As I drive up I-85 from Charlotte, the gasping banking
center’s gleaming buildings and New South atmosphere gradually
fade from view, and cultural markers in the blue-collar town of
Concord appear. Past the exit to NASCAR’s Charlotte Motor
Speedway, and just past the site of the demolished Pillowtex
textile mill, like a sentinel standing guard at the western
border of District 8, stands a tall black-and-white billboard
that reads, “Tim D’Annunzio, Conservative Republican for
Congress.”
That billboard shouldn’t be there.
District 8 was supposed to be a long-contested prize now
firmly in Democratic control. Barack Obama made history in 2008
when he put North Carolina into the Democratic fold, and pulled
along with him newcomer Congressman Larry Kissell. Kissell’s win
was nothing short of an upset — Robin Hayes, the Republican
incumbent, had won five consecutive elections. And money, for
once, wasn’t the decisive factor — Hayes raised more than $3
million, compared to Kissell’s $1 million.
This modern-day remake of the David-versus-Goliath story
wasn’t based on miracles, but on hard political realities,
foremost of which was the loss of textile jobs — it was
incumbent Robin Hayes’ 2005 sudden change in favor of the Central
American Free Trade Agreement that jump-started Kissell’s
campaign. Kissell hammered Hayes for that vote in his TV and
newspaper ads, and it struck a chord with District 8 voters.
Obama’s coattails didn’t hurt.
But like Obama, Kissell has caught flak for spiraling job
losses. And while Kissell’s votes against health care and cap and
trade pleased most of his small-town constituents, they sparked
outrage from many Democrats.
Lauren Slepian, Tim D’Annunzio’s communication director,
pegged jobs as Kissell’s greatest vulnerability. “Larry Kissell
means well,” she told me. “But he doesn’t know how to bring in
jobs. That’s what this District needs. And Tim D’Annunzio knows
how to create jobs. He’s brought 300 here to Raeford.”
D’Annunzio’s life story is pure electoral gold. Raised in
modest circumstances in Philadelphia, he entered the U.S. Army
and eventually qualified as a Golden Knight, the Army’s elite
parachute team. He moved to the small town of Raeford in central
North Carolina and founded Paraclete Armor, which manufactured
armored vests that can be quickly removed with a ripcord — a
life-saving feature in battlefield situations. Here in Concord,
where many businesses fly the black-and-white MIA flag beside
NASCAR flags, the appeal to jobs and national security is a
strong one.
Kissell faces another Republican challenger on the
far-eastern side of District 8, which borders Fort Bragg. That’s
where Lou Huddleston was born. I called Matt McCullough,
Huddleston’s campaign manager, and asked what differentiates
Huddleston’s campaign from D’Annunzio’s. Huddleston, he pointed
out, is a North Carolina native with a “common-sense,
conservative message.”
McCullough described a candidate who’s entered this
congressional race armed with his own electoral gold. An
African-American who retired from the U.S. Army as a full
colonel, Lou Huddleston now serves on a number of corporate
boards. Huddleston’s website stresses his
North Carolina roots and his no-compromise, traditional stance on
marriage, gun rights, and abortion.
McCullough ticked off the hot issues: jobs, Federal
spending, national security — problems, he reminded me, that
Huddleston has faced first-hand. I mentioned Kissell’s commitment
to protect American jobs. “Under Larry Kissell’s watch,” replied
McCullough, “North Carolina’s Eighth Congressional District has
lost over 22,000 jobs.” As to whether Kissell’s Blue-Dog
Democratic credentials might see him through this race, he
answered, “the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress are
lurching our country to the left. Larry Kissell has been part of
the problem, voting with Nancy Pelosi’s liberal agenda 96% of the
time.”
But could the overlapping platforms and résumés of these
Republican candidates work to Kissell’s advantage? It’s easy to
imagine how razor-close polls in the final weeks leading up to
the May 4th Republican primary could tempt the two camps to
target each other over more personal issues, generating
ammunition for Kissell. And Kissell’s vote against Obama’s health
care bill suits his conservative district.
Both the Huddleston and D’Annunzio camps dismiss this
scenario. “We are all united in the goal of defeating the
Pelosi-Kissell regime in November,” said Matt McCullogh. Lauren
Slepian, speaking for Tim D’Annunzio, agreed Kissell’s vote
against health care wouldn’t be enough to distance him from what
voters suspect is an administration hostile to their values. Then
she added, “Tim has pledged to unite around the eventual nominee
if it is not him.”
I caught up with June Mabry, the Eighth District Democratic
chair. Turns out Kissell claims some electoral gold, too, which
Mabry burnished for the record: He worked in a textile mill that
closed. He switched to a career as a teacher. As a
citizen-politician, he promised to protect jobs, and to never
reduce Medicare — two promises he’s kept, said Mabry, despite
the political pressure. “And I admire that.”
Has that weakened his base? “Yes,” Mabry said, “some
Democrats are upset about his votes against cap and trade, and
health care. But he felt cap and trade would hurt family farms.
And the health care proposal at that time would’ve reduced
Medicare benefits. I admire his convictions, even if I don’t
always agree with his votes.”
Has he failed to protect jobs? Mabry bristles at this. “You
can’t turn around 20 years of policy in one year. A lot of jobs
have gone overseas, thanks in part to Robin Hayes breaking his
promise to vote against CAFTA. Plus, we inherited a recession.
People have to understand what we’re up against.”
I ask Mabry’s opinion of what we can expect come November.
“This will be a contest. A real contest.”
Lauren Slepian, Tim D’Annunzio’s communication director,
agrees. She says her candidate is ready for it. “We just put up
another billboard right outside Kissell’s campaign
headquarters.”
