Aiken for new voters

by | Apr 21, 2014 | 2014 Elections, Congressional Races, Democrats, NC Politics | 12 comments

Last week, here on PoliticsNC, Matt Phillippi made the case that Democrat Keith Crisco is the better candidate to face Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers in the race for North Carolina’s Second Congressional District. Matt argues that Crisco can pull moderate to conservative voters in the rural district that his primary opponent, former American Idol star Clay Aiken, could not. Crisco’s model, though, assumes a traditional turnout, something national Democrats are hoping to change. 

In yesterday’s Washington Post, Dan Balz explains that to hold onto the Senate, Democrats are hoping to change the midterm electorate. In a nutshell, they want to make it younger and browner. Getting those voters to the polls, though, is a monumental task. 

A candidate like Clay Aiken is much more likely to appeal the voters Democrats want to see on Election Day than Keith Crisco. As today’s profile of the race in the News & Observer points out, “Where Aiken is animated, funny and articulate, Crisco is slow, quiet and authoritative.” In reaching and motivating voters, Aiken could be a draw. A vote for Crisco would be more of a deliberative decision.

In addition, pollster Stan Greenberg and Democracy Corps say that the key to changing the electorate is unmarried women. To energize them, Democrats need to focus on a more populist message. Instead of talking about the economic recovery, Democrats should be talking about economic disparity, especially as it impacts women.  

Aiken is a better messenger to deliver that message. Raised by a single mom, he has a rags to riches story that plays well with women and those still struggling in the economy. With his ability to connect to audiences, he offers the type of emotional appeal necessary to motivate voters, particularly those who feel left out of the recovery. 

For either Democrat to win, they will have to steal the election and will need a break, such as change in the national mood or a gaffe by the Congresswoman. Crisco, though, would steal it by winning traditionally conservative voters. Aiken would steal it by changing the electorate in such a way that he helps Democrats up and down the ballot. 

12 Comments

  1. Teri Dunn

    Well, I’m a young, single woman & Clay’s certainly got my vote. I’m usually Independent, but a friend invited me to an event where Clay spoke & I was so impressed (& surprised that I was impressed!) that I went home & read & watched all the interviews with him I could find from the last few months. He’s quite genuine & more than any other candidate in this race, speaks about the things that are important to me & my military family. I believe he will do his best to accomplish his goals… for us. And if he doesn’t, we can always vote him out next time, right?

  2. Chris Telesca

    Pat: It’s not for you or me to decide who is the right candidate for 02 – that is for the PRIMARY VOTERS in 02 to decide. And I find the folks behind the attacks on the current NCDP leadership are the same old folks tied to big money and stale ideas that you complain about.

    You can say Clay brings fresh air – but is that what ordinary citizens need? Don’t they really need experienced people who will actually listen to the ordinary citizens? New faces without talent or skills in governance might not always be able to deliver the goods.

    If Cicso wins the primary – will you support him in the General Election?

    There is lots to provide. NCDP is providing training all around the state. But remember – NCDP and the county parties have to do more than just get candidates elected to public office. They have administrative duties as well – credentialing officers and delegates.

    You can’t have a party structure without doing the administrative work. That’s sort of like the work the folks do at the County Boards of Elections – they process voter registration forms and keep track of who lives where and gets to vote for which candidates. Or do you really think that administrative work isn’t needed in elections or our Democratic Party?

    There needs to be some basic working structure before we get back to being an majority party. You can’t just focus on winning elections with nothing else going on in terms of support work. Or are you just another person pushing “electoralitis”?

  3. Chris Telesca

    First off – I live in the 13th, so I support my candidates. I just wish that other folks who also live in the 13th would support our candidates as well.

    How a person talks or speaks doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me and doesn’t tell me how they will be able to do the job of working in a deliberative body. I’d rather see how well they do at lower-level public offices before they reach so high.

    Right now I want to see the Democratic primary voters decide who the right people are to get elected. That’s how it’s decided – not who Marie or Nonee or me or anyone else personally think is the right person. That’s how democracy is supposed to work.

    Pat Ferguson – not sure exactly what you thought I promised you. Perhaps you asked for something, but asking doesn’t mean I have to respond to you. Or even if I did, that you would be happy with my response. I believe the context was that a District Chair was floating around yet another useless and frivolous petition to remove Randy Voller because that person’s candidate didn’t get elected. Or perhaps because someone wanted Randy to hire them for a job that they didn’t get hired for. The interesting thing is that a petition to remove the Chair has to be submitted to the 1st Vice Chair and then voted on by the rest of the elected state party officers before being forwarded to the Council of Review? Yet another petition against the Chair went nowhere because it was frivolous waste of time.

    Or maybe the reason why the petition didn’t get forwarded was might have been because the person who submitted the petition didn’t have the standing to submit it?

    • Pat Ferguson

      Chris…my question to you was: What has the NCDP done in the past 6 months to get Democrats elected in North Carolina.
      Your reply was: Plenty.
      I then asked you to provide me with some tangible proof, not rhetoric. You said you could and would.
      I was delighted to hear this – but, you’ve provided nothing because there is nothing to provide. You spend too much time with the type of analysis and comments above than you do trying to right the party and get Democrats elected.
      But, honestly, I didn’t expect anything from you except what you always deliver – negativity.
      Further – Clay Aiken is the right one for 02 – we don’t need the same old, same old tied to big money and stale ideas candidates in NC – we need fresh air and knowledge of what the “ordinary” citizen needs – without the $$ ties.

  4. Marie

    According to his interview on WRAL’s “On the Record” on Saturday, April 19, 2014, he sold his house to run for this office. He isn’t looking for a job, but to be an advocate for all people by filing a void in the lack of representation in Washington. Perhaps Chris Telesca should watch it and learn from it. He also has a nonprofit organization to help children with disabilities. He does treat voters with respect and if someone wants to be invited to a Democratic grassroots event, then perhaps they should present themselves as being a Democrat that wants to help get the right people elected

  5. Pat Ferguson

    I have met Clay Aiken twice – he is who and what he says he is. His message is clear and his knowledge of issues is deep – he is NOT a politician as we know politicians – he asks, “What do you want as a constituent? What do YOU need for me to do to help you? What do YOU think is the major issue we confront? – those type of questions. Over and above that – he isn’t dirty with someone’s $$ or obligated to any group for payback – he is the one we need in DC.

    As for Chris Telesca – you promised me on FB 3 weeks ago to post what the NCDP has done this past 6 months to get Democrats elected in NC – as of today – you’ve posted nothing. Your negative comments and attitude do absolutely nothing toward a common Democratic goal in NC – why don’t you become a leader and give up following the same old exclusion attitude that has plagued the cohesiveness of our party in this state.

  6. Nonee

    According to most articles I have read, people are surprised when they hear Clay Aiken speak. They are very impressed at how knowledgeable and articulate he is. I am surprised at how many people want him to fail without even listening to him. Just listen to one of his interviews.

    • Chris Telesca

      Would a candidate who was deaf and dumb and had to sign or needed an interpreter not be a good candidate compared with someone who could speak for themselves and had a great voice?

      I’d frankly judge a candidate not on their “rags to riches” story but what they have done that gets them ready for public office. After watching consultants handle and package one impressive newbie after another to run for office – call me unconvinced. If I lived in the 2nd, I’d be voting for Crisco because I believe he has the experience and maturity for the job. But I don’t live in the 2nd, so my opinion really doesn’t matter. I live in the 13th congressional district.

  7. Bonnie Ruttan

    “Coming in second on American Idol” is not Clay Aikens message. Maybe you should watch his announcement video. He speaks of being raised by a single mom, having an abusive father, struggling to make ends meet. He has worked with special needs children and served with UNICEF in troubled areas of the world. He is no lightweight. He has always believed in serving

  8. Alex Jones

    My concern would be that District 2 just doesn’t have many Obama-coalition voters. Admittedly, I don’t know the stats for the district, but it doesn’t seem like Republicans would have left us much to work with. (Note also that it swings around David Prices’s desingated-Democrat district.) That said, maybe Aiken has what it takes anyway. Renee “I need my paycheck” Ellmers is truly awful.

  9. Chris Telesca

    You think that AIken’s “rags to riches” story (coming in second on “American Idol”) plays well with single unmarried women?

    They may be younger and browner and not all that experienced in politics, but they aren’t stupid. They know you are trying to sell them something that benefits YOU when you can get them to vote for your “client” (the candidate). And they know that once you get them to vote, you don’t give a damn about them till the next election.

    That is one of the problems with “electoralitis” – the focus on this one single important election – and with constant 24/7/365 campaigns that never end. OFA leaders thought they could take those voters and turn them into Obama-bot super volunteers who would vote for Obama when he was on the ballot and be advocates for Obama’s agenda “du jour” in between elections. That didn’t work out so well. Those voters stayed home in 2009, 2010, and 2011. And while some of them came back in 2012, it wasn’t enough to work in NC.

    I’ll tell you what would work – treating those voters with respect and inviting them into the Democratic Party to build it from the grassroots up. Give those volunteers a voice the other 364 days a year when there isn’t an election by getting them involved at the precinct, county, district and state level. Let them vote for party officers, and submit and vote on resolutions that get turned into the party platform.

    • Debbie liebers

      Chris,??? Clay is, by far, the best candidate for this seat. Have you talked to him? I urge you to do so as I just know he is someone you can support

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