T-Rod

Location: Newport, NC
My Story: On the first Tuesday of March 2004, my husband, Buddy, and I attended our first Carteret County Democratic Party meeting. My goal was to find out what we as Democrats intended to do about the 7 member, all GOP, Carteret County Board of Commissioners? Well, in May 2004, I was elected as Delegate for John Edwards, and I attended the convention in Boston during July 2004. That was that...I had been bitten by the political bug! During the summer and fall of 2004, we campaigned hard on the national and local level as we had 3 seats up for grabs on the Board of Commissioners. Things didn't turn out well nationally that year as you know, and they didn't turn out well locally either. Carteret County lost over 4000 votes including my husbands and mine. We didn't win any seats on the Board of Commissioners. This may discourage most folks, but not me...remember, I had been bitten. We immediately formed a non-partisan grassroots organization, Carteret Coalition for Verifiable Voting, and demanded our voting machines be replaced with voter verifiable paper ballots. They were eventually, and now we have new optiscan machines with paper ballots! Additionally, we worked hard in 2005 trying to restructure and organize and plan for 2006. We ran another hard campaign during this past election, and ran 3 candidates, including myself, for County Commissioner. Although I had a good showing of support at nearly 40%, as did another candidate, we only had one Democratic candidate win anything, our new Democratic County Commissioner Wade Nelms! And remember those paper ballots...well, they paid off. We counted, and recounted, and it was as close as 1 vote at one time!! YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT!!! This lesson we have learned. GO VOTE AND TAKE SOMEONE WITH YOU!! While I did regret losing the race for County Commissioner, I was not ready to go home with my tail tucked between my legs…not me. Remember, I was bitten already! It's 2007; I am ready for the rubber to hit the road! I have formed the Crystal Coast One Corps and am already campaigning for Senator Edwards. My whole reason for even attending that first meeting was because I wanted to make a difference. Well, I have made a difference and so can you. Join your local One Corps and take action today to make your community a better place to live. Join John Edwards campaign for President and let's work together to take back our country. Do it now. Do it today. Tomorrow begins Today!!! www.johnedwards.com
Birth Date: August 24th
Issues: Civil Liberties; Civil Rights; Economic Growth; Education; Election Reform; Energy Policy; Environment; Good Government; Healthcare; Military Issues; National Security; Retirement Security
Registered to Vote: Yes
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Political Identification: Progressive

"Silence is betrayal" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.