To accomplish this, the Republicans have targeted certain key Dems in eastern North Carolina, among them is NC State Sen. A. B. Swindell, Rep. Joe Tolson, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield, and the list goes on. Now, more than ever, your vote counts; maybe more so than your vote in 2008.

There are times when Craig Crawford hits the nail on the head.  I’d like to take a few moments to put Crawford’s quote into an eastern North Carolina perspective and maybe add some clarity prior to November 2nd.

I interviewed a very famous lawyer a few years ago and she told me two things I’ll always remember: jokingly, she said that all lawyers were in fact liars and the really good ones believe their own lies.

The Republicans, on a national level, have banked on two very stark and distinct notions in this election cycle: (1) Republicans are banking that voters will have a very short attention span when it comes to the 8 horrific years of the George W. Bush Presidency and (2) that (in a coordinated attempt) bashing Dems long enough by spending tens of millions of dollars in ad campaigns, will resonate a voter passion to clean the Dems out of office. In essence, they’re thinking “if we lie and mislead long enough, people will (at some level) believe it as true, if given enough time.

And, they’re right: it’s a fundamental nature; a human nature to believe what you’re told, if you’re told it enough times. Marketing 101.

When Tip O’Neal was at Boston College, years before he hit the national scene, O’Neal ran for a seat on the Cambridge City Council and lost. It was the only time he was ever defeated. That campaign taught him a lesson that would follow him for the rest of his political career: “All politics is local”.

In a nutshell the Republican leaders are trying to stage a comeback reminiscent to the ’94 election when the Republicans took 54 seats in the House and Newt became Speaker. But, here’s the difference between ’94 and today.

In 1994, we weren’t in the mist of two very expensive wars: wars started by a Republican President and sold to the American people as “the patriotic course of action to ensure a safer Nation”.

In 1994, we weren’t faced paying for those wars at the tune of one billion dollars a month, month after month, year after year.

Now, before you dismiss all this information and wonder how it’s related to “all politics is local” read and little further and see for yourself.

America and for that matter Capitalism, runs on cash flow. More importantly, state and local governments run on cash flow. When trillions of dollars are being sucked out of the national economy it (the lack of cash flow and disposable income) trickles down to state and local governments. States depend on this because, unlike the 40s and 50s of the industrial revolution, we live in a global economy fueled by the reality that the lowest bidder gets the trade.

When Obama took office, not only were American car makers going under but the greatest recession since the Depression started in 2007 (over a year before Obama was elected). America, in this short period of time had lost over 4.5 million jobs (http://tinyurl.com/34ennps). And, Wall Street, including some of North Carolina’s largest banks were a train wreck.

Now, enters the North Carolina mix. The Republicans, under the directions and prodding of NC GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer, have orchestrated a remarkable propaganda campaign of mixing the numbers (misinformation) to target eastern North Carolina Democrats in an effort to blame the Dems for the tough economic times. According to PPP it seems to be working (http://tinyurl.com/29jo9yh).

If we just look at the facts, we’ll glean that under Democratic control, things are slowly—but surely—turning around in a positive direction for North Carolina. Bizjournal quoted in July that North Carolina’s economy was growing at 2.2%.

And, the NYT in April quoted Obama while in Charlotte that, “we are beginning to turn the corner” after a deep recession that nearly threw the economy into another Great Depression. He hailed a new government report showing stronger job growth and credited his policies with helping businesses rebuild”.

Yes, North Carolina is on the upswing.

So, if we’re doing better and independent sources tell the story of North Carolina’s rebound, then why are state Republicans painting this as all the state Dems fault?

Redistricting.

Over a year ago, Tom Fetzer developed a plan. A plan that not only had the potential to put the Republicans in charge in Raleigh, but a plan that would make certain the conservative ultra right-wing , not only took over NC, but kept control of NC for years to come. It all comes down to “who” redraws the district maps next year.

From www.swingstateproject.com : “In NC, redistricting is done solely by the legislature, which is now under Democratic control. While it could hypothetically shift to the GOP in 2010”

From www.runsmarttowin.com : Now, I realize that redistricting is largely a political exercise — with politicians and party bosses choosing their voters.

So, now you know. 2010 is the “real” North Carolina change. Give Obama two years, blame him for the whole mess, and take Raleigh in 2010 to control NC for years to come.

To accomplish this, the Republicans have targeted certain key Dems in eastern North Carolina, among them is NC State Sen. A. B. Swindell, Rep. Joe Tolson, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield, and the list goes on, including Sen. Clark Jenkins who said it best last Saturday.  Jenkins said, “ it’s not about Republicans verses Democrats, but east verses west.  If the Republicans get in, they will slice us and dice us up to where we have no power in eastern North Carolina and no control of how our money is spent”.

Now more than ever, your vote counts. Maybe more so than your vote in 2008.