Jay Ovittore for Congress

We had the first of three debates between myself and my two primary opponents last night. I thought the debate went well. The questions were quite canned and the format did not allow for rebuttal statements. I will have video of the debate online sometime this week hopefully.

After the debate is a different story. We gathered outside the auditorium after the debate and all chatted amongst friends. My supporters were on one side of the room and Teresa Bratton’s on the other. I started toward the car with a few of my staff members. I turned to see the rest of my caravan not behind us. What was going on was not the news I wanted to hear. I have from a good 10 witnesses that Bratton’s husband approached my father and asked him to reconsider his support of me. My father told him that he supports me 100%, as if that would be a question. Bratton’s husband and my father exchanged words and Bratton’s husband leaned in and bumped chests with my father. Now that said, my father is an old school Italian who has been fighting diabetes and a chronic heart condition. He can not walk long distances due to wounds on his legs from the diabetes. Conditions or not, if I was not running for elected office we would talking about how dad won a physical altercation last night. He thought better of it and pulled himself back as not to hurt my campaign.

What happened last night was a lack of respect and an infringement of personal space on the behalf of Bratton’s husband. His thugary was uncivil at best and way out of line. He should realize quickly, for the good of his wife, that his actions effect her campaign. My father was minding his own business and having friendly conversations when approached with arrogance. It is clear to see who was at fault and I do not blame my father for defending himself.

All three candidates have remained as civil as opponents can in a race. That can change quickly if need be. I would prefer that we have spirited conversations and debates on the issues and that be our battle. Fear mongering and intimidation are Republican ploys, which are sometimes used by establishment candidates. I do not appreciate it and I will not stand by and let it happen. Really, is this High School? Do you really want to pull the “meet me at the water fountain at 3 o’clock” stunt.

I also find it funny that a good deal of my message and platform has been pilfered by Bratton. A message and platform that has been actively online since November of 2007. It doesn’t surprise me. If a platform was to stolen it should be the right one, shouldn’t it? The exception to this being health care, a field in which she works. She has her own view on that.

I spoke with Bratton this morning and let her know that her husband was out of line. That my camp was civil and I expect her camp to be as well. I told her to reign in her husband. She has assured me that there will be no further incidents and that her husband will stay clear of my father. I will hold her to that.

I look forward to more spirited debates and would hope they will include rebuttal statements. The voters deserve more than canned questions about the Democratic platform. I fully expect and want to hear tough questions. I am fully prepared to answer those tough questions as well.

I’ll get the debate video up ASAP. Until then, thank you for your continued support.

Posted by Jay under Opposition | 1 Comment »

I am happy to announce a key endorsement of my campaign today. Tom Gilmore, former NC state house representative and former opponent of Howard Coble for the 6th, has formally endorsed my campaign.

Tom says, “This is the year for Howard to be defeated.” I think he is right. Any incumbent is vulnerable this year. Tom says of endorsing me, “It is time for new leadership.” I believe, like Tom, that I am that new leadership.

In the press release I stated that, “I am thrilled and honored to have such a remarkable man lend his weight toward my campaign. He is a man who is notorious for fighting the good fight, a man who has fought for change his entire life. I intend to continue that fight; the fight for what is best for the people.”

Tom was a Young Democrat president, like myself. He is a blue collar guy, like myself. Tom fought for racial justice as I do on the Greensboro Human Relations Commission.

I truly feel honored today. I feel like I have been passed a torch and I must carry on in the same light as Mr Gilmore.

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The first of maybe 3 debates between myself and my two primary opponents has been scheduled. It will be on March 25th at 8pm at Guilford College in the Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium of the Frank Family Science Center. Greensboro will host the first debate. Word is there will be two more outside of Greensboro. I hope that is the case.

I encourage you all to attend and show your support for me. This will be fun. I love talking about the issues.

I am told there will be press at the debate. I would love to have a cheering section. So please consider coming on out. What else do you have to do on a Tuesday night at 8? Oh yeah- American Idol is not an excuse!

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In April of 2003 the American Renaissance (a white supremacist magazine) ran this article about Howard Coble called Relocation Echoes. It talks about his radio appearance in February of 2003 where Coble said “We were at war, some probably were intent on doing harm to us.” He also said the camps kept Japanese away from angry Americans who might have attacked them.

It is not interesting to me that the article appeared in a white supremacist magazine at all. What is interesting is the final paragraph of the article:

Shortly after Mr. Coble’s remarks were first reported, AR sent his office a copy of the article on relocation that appeared in our January issue. The congressman read the article, and telephoned personally to tell us how useful he had found it.

Isn’t he just such a nice man….even to white supremacist’s?

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Yesterday, I drove to Raleigh and filed at the State Board of Elections to run as a Democrat in the primary for US Congress NC-06. I was at the Guilford County Board of Elections the day before and filled out the paperwork, but it was too late in the day to get the papers to Raleigh safely. They can mail them for me, but it was too close to the filing deadline to take that chance.

I announced way back in mid-November and have been building momentum ever since. I have met so many wonderful people in the 6th District in all 6 expansive counties. If I haven’t met you yet, I want to. Look for me around the District. I’ll be everywhere!

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My opponent has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. He spoke yesterday on The Hill blog of Romney’s Super Bad Tuesday.

Let’s hope his wisdom is the same for his own campaign. Romney today suspended his race for President. Just how plugged in to the beltway are you sir? I believe, just as plugged in as you are to the people of the 6th District and the problems they face. Not at all.

While we are speaking about Presidential politics, I also came across video of my opponent talking about his love of George Allen-(R)VA (he starts talking about this at around 45 seconds in) and his hope that he would have been the Republican nominee for President, that he would have been his choice for the nominee. “Macaca” anyone? To say this, after the racial incident Allen was involved in and the physical intimidation the Allen campaign used on reporters, is unacceptable.

Is this the kind of judgment you want in your Representative? Endorsing a racist? Endorsing a man who deals in thuggery?

Posted by Jay under Opposition | 1 Comment »

Let me start by saying that the rhetoric of “we might be heading into a recession” is a little off base. We are already in a recession. We are heading for a depression!

As it did at the end of George H. Bush’s presidency, the economy has suddenly become a major issue right before the elections of 2008. It seems like both the 41st president and the 43rd president could not feed the war machine and keep the economy running smoothly at the same time. No matter, both times a Clinton is on the ballot for the coming election. Suddenly it becomes a problem. We’ve been in a revolving cycle for 20 years. It’s time for a change. We need to break this cycle and put people in Washington that will find solutions for our country and steer us in the right direction.

As if we all have not been feeling it every way we turn, (to state the obvious), the economy is in the gutter. Unless, that is, you own a corporation in this country. It has been plainly evident to me and to those in our district that the economy has been failing for some time. According to the US Census Bureau, 12.5% of the residence of Alamance County lived in poverty in 2005. Randolph County was at 14.6% and Guilford County was at 14.9%. Circumstances are continuing to get worse. Just ask the people who spent their careers in textiles just to find themselves on the unemployment line, unable to find jobs because they don’t exist. Once vibrant tobacco farmers will also give you insight as they are forced to sell off or worse go bankrupt.

What has caused all this mess? I would start with a war bill that is estimated to hit 2 trillion dollars before its done. Combine that with corporate welfare while they pull in record profits. Add on a housing market that has burst that doesn’t look to recover for 5 to 10 years. Sprinkle on a little outsourcing of jobs and a few billion in Congressional earmarks.Top it with product price inflation due to gas prices, wages that are stagnant, CEOs with huge packages for failing their companies, and you have the mess we are in. There is obviously more than that, but you get the point.

What is the Bush administration’s answer? They want to print more money we don’t have, (due to a huge deficit), and pay you between $800 and $1600 depending on if you are single or married. They also want to let corporations have a bonus depreciation, allowing them to write off 50% of their business investments this year.

The elitist in Washington have only one answer, “Throw money at it”. They also hope you will spend it to stimulate the economy. To them, this fixes the problem. What about the month after? Seems to me that we are applying band-aids to cover up the short-term effects of our economic woes. Wouldn’t it be wiser to fix the things that got us here in the first place?

While not repeal the tax cut to the wealthiest 2% of our population? It is estimated to put about 40 billion back in the till per year. Why not stop the corporate welfare we keep handing out to companies that are reaping record profits? Why not make this companies pay their fair share? They continue to make billions in profits, receive huge tax breaks and the price of consumer products continue to go up, helping them even more, at the cost of the American taxpayer and American consumer.

Here are some real solutions to the problems we are experiencing now. We can start by instituting at least a minimal coverage Universal Health Care plan to cover everyone. Allow the for profit insurance companies to offer add-on coverage for those who want it. According to the National Coalition on Healthcare, in 2005, the estimated cost per person for healthcare was $6700 a year. $6700 back in your pocket to spend, that would help stimulation the economy, not an $800 check.

We can also shut down the corporate welfare machine. We allow companies to outsource jobs, retain tax benefits, and demand economic incentives (bribes) from state governments. All the while, they lay off American workers, expand their profit margins and pilfer the American economy more than any other one factor in this economic mess. When you include the cost of unemployment and social service expenses for those that have been laid off with no jobs available, the cost of this corporate welfare is staggering.

We also need to repair our banking and credit industries. There is personal responsibility when it comes to charging away your future to cover the present. I can not entirely blame those who have been forced into positions where they have to do this. I put equal responsibility on the credit companies and banks. Common practices in the credit industry such as charging a late fee which puts you over the limit of your card then hitting you with an over the limit fee have got to be brought under control. NSF fees from the bank are killing the paycheck to paycheck population. Average interest rates of 1600% on a charge are commonplace. I would like to see a policy instituted that allows the insufficient account to be hit with one fee per business day it is in the rears with no available spending allowed during that time period. This puts a proper balance of maintaining personal responsibility and preventing credit and banking industries from encouraging individuals to dig themselves into even deeper holes.

Of course the very politicians that we need to make these changes reap large campaign donations from these industries and will not vote against their interests. My opponent’s special interests are broad and available to see at opensecrets.org. His ‘08 contributors are surprising. A lot of manufacturing firms who produce their products overseas, big pharma and some transportation. Here is a career profile as well. However, he is not the only one. I have said that I will only take PAC donations from organizations that truly fit the interest of the people. I never want to feel like I have to vote against the people of the 6th District to please a company or industry lobby. I could never take from big pharma or big oil or the banking industry as a small example.

My point is, the problem is larger than cut me a small check to buy me off for a bit. I’d rather you cut my grass. At least something productive would get done. We must fix the larger problem that caused this economic mess or we will be in the middle of the largest depression our country has ever seen. Stop looking in the medicine cabinet for your band-aids and start finding real solutions to prevent a longer term economic downward spiral. We must, for the people of this country, correct the mistakes of this government. Our future depends on it.

Posted by Jay under Issues & Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Last Wednesday, Yes Weekly conservative columnist Jim Longworth took one of the many attacks I received from the Right -wing attack machine that has apparently put it’s target on my back. Misinformation and quoting to fit their propaganda was the order of the day.

First let me back up a little. I received a call from N&R reporter Mark Binker about a story he was doing on my opponents age and tenure in the US House of Representatives. I answered his questions via phone and he wrote this article. On January 2nd a well formulated right wing attack is launched in several areas, all regarding my quotes from the article.

It seems the right wing pundits want to see my primary opponent and not me in the general election. They assure themselves another 70-30 blowout facing him, they fear the unknown and my “not the usual politico” self in a battle facing me. I am in this to win and that is what I plan to do.

Here is Longworths original attack column. Click through and read it. It’s a hoot!

I was offered the opportunity to write a rebuttal to Longworths piece by Yes Weekly and I did.

Yes Weekly said they will cut for space a little bit. I haven’t seen the new Yes Weekly as of my posting this.

Here is the entire rebuttal as it was written and submitted:

Blurry Lines On Planet Longworth by Jay Ovittore

 

I am well aware that Mr. Longworth is entitled to an opinion. How you formulate that opinion is a different story all together. When you base your opinion on misinformation and facts you make up, well that seems to shoot old credibility in the foot.

 

Mr. Longworth wrote a piece last week stating that I had made a cruel age joke about my opponent and that I was not going to be able to debate on his TV show because of this joke. What he took exception to is (when asked about my opponents age in a News and Record interview for a story) that I had brought up the fact that my opponent had missed votes at the August recess, and he might have been up past his bedtime or had a hot date. Longworth states that I had said 2 votes, the News and Record printed spate of votes and I had said 22 votes. The truth is that it was 22 votes. It was a spate of votes on the Dept of Defense Budget through Sept of ‘08 and the Protect America Act (which covered the FISA/ Wiretapping issue) among others. Yes, Mr. Longworth, I know it was a misprint right? There should have been two 2’s in the article and not just one.

 

Longworth also states that “I’d rather have someone representing me who is 76 and has the energy of a 25-year old, then someone who is 25 and has the demeanor of a 10-year old.” I am actually 34, not 25.

 

What makes a journalist a good journalist is the ability to report true factual depictions of a story to tell that story. When I blog about someone, I always contact that person and ask questions to get their side of the story. I did it with a piece on Sheriff BJ Barnes, and I did this with Vernon Robinson (even though he told me never to call again). I always double check my information and verify statements made by individuals. Never once has Mr. Longworth attempted to contact me. He pilfered from a story in the News and Record which included sound bytes of what I had said.

 

What wasn’t in the N&R article was me saying that my opponent’s age didn’t matter, “Fred Astaire danced until he died.” Also absent was, “I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. There weren’t any utensils for that matter. I have worked for everything I have and I feel like average voters can relate to me and I can relate to them. I have had the problems that they face, I know what they need.”

 

I spoke with Congressman Brad Miller(NC-13) about Longworth because I remember that he too had had a problem with him. Longworth wanted a debate between Congressman Miller and Vernon Robinson. Miller never agreed to it, and Longworth insisted that his campaign manager did. Longworth was rude to Millers camp and hung up (like a 10-year old) on Miller’s campaign manager.

 

Longworth wanted this debate after Vernon Robinson had started with his “Mexican Gay Love Festival” campaign ads, insinuating that Miller supported Illegal Immigration and was somehow (even though he’s married) having a homosexual love affair with Markos from Daily Kos. Not to mention the Vernon Robinson/ Virgina Foxx primary that got as ugly as it gets was also a Longworth covered story. What was this vile joke I am being banned for again?- “Maybe he was up past his bedtime or he had a hot date.” It would seem to anyone looking at this, that Mr. Longworth has blurry lines when it comes to issues of morality, when it fits his needs those lines clear. Obviously, Vernon’s antics were out of line, where my quote was hit late and tackled out of bounds.

 

Longworth points out in the article that my opponent was the first Republican to stand up to George Bush on the Iraq war. Well he did, in the papers. His votes in Congress suggest otherwise. He has consistently voted with his party against funding with timelines and consistently voted for funding without timelines. Of course, this is just one of many examples of my opponent’s ability to pull the wool over the sheep’s eyes and then tell the wolf where to find him. He has also voted against S-CHIP for 10 million children to get healthcare and against cutting student loan rates from 7% to 3.5%.

 

So after we argue those facts, I will hear how great his constituent services are. They should be, it is part of your job as a Congressman. The other part is being on the floor to vote for the voice of your district and to introduce bills to help your constituents. Go look at the bills that my opponent has introduced this session and last session and see what he has been doing for you. Also note that he has missed more and more votes since the 107^th Congress where he was at 0.4 % missed. Presently, halfway through the 110^th Congress he has missed 5% so far.

 

I have publicly said that I would offer his constituent service staff the ability to keep their jobs when I am elected. I stand by that. What you will also get is a Congressman that is effective for his constituents and will work with both sides of the aisle.

 

From where I sit, the way this all looks is that the Red Dog Barking machine has greased its wheels and has decided I am a threat to their beloved Congressman. So changing factual information and trying to sling the mud my way is only justification that I should be in this race and gives me the confidence to say I can win.

 

Jim Longworth you should know better. You should know I am going to take you to task when you change the facts to fit your story so that your partisan views can try to hold what little power it has left. If you want to partake in the Democratic process that has worked for the last 200 years, then you should hold this debate and stick to the issues so that voters can be as informed as they can before electing their Congressman. If you want to play favorites and persecute me for stating the facts as they are, then so be it. That would be the demeanor of a 10-year old.

 

I don’t want an apology, I don’t want to be having this fight. What I want is to fight for is the people of the 6^th Congressional District and what is important to them. The rest of it is just semantics. Call me when you’re ready to talk about the issues.

I do want to stress the last paragraph. The only fight I need partake in is the fight for the people of the 6th District. I will however defend myself and have a backbone in this race. It’s not in my nature to just roll over or bite my tongue.

I don’t care what your party affiliation is or if you have one. What I do care about is what the current representation is failing to deliver you- hard working Americans and their families. When the elitist and the rich get richer, the inevitable result is you, the middle class and the poor, get screwed. That needs to change and fast. It needs to change for the countless who go unemployed and not by choice. It needs to change for the farmers that can’t make ends meet no matter how hard they try. It needs to change for our older generation that counted on pensions that dried up and retirement funds that had to be sucked dry to survive. It needs to change for college students that study hard for years to find an empty jobs market and large loans to pay off. It needs to change and I don’t care what party you are loyal to. Your problems are real problems that need real, long term solutions and not political band aids applied to ease the pain in the short term.

I don’t have to tell you any more, you know better then anybody. You’re living with these problems every day. While the fat cats get even fatter, you continue to struggle to get by. Help is here with me. If you decide to elect me, and I think you will, that help will be coming!

Posted by Jay under Issues & Opposition & Press | 2 Comments »

Monday night at 8pm, I will be live blogging at BlueNC.  I look forward to the conversation and questions I will face.  This is my first live blogging event as a candidate for Congress.  See you all there.

Posted by Jay under Press | Comments Off

Seth Steele and then myself at my press conference on November 15th, 2007. Seth was reading a statement from Sgt Brandon Bean who had fallen very ill and was bed ridden. Seth also read Sgt Bean’s prepared speech in his place. Then it was my turn to make it official.

Posted by Jay under Announcements | Comments Off