Your Basic Needs: Food, Shelter and The TRUTH
Tuesday's election offers voters a real opportunity to change county government and send Washington DC a message
Publisher's Note (BCN): This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.
We urge voters to let conservatism have a chance to change this mess we're in
Early voting is over. Tuesday is Election Day. Those who have not yet voted either have not had the chance to do so or are still undecided. Thus, we review our Tea Leaves of what's involved in this election.
Last week we read some of the political tea leaves. This week we will read more. We are printing a copy of the sample ballot that most closely resembles our endorsements from last week. Your ballot may not look exactly like this ballot because of the various districts that overlap in our service area. Click here to download a sample ballot with our picks marked.
Several people have challenged us as to why we made the picks we made. We are happy to say that not one person has accused us of making a bad choice after they heard our reasons. A few people had trouble accepting the individual candidate but none disagreed with the grand strategy.
Gregg Brannon is our choice for U.S. Senate. Many are not aware of Thom Tillis and how he came to power, riding on the backs of Richard Morgan and Jim Black. Morgan, is a liberal "let's make a deal Republican" and Black was a "let's make a deal Democrat," before he went to prison, that is. Tillis defeated John Rhodes, a true conservative Republican. He used his position as Speaker of the House to become a big deal maker. Tillis' method of leadership looked like pay-to-play--money for legislation.
Then there is Walter Jones. One of the reasons we support Walter is because he has turned Tea Party and not taken orders from the liberal John Boehner, the Speaker of the House. Boehner sent his buddy, Taylor Griffin to North Carolina to punish Walter not voting Boehner's line, by running Griffin against him. It comes down to the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you would like to see the whole country given away to socialism and excess spending you should vote for Taylor Griffin because he will fall right in line behind Boehner & Co in selling our country down the river. If you are fed up with what is going on in Washington, DC then you have to vote against the crowd that has been calling the shots—making the deals. And that is the current Establishment GOP in the House. Instead vote for Walter Jones.
Mattie Lawson, the tea party Republican, is an easy pick. Ashley Woolard first told people he was not running. His excuse was something about family. He flipped on a dime when his candidate, Jeremy Adams landed in jail in Virginia for some unbecoming behavior. Ashley Woolard is a big Tillis guy. Jeremy Adams was going to do the dirty work on Lawson for the Tillis gang which includes Ashley Woolard. Tillis and Ashley have campaign signs side by side at a lot of locations. Same people are supporting both. Recall it was Ashley Woolard, Gregg Dority and Bill Tarpenning who were going to deliver the "Arthur Williams for NC House" victory for Tillis. That crowd was left with only one to run against Lawson when the sheriff came for Adams. So, Ashley had to run in order to keep the Tillis-Dority-Woolard-Tarpenning cult alive. Ashley has not discussed or taken a position on a single issue during this campaign that we can determine. That is our signal that he is wide open to carry water for those big politicians whom he thinks can help his political future. We need candidates of principle, not men who take orders. Vote for Mattie Lawson.
Commissioner candidates were selected based on business experience and their clear commitment to strong conservative principles--to save the taxpayers' money. The jail is the central issue in this election. Stan Deatherage, Keith Kidwell and Frankie Waters do not want your taxes to go up 15 percent to pay for an un-needed jail. But the jail is only the prime example. The real issue in this campaign is whether the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners is going to be conservative, or whether it will continue the liberal blunders of the Democrat/RINO deal makers. This coalition (McRoy, Klemm, Cayton, Belcher, Booth, and Langley) has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and hurt the economy of Beaufort County more than any other single thing. If you want "more of the same" you will vote for those candidates who want to "go along to get along." If you want real change, vote for Deatherage, Kidwell or Waters for Commissioner.
Commissioner candidate, Don Cox, has used some shabby campaign strategy. He likes to clown around. He accuses others of not showing up. Then he fails to show up. He has not taken positions on the real issues. The Dority-Tarpenning gang is pushing Don Cox.
Ron Buzzeo had great potential, but has not researched the issues. He criticizes the Commissioners for not taking the half million dollar pay off offered by Vidant, but apparently fails to understand that had they taken that money, they would have cut off any future for the Belhaven Hospital and they would have had to spend another three million dollars to make emergency services work for all of Beaufort County. Your taxes would have gone up. Buzzeo did not bother to try to find the answers. He just wanted the free money. A part of Ron Buzzeo's problem is he drank Sheriff Alan Jordan's cool aid on the jail. His jail advertisements flip flop. He wants a new jail but then, in the same advertisement, he does not want a new jail. At the end of the day we think Buzzeo would vote with the Democrats—an Al Klemm-lite.
The sheriff's race is another exercise in misinformation. We picked Dixon because he stood up early when he said he did not need a new jail as Sheriff and that he would make the existing jail work. He worked in the old jail and he says he can make it work without spending twenty to thirty million dollars—sixty million if you factor in interest and increased operating costs. He promised to investigate all crimes, not just the ones his buddies wanted investigated, or didn't want investigated. Dixon promised to reorganize the Sheriff's office in such a way as to increase the number of deputies available for patrol and investigations.
Ernie Coleman does not seem to be suited to handle the pressure of elected office. He has not taken a strong position on any of the issues the public is concerned about. As a highway patrolman he may not have the investigative and jail operations experience necessary to run the department.
Harry Meredith advertises that he created most of the policies and is responsible, as Chief Deputy, for the way the Sheriff's Department was run the last few years. The department is and has been a management disaster. Harry has advertised his own not so good record. Meredith captured the endorsement of the liberal Beaufort County Republican Club. This club is run by the liberal RINOs Al Klemm and Larry Britt. They must have been aware that Meredith changed his registration from Democrat to Republican the month before he announced he was running for Sheriff. Let's see, Klemm and Britt keep telling us they are Republicans but they side with Democrats more than true Republicans.
Republican Rick Guthrie made a good showing and presentations. He has a solid background in law enforcement and dealing with the public. He is not well known enough to win the General Election and is an unknown policy-wise. He may have a future in Beaufort County, but it will take time to tell.
With Alan Jordan's record, we are suspicious of anyone who worked for him and has failed to tell us how they would reform the Sheriff's Department. Apparently they either agree with Jordan's lack of accountability and transparency or they fear him. For whatever reason we know very little about how they would change the department's culture. So if you are satisfied with the way things have been run then these Jordan surrogates will probably fit your bill. But if you think it is time for a change then the people who have been a part of what needs to be changed are not your best picks. Looks like Jordan may want to continue his legacy since he has runners in both the Democrat at Republican races. They are Republican Harry Meredith and Democrat Russell Davenport. Neither has said anything to cause us to believe they would change things. And change is exactly what we see needed in the Sheriff's Department.
Among the Democrats we pick Todd Alligood. We also think Gary Blount makes a lot of sense when he talks, but he has little management experience. But to their credit, both Alligood and Blount have little connection with the Alan Jordan machine and both have taken strong stands on constitutional rights. We don't know much about Al Whitney because he avoided most of the public debates.
Our pick for Associate Justice for Supreme Court is Jeanette Doran, because of her record on conservative issues. There are three names on this ballot: Eric Levinson, Robin Hudson and Jeanette Doran. Levinson and Doran have conservative records while Hudson is a liberal. The top two vote getters will run in the General Election. Following the reasoning of "find the most conservative candidate running and vote for that person..." we suggest Doran.
There is some confusion about the Chief Justice race. The current senior Associate Justice, Mark Martin, is being challenged by appellant neophyte Ola Lewis. But that contest will be decided in November. We'll have more on that later.
Our Tea Leaves say this: This County is, as is our nation, at a crossroads. We have suffered greatly under the corny capitalism and even socialism (Big Government) mentality. Fortunately we can hope things are changing in Raleigh. But Beaufort County voters need to send the Establishment a message in DC and Walter Jones is the way to do that. At the local level, making a change in the Sheriff's Department and County Commission is the paramount imperative. To make that change will require replacing the Gang of Four with a conservative commission. Al Klemm, thank the Lord, is gone. We need to keep Stan Deatherage, who has a proven conservative track record, and replace Al with Keith Kidwell. We then need to support Frankie Waters replacing Ed Booth in November.
The voters have an exceptional opportunity to change things in this election. Let's hope they carpe diem.
Go Back
We urge voters to let conservatism have a chance to change this mess we're in
Early voting is over. Tuesday is Election Day. Those who have not yet voted either have not had the chance to do so or are still undecided. Thus, we review our Tea Leaves of what's involved in this election.
Last week we read some of the political tea leaves. This week we will read more. We are printing a copy of the sample ballot that most closely resembles our endorsements from last week. Your ballot may not look exactly like this ballot because of the various districts that overlap in our service area. Click here to download a sample ballot with our picks marked.
Several people have challenged us as to why we made the picks we made. We are happy to say that not one person has accused us of making a bad choice after they heard our reasons. A few people had trouble accepting the individual candidate but none disagreed with the grand strategy.
Gregg Brannon is our choice for U.S. Senate. Many are not aware of Thom Tillis and how he came to power, riding on the backs of Richard Morgan and Jim Black. Morgan, is a liberal "let's make a deal Republican" and Black was a "let's make a deal Democrat," before he went to prison, that is. Tillis defeated John Rhodes, a true conservative Republican. He used his position as Speaker of the House to become a big deal maker. Tillis' method of leadership looked like pay-to-play--money for legislation.
Then there is Walter Jones. One of the reasons we support Walter is because he has turned Tea Party and not taken orders from the liberal John Boehner, the Speaker of the House. Boehner sent his buddy, Taylor Griffin to North Carolina to punish Walter not voting Boehner's line, by running Griffin against him. It comes down to the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you would like to see the whole country given away to socialism and excess spending you should vote for Taylor Griffin because he will fall right in line behind Boehner & Co in selling our country down the river. If you are fed up with what is going on in Washington, DC then you have to vote against the crowd that has been calling the shots—making the deals. And that is the current Establishment GOP in the House. Instead vote for Walter Jones.
Mattie Lawson, the tea party Republican, is an easy pick. Ashley Woolard first told people he was not running. His excuse was something about family. He flipped on a dime when his candidate, Jeremy Adams landed in jail in Virginia for some unbecoming behavior. Ashley Woolard is a big Tillis guy. Jeremy Adams was going to do the dirty work on Lawson for the Tillis gang which includes Ashley Woolard. Tillis and Ashley have campaign signs side by side at a lot of locations. Same people are supporting both. Recall it was Ashley Woolard, Gregg Dority and Bill Tarpenning who were going to deliver the "Arthur Williams for NC House" victory for Tillis. That crowd was left with only one to run against Lawson when the sheriff came for Adams. So, Ashley had to run in order to keep the Tillis-Dority-Woolard-Tarpenning cult alive. Ashley has not discussed or taken a position on a single issue during this campaign that we can determine. That is our signal that he is wide open to carry water for those big politicians whom he thinks can help his political future. We need candidates of principle, not men who take orders. Vote for Mattie Lawson.
Commissioner candidates were selected based on business experience and their clear commitment to strong conservative principles--to save the taxpayers' money. The jail is the central issue in this election. Stan Deatherage, Keith Kidwell and Frankie Waters do not want your taxes to go up 15 percent to pay for an un-needed jail. But the jail is only the prime example. The real issue in this campaign is whether the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners is going to be conservative, or whether it will continue the liberal blunders of the Democrat/RINO deal makers. This coalition (McRoy, Klemm, Cayton, Belcher, Booth, and Langley) has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and hurt the economy of Beaufort County more than any other single thing. If you want "more of the same" you will vote for those candidates who want to "go along to get along." If you want real change, vote for Deatherage, Kidwell or Waters for Commissioner.
Commissioner candidate, Don Cox, has used some shabby campaign strategy. He likes to clown around. He accuses others of not showing up. Then he fails to show up. He has not taken positions on the real issues. The Dority-Tarpenning gang is pushing Don Cox.
Ron Buzzeo had great potential, but has not researched the issues. He criticizes the Commissioners for not taking the half million dollar pay off offered by Vidant, but apparently fails to understand that had they taken that money, they would have cut off any future for the Belhaven Hospital and they would have had to spend another three million dollars to make emergency services work for all of Beaufort County. Your taxes would have gone up. Buzzeo did not bother to try to find the answers. He just wanted the free money. A part of Ron Buzzeo's problem is he drank Sheriff Alan Jordan's cool aid on the jail. His jail advertisements flip flop. He wants a new jail but then, in the same advertisement, he does not want a new jail. At the end of the day we think Buzzeo would vote with the Democrats—an Al Klemm-lite.
The sheriff's race is another exercise in misinformation. We picked Dixon because he stood up early when he said he did not need a new jail as Sheriff and that he would make the existing jail work. He worked in the old jail and he says he can make it work without spending twenty to thirty million dollars—sixty million if you factor in interest and increased operating costs. He promised to investigate all crimes, not just the ones his buddies wanted investigated, or didn't want investigated. Dixon promised to reorganize the Sheriff's office in such a way as to increase the number of deputies available for patrol and investigations.
Ernie Coleman does not seem to be suited to handle the pressure of elected office. He has not taken a strong position on any of the issues the public is concerned about. As a highway patrolman he may not have the investigative and jail operations experience necessary to run the department.
Harry Meredith advertises that he created most of the policies and is responsible, as Chief Deputy, for the way the Sheriff's Department was run the last few years. The department is and has been a management disaster. Harry has advertised his own not so good record. Meredith captured the endorsement of the liberal Beaufort County Republican Club. This club is run by the liberal RINOs Al Klemm and Larry Britt. They must have been aware that Meredith changed his registration from Democrat to Republican the month before he announced he was running for Sheriff. Let's see, Klemm and Britt keep telling us they are Republicans but they side with Democrats more than true Republicans.
Republican Rick Guthrie made a good showing and presentations. He has a solid background in law enforcement and dealing with the public. He is not well known enough to win the General Election and is an unknown policy-wise. He may have a future in Beaufort County, but it will take time to tell.
With Alan Jordan's record, we are suspicious of anyone who worked for him and has failed to tell us how they would reform the Sheriff's Department. Apparently they either agree with Jordan's lack of accountability and transparency or they fear him. For whatever reason we know very little about how they would change the department's culture. So if you are satisfied with the way things have been run then these Jordan surrogates will probably fit your bill. But if you think it is time for a change then the people who have been a part of what needs to be changed are not your best picks. Looks like Jordan may want to continue his legacy since he has runners in both the Democrat at Republican races. They are Republican Harry Meredith and Democrat Russell Davenport. Neither has said anything to cause us to believe they would change things. And change is exactly what we see needed in the Sheriff's Department.
Among the Democrats we pick Todd Alligood. We also think Gary Blount makes a lot of sense when he talks, but he has little management experience. But to their credit, both Alligood and Blount have little connection with the Alan Jordan machine and both have taken strong stands on constitutional rights. We don't know much about Al Whitney because he avoided most of the public debates.
Our pick for Associate Justice for Supreme Court is Jeanette Doran, because of her record on conservative issues. There are three names on this ballot: Eric Levinson, Robin Hudson and Jeanette Doran. Levinson and Doran have conservative records while Hudson is a liberal. The top two vote getters will run in the General Election. Following the reasoning of "find the most conservative candidate running and vote for that person..." we suggest Doran.
There is some confusion about the Chief Justice race. The current senior Associate Justice, Mark Martin, is being challenged by appellant neophyte Ola Lewis. But that contest will be decided in November. We'll have more on that later.
Our Tea Leaves say this: This County is, as is our nation, at a crossroads. We have suffered greatly under the corny capitalism and even socialism (Big Government) mentality. Fortunately we can hope things are changing in Raleigh. But Beaufort County voters need to send the Establishment a message in DC and Walter Jones is the way to do that. At the local level, making a change in the Sheriff's Department and County Commission is the paramount imperative. To make that change will require replacing the Gang of Four with a conservative commission. Al Klemm, thank the Lord, is gone. We need to keep Stan Deatherage, who has a proven conservative track record, and replace Al with Keith Kidwell. We then need to support Frankie Waters replacing Ed Booth in November.
The voters have an exceptional opportunity to change things in this election. Let's hope they carpe diem.
| Congressman Walter Jones Takes Action | Editorials, Beaufort Observer, Op-Ed & Politics, Bloodless Warfare: Politics | Feds May Give Muni Broadbands Second Look |
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