Greenville—NC  Today at 12 noon the filing period to run for a political office in NC ends.   Well, that may end the filing period, but it signals the start of the campaign season.  An interesting season it will be, by the way:  a mix of all sorts—in all parties—will be running for various offices and for various reasons.  Hell, some Teapublicans don’t even know why they’re running—they just got an email saying “if you see that someone is running unopposed—please run against them.”

As crazy as that sounds, that’s all some people need to motivate themselves into waging a political campaign.  I would suspect they’ll get another email soon telling them what positions to take and how to think—it’s the least the baggers can do.

I remember just four years ago, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield had a Republican challenger.  Well, he ran as a Republican but in reality he was all Tea Party.  He admitted on TV that he didn’t have any strong feeling about running for anything; he just got an email from a Tea Party action group telling him to find someone unopposed and run against them.   Apparently, the Tea Party thinks every politician should have competition. 

This year, Rep. Farmer-Butterfield will have a Democratic challenger: a lawyer who at one time lost his privilege to practice in North Carolina because of multiple DWI convictions.  Think about that: a lawyer—an officer of the Court—who turned his car into a potential lethal weapon.  A lawyer –who, by the nature of his job and his ability to practice—is held to a higher standard than the rest of us peons, got so drunk that he called the Clerk of Court up on the phone and cussed her out.   Not only did he cuss and rant to just one Clerk for but he cussed at two.  It was so bad and so intimidatingly insulting that the Clerk filed a complaint.  Because the lawyer was on probation from past DWI’s, he was tested for the amount of alcohol in his system and the result was over twice the legal limit. 

Well, this lawyer, who I’ll talk about over the next two months, likes to twist his convictions into excuses and calls for tougher DWI laws in NC.  All of which is BS and without merit.  But, that’s for a later article.

The next political race I’m  following is the Democratic primary candidates running for the 3rd Congressional House seat in NC.  The seat Walter Jones currently holds.   The “real” Democrat running is Marshall Adame.  Adame is retired military and worked for the U.S. State Department under Condoleezza Rice. 

The other Democrat is not really a “real” Democrat.  His name is Jason Thigpen.  Jason began running for the 3rd Congressional seat as a Republican.  Yep, you read me right—as a Republican.  He had planned on facing Walter Jones in the Republican primary.  So, what happened? 

A more vetted and better established Teabagger came into the race and it pissed Jason off.  He felt the only real way to win the seat would be to turn around, change party affiliations and run as a Democrat.  He was hoping no one would notice all this.  And he is hoping 3rd Congressional Dems will  believe his lies about why he changed parties—but he was wrong.  People aren’t buying his snake oil. 

In fact, the only campaign speeches Jason seems to give focuses on “the family man” and “war hero” themes.   I’ve said it once and you’ll see me say it a hundred times more: as much as we thank Thigpen for his military service and his dedication—that’s no reason, in and of itself, to send him to Washington. 

Jason Thigpen comes with a lot of baggage. I’ve invited him on my radio show because I think he owes it to NC Democrats to answer some questions.  So far, he’s refused.  But, the offer still stands—I’d like to speak with him.  I’d like to give him the opportunity to set the record straight.  Anytime and at any place—it doesn’t have to be on “my” radio show.

So, there it is—at least the first two races I’m following in NC promises to be filled with some grit and excitement.