House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by Congressmen David Price (D-NC) and Brad Miller (D-NC) to H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights. Price’s amendment is designed to help consumers avoid crippling credit card debt by providing additional information on the pitfalls of making only the minimum payment. "

Price and Miller passed a law forcing credit card companies to add the following to their fine print:

Quote :

"‘Minimum Payment Warning: Making only the minimum payment will increase the interest you pay and the time it takes to repay your balance.’"

Can't Price and Miller find something more useful to do?

5/16/2009 10:29:35 PM

^

Heh heh heh. Reminds me of when I bought a home and was presented with a 30 year payoff table by the attorney. Talk about a waste of trees. If you don't get the concept of interest, should you be buying a home?

There are legitimate concerns about credit practices (like dynamic risk assessment where the interest rate goes up on all your cards because one was paid late). But you know, if you teach a man to fish ...

5/16/2009 10:36:20 PM

^^Some people do need to be told these things. And you can't base someone's "usefulness" on one silly amendment.

5/17/2009 7:37:29 AM

What is the average TWWer's opinion on Cal Cunningham?

Quote :

""Cal" Cunningham III (born 6 August 1973) is an attorney, captain in the United States Army Reserve, and a former member of the North Carolina Senate. He is a member of the Democratic Party."

Quote :

"Cunningham has been recognized for his leadership by his selection as one of the Jaycees’ Outstanding Young North Carolinians and with the Distinguished Service Award.[23] In 2007, he was selected one of the Triad’s Forty Leaders Under Forty.[24] For his military service, Cunningham has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (3x), the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (2x), the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device (2x) and the Parachutist Badge. In 2009, Cunningham was awarded the General Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership for his ground-breaking work in Iraq."

Legal, political, and military background... would this guy have a shot?

5/17/2009 8:17:54 AM

Quote :

"And you can't base someone's "usefulness" on one silly amendment. "

True...but these two guys also voted for the "stimulus" bill, of course, without reading it...abrogating one their most important responsibilities. For this alone, they- and all who did the same- deserve political banishment.

[Edited on May 17, 2009 at 10:54 AM. Reason : .]

5/17/2009 10:54:14 AM

Cal Cunningham for US Senate, 2010!
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=106543775883

Quote :

"Since Roy Cooper's announcement this week that he wouldn't be leaving the Attorney General's office, Cal's name has been mentioned often in discussions of who North Carolina Democrats will run against Richard Burr for Senate in 2010. A quick run-down of Cal's biography is enough to convince anybody that he'd be a formidable opponent against former lawnmower salesman Richard Burr. So brush up on your Cal Cunningham talking points! Here are the basics: Cunningham was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and grew up in Lexington, North Carolina. In November 2000, Cunningham won a highly contested election to represent the 23rd Senate District in the 144th Session of the North Carolina General Assembly. At the time of his election, he was North Carolina’s youngest legislator and represented Davidson, Rowan and Iredell Counties. In the Senate, Cunningham served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the Education Appropriations, Policy and Joint Oversight Committees. Cunningham worked on privacy legislation, campaign reform, the patient’s bill of rights, the clean smokestacks bill, class size reductions and preservation of farmland. Cunningham was commissioned in the Army Reserves, Judge Advocate General's Corps in 2002 and has been mobilized for two active duty tours. In 2007, Cunningham was mobilized by the XVIII Airborne Corps and served as the senior trial counsel, Multi-National Corps Iraq. In Iraq, he pioneered an effort with the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute felony contractor misconduct and worked with the Major Procurement Fraud Task Force. He was lead counsel in the first court-martial of a contractor/civilian under the Uniform Code of Military Justice since 1968. For his service in Iraq, Cunningham was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award."

His facebook star is rising

5/17/2009 11:55:20 AM

Your boy Cal is an ambulance chaser. Do we really need any more lawyers in government?
He saw no combat in Iraq...stayed in a nice safe cushy army lawyer job. He got his Bronze Star for lawyer work.

Cal was elected to one term in the state senate, but ran away with his tail between his legs when his district was redrawn.

He might not be a former "lawnmower" salesman, but he ain't no big shake either.

5/17/2009 10:42:35 PM

set em up

5/17/2009 11:07:33 PM