Issues at forefront of race to take Dole's senate seat
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By: Rebecca Putterman, Assistant State & National Editor
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: State & National
Republican Elizabeth Dole's seat in the U.S. Senate has six challengers, two of whom have been campaigning hard against each other in the months leading up to the May 6 Democratic primary.
They are the Democrats who are trying to turn a red state blue, and their policy differences are stark enough to determine how blue that blue will be.
Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill businessman and UNC alumnus, and N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, have stepped up to challenge the status quo - both of North Carolina's current senators are Republican.
An April 14 Rasmussen report shows that Dole is leading Hagan 52 to 39 percent and is ahead of Neal 51 to 37.
Yet Neal and Hagan have complained equally regarding Dole's disconnect from her own constituency, claiming that she never comes home to truly represent the people.
"We want somebody to represent North Carolina's values, and I know what those values are having listened to people across the state for the last 10 years in this position," Hagan said in a recent interview.
But Neal, who has never been in politics before and has sworn not to take any special interest or PAC money - something that Hagan calls "unrealistic" - claims that Hagan is of the same brand of politician as Dole.
"We have to come up with a different cast of characters, and we're not going to fix it by sending a senator from Raleigh to try and replace a senator in Washington," Neal said in a recent interview, adding that the fact of the matter is that people in elected office, be it Raleigh or Washington, are not listening to their constituents.
Having traveled to 70 counties since his campaign began in October, and with 15,000 miles on his speedometer since February, Neal has learned that North Carolinians are mainly upset about one thing: the economy.
Neal said that people across the state have been talking to him regarding concerns about job security, health care costs, losing their homes and tax burdens.
They are the Democrats who are trying to turn a red state blue, and their policy differences are stark enough to determine how blue that blue will be.
Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill businessman and UNC alumnus, and N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, have stepped up to challenge the status quo - both of North Carolina's current senators are Republican.
An April 14 Rasmussen report shows that Dole is leading Hagan 52 to 39 percent and is ahead of Neal 51 to 37.
Yet Neal and Hagan have complained equally regarding Dole's disconnect from her own constituency, claiming that she never comes home to truly represent the people.
"We want somebody to represent North Carolina's values, and I know what those values are having listened to people across the state for the last 10 years in this position," Hagan said in a recent interview.
But Neal, who has never been in politics before and has sworn not to take any special interest or PAC money - something that Hagan calls "unrealistic" - claims that Hagan is of the same brand of politician as Dole.
"We have to come up with a different cast of characters, and we're not going to fix it by sending a senator from Raleigh to try and replace a senator in Washington," Neal said in a recent interview, adding that the fact of the matter is that people in elected office, be it Raleigh or Washington, are not listening to their constituents.
Having traveled to 70 counties since his campaign began in October, and with 15,000 miles on his speedometer since February, Neal has learned that North Carolinians are mainly upset about one thing: the economy.
Neal said that people across the state have been talking to him regarding concerns about job security, health care costs, losing their homes and tax burdens.
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