“She is more concerned about her reelection than helping people. She actively discourages any government attempt to stimulate development. This may explain why only three of 12 counties in the 5th District are targeted for new broadband infrastructure and access funding. We need a representative in Washington who helps bring jobs back home, not someone who actively discourages that! … [Foxx] cheer leads a business culture where the rich and well-connected get richer while employees, shareholders and customers get left in the dirt.”
– Billy Kennedy, who plans to unseat reactionary, ineffective Virginia Foxx from her U.S. House seat.
In my state’s 5th Congressional district we are “blessed” with one of the worst possible human beings representing constituents, Virginia Foxx. She is not only ignorant, uninformed and an embarrassment to the entire state, but she lacks simple human empathy toward others. I called her evil to the core for her floor speech declaring Matthew Shepard’s hate crime murder a hoax, and never truly apologizing for Judy Shepard, who was in the gallery to listen to the lying bile emitting from the Congresswoman.
But make no mistake — this is unfortunately a conservative district, one that is ill-served by Foxx. She needs to go, and Billy Kennedy has stepped up to the challenge and he filed to run this morning.
Does he have a chance? The stars are aligning for change because she hasn’t been able to garner the fringe teabaggers, a real one — Republican Brad Smith (a big fan of Glenn Beck btw) is running as a third party candidate. That means all Billy Kennedy has to do is draw a small slice, maybe 10%, of GOP voters his way he will easily bump Foxx off of her wingnut horse.
Howie Klein did a great piece on Kennedy, interviewing him to show that unseating Foxx will bring the kind of change to the 5th that it needs. Howie on how the change is needed because of DEM strategists who think Foxx is a good foil for them — enough to leave the residents of the 5th stuck with garbage in-garbage out Foxx.
As I mentioned in November when I first heard that Smith was taking on the wild-eyed hellion, there is no list existent of the half dozen most lunatic fringe members of Congress that doesn’t include this homophobic sociopath. I have literally been in strategy sessions where Democrats have said that her bizarre and extremist presence in Congress does them more good than harm and that there’s no reason to run any candidates against her since she is probably the single least effective member of Congress and a warning signal to moderates across party lines that, at its core, the Republican Party offers nothing but extremism, fanaticism and a world turned upside down by ignorance, hatred and fear.
This is the kind of “support” that tells you Kennedy needs and deserves netroots support if that is what Dems call “strategy.” Kennedy:
Dishonest politicians try to divide us and pit us against each other in order to win an election on wedge issues. Politicians of both political parties emphasize wedge issues so they can distract us and avoid talking about the serious problems we face. It is a tactic used to confuse us in order to hide how they really vote about bread and butter issues.
More and better jobs, a commitment to Medicare and Social Security, real discussions about whether or not we should commit our young people and our nation to war, health care reform, and the failure of bailouts and subsidies to corporations are not wedge issues.
I will not run a wedge campaign. I want to focus on what all of us can do to improve our lives. I plan to listen to my constituents and hear what’s important to them because I respect other people’s points of view. I will not allow my opponent to play “gotcha” politics on these questions of individual liberty.
I want to make it clear. I support freedom and equal rights for all people. I will protect all individual constitutional rights, without allowing politicians to pick and choose which Amendments deserve to be taken seriously.
Even when a candidate or political party wins an election through the use of a wedge issue, once they arrive in Washington they do nothing to further its cause. That is when it becomes painfully clear that the candidate never had any real commitment to the issue itself. The candidate simply used the issue to try to fool the people and win the election at any cost.
And looks at this breath of fresh air:
Washington isn’t working because people there are greedy. They’ve forgotten what real Americans learn every day of our working lives that we expect real value for the money we pay. So we’re paying taxes, and not getting value back for our dollar. Instead of working on real reform in banking or health care or farm policy, Congress wastes time debating toothless laws, written by lobbyists, for the very industries the laws are meant to regulate.I believe we must replace the culture of corruption in Washington with a renewed culture of service. That’s why my campaign will tithe 10 percent of our volunteer hours directly to local charities.
I’ve worked all my life. I haven’t spent time rubbing elbows with celebrities and paid lobbyists, and I don’t intend to start now. This country has real problems that affect my family and my neighbors’ families, and I want to go to Washington to work on real solutions.
As I said above, don’t look for the DCCC to do ANYTHING to help Kennedy. I’m sick of pols up in Washington deciding to throw whole districts overboard as Red, particularly since districts will be redrawn and the general population in NC is growing more progressive, not more conservative. Is the DCCC incapable of long term strategic thinking?
It’s time to stop the Beltway architects of failure. We’ve seen enough of that crap. That’s why, if you feel so inclined, can donate to Billy Kennedy’s campaign directly through ActBlue.
Billy Kennedy is a popular radio talk show host– and a farmer and carpenter– with a fiery populist message that sounds a lot like the saner noises coming from the Tea Party movement– but without the racism, hatred, and Fox-stoked paranoia. Kennedy’s speaking authentically for working Americans like himself– and that could spell real trouble for Big Business shill Virginia Foxx.
Billy Kennedy’s web site:billykennedyforcongress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/billy4wnc




“She is more concerned about her reelection than helping people. She actively discourages any government attempt to stimulate development. This may explain why only three of 12 counties in the 5th District are targeted for new broadband infrastructure and access funding. We need a representative in Washington who helps bring jobs back home, not someone who actively discourages that! … [Foxx] cheer leads a business culture where the rich and well-connected get richer while employees, shareholders and customers get left in the dirt.”
Dishonest politicians try to divide us and pit us against each other in order to win an election on wedge issues. Politicians of both political parties emphasize wedge issues so they can distract us and avoid talking about the serious problems we face. It is a tactic used to confuse us in order to hide how they really vote about bread and butter issues.
10 Comments





the district certainly deserves decent and fair representation for a change,but i have to tell you i winced when i read the religious phrase “tithe 10%”, and i question the viability of any campaign that uses its volunteers for anything other than winning. perhaps he should reconsider and instead pledge to tithe 10% of his own congressional salary to a neutral non-profit or better yet, the state’s primary education budget.
it’s a worthy questionto ask the candidate. I hope to get him to do a live blog.
DisagreeIn a district where the DCCC wouldn’t pony up a measley $10K to jump-start a great candidate in 2008 (not this guy, but another), the volunteer aspect is key to making connections and getting out the vote.
Mountain populism in western NC is quite real, and its still potent appeal reaches across party lines – perhaps more so in this anti-Wall Street cycle.
This guy is trying something different in a tough district. Rest assured any headway he makes will help down-ballot races that could determine the balance of power in the NC legislature (Congressional redistricting, marriage amendment, etc.)
Get behind him.
I am sure he will get the 10%Virginia looked like a naive fool asking President Obama for his autograph. Didn ‘t go over big with the GOP. Another factor, many white men in Western North Carolina mountains are named Billy, after Billy Graham. I like his yellow labs.
SUCH GOOD NEWS…. now we can OUT the FOXX!
And he has TWO pick-up trucks!
Granted a doorknob would be better than FoxxSo the bar isn’t even ankle high for Kennedy to leap over.
I have voted for Yellow Dog Democrats in my past, and funded a couple Blue dogs which haven’t seemed a very good return on the money….so far.
In a conservative district I understand being cautious of speaking about issues that your rivals would easily smear you with. It doesn’t mean I like when our issues, and probably Choice are relagated to the dare not speak catagory.
The word tithe jumped out at me, and hope it wasn’t code words.
Granted a doorknob would be better than FoxxSo the bar isn’t even ankle high for Kennedy to leap over.
I have voted for Yellow Dog Democrats in my past, and funded a couple Blue dogs which haven’t seemed a very good return on the money….so far.
In a conservative district I understand being cautious of speaking about issues that your rivals would easily smear you with. It doesn’t mean I like when our issues, and probably Choice are relagated to the dare not speak catagory.
The word tithe jumped out at me, and hope it wasn’t code words.
I’m glad Kennedy is runningas someone who was born & raised in the 5th district (until I moved to the state’s capital for college – I’m in grad school now) I would really really really like to see that hatemonger lose her office.
Facebook groupgiven that this campaign is making regular use of their facebook group (it was basically their campaign website up until a week ago) I thought it warranted sharing:
Billy Kennedy for Congress
http://www.facebook.com/group….