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Saturday: Mr. Neal
posted at 2007-10-06 22:40 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
Even as I write this, Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal should be telling his fellow Dems at the Vance-Aycock Dinner that he's challenging Dole in '08. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Asheville tonight.
I can't tell you how nice it is to finally have a name to put with the rumors. I heard several weeks ago that an unnamed Chapel Hill Dem fundraiser who'd never run for office before would take on Dole for the Senate. But no one I talked to could come up with a plausible name. Plenty were floated, but Jim Neal's was not among them.
"John Q. Democrat"?
Well, maybe. (Rampant speculation alert...)
As recent polls have shown, when it comes down to name alone, not even Dean Smith can beat Elizabeth Dole. That's bad news if you're banking on name rec, but it's no big loss if no one knows who you are, anyway. After the primary, name recognition pretty much ceases to matter for Dems. They won't win it as much as Dole will lose it - and that's good news for relative unknowns like Neal.
What might matter more than name is the ability to raise a lot of money in a hurry - something Jim Neal might be able to do. Last month, state Dem chair Jerry Meek told me the Dem nominee can expect plenty of out-of-state support. But with five Senate Rs now stepping aside, it's hard to see national Dems sinking money into beating a name-brand incumbent when open races are waiting to be won. So I'm betting fundraising chops will be more important in the end than Meek says.
Everyone in...
Last we've heard, Wake Rep. Grier Martin and Guilford Sen. Kay Hagan were both interested, but both had been hesitating in hopes of avoiding a potentially costly and damaging primary. Well, so much for that.
So the only question now is who speaks up first...and with the money race now on, there's nothing to be gained by delay. I'm betting the next hat will hit the ring by midweek, and it'll be Grier Martin's. Unlike the more established Sen Hagan, Martin can't afford to start this race in third...if he's still running. We'll find out.
Comments? Drop me a line.
