If you are planning to attend the National Republican Convention in Minneapolis, you may also consider registering for the GOP Youth Convention. Here are some details from the organizers about this exciting opportunity:

Do you know an outstanding student or other young person who might like to attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis at the end of August?

GOP Youth Convention has a special program designed for potential Republican leaders that would like to attend the Convention at an affordable cost.

Along with the unparalleled opportunities that the Convention offers to network with Republican leaders from around the Country, we will feature a top-notch educational program. This program will focus on both the key issues of 2008 and the most advanced grassroots campaign skills, which young people can use as leaders in their own campuses and communities.

For those unable to attend the entire convention, a special Labor Day Weekend package is available.

For more information, please contact our office in Washington DC at info@gopyouthconvention.org or (202) 544-7525.

You can also visit our website at www.gopyouthconvention.org.

Thanks for your interest in building the next generation of Republican leaders.

Sincerely,
The GOP Youth Convention Team

JOIN AMERICA’S NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS!

COME TO THE 2008 GOP NATIONAL CONVENTION!

GOP Youth Convention is a special project of the Kern County CA Republican Party and is not affiliated with the Republican National Committee or any Federal Candidate.

Pat McCrory, candidate for Governor, recently spoke to a large crowd in Hendersonville, after his visit to Asheville.  A major focus of his campaign is bringing jobs to North Carolina and reducing our taxes.  Watch the video, by Richard Bernier.  View this and many other videos on our Video Gallery page.

“If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?” - Jesse Helms, 1959

The Associated Press reports:

Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86.

“It’s just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in the mold of those great men,” said former North Carolina GOP Rep. Bill Cobey, the chairman of The Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C.

Helms died at 1:15 a.m, the center said. He died in Raleigh of natural causes, said former chief of staff Jimmy Broughton.

Read the full story from the Associated Press. [AP Photo by Joe Marquette]

As was recently reported in the Asheville Citizen-Times, 2 Buncombe County School Board members will not be seeking re-election. The North Buncombe district representative and the Owen district representative will be vacating their seats. We are looking for 2 good Republicans to run for those positions. The deadline for filing is August 1st.

If you or anyone you know is interested, please contact chairman@buncombegop.org so that we can discuss how the Buncombe County Republican Party can work with you on your campaign.

Remember, Positive Change Begins Locally. If you want to make a real difference in the future of our community, please consider running for this important office!

Stephen Duncan, our 11th District Republican Chairman, sent the following important message on how we can make a difference as Republicans in the 11th District.

Dear Fellow Republicans:

I would ask you to take a moment and consider any of the alternatives to the Republican aspirations for our communities.  There are NONE that provide opportunity, hope, fairness and ultimately a better today and tomorrow for our families, friends and those we leave the future too.

We, or a majority of those who understand the Republican dreams for our nation and beyond, agree substantially that we lost in 2006 for at least two reasons. I know there are other suggested reasons but these two seemed to be the root of the dissatisfaction:  1) The Republican Party was held to a higher standard because our Party offered a higher standard and when Party leaders failed to honor our agenda, becoming in many circumstances, no different than the Democrats, the voters were hurt and mad and took out their frustrations and disappointments against our Party and leadership; and 2)  We must as a Party, re-establish ourselves as the Party of values, moral and ethical, a Party that can lead by principle and not politics as usual.

WE HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT, OFFERING REAL CHANGE TO THE BUSINESS AS USUAL APPROACH, AND PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN AND WILL MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE TO ALL!

There are many ways to present new ideas and without a doubt there are POSITIVE PRESENTATIONS that will get out our message of enthusiastic hope as well as inspire people to follow.
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The Buncombe County Republican Party enthusiastically welcomed a new Membership Director, Gary Shoemaker and new Buncombe County Young Republicans President, Crystal McDonald to the organization this week at their monthly Executive Committee meeting. Both Shoemaker and McDonald are part of a wave of newly energized political activists who have turned to the Republican Party as a vehicle for positive change in their community.

Dr. Timothy Johnson, Chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party, has actively recruited new members with a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints since his election in March. “Buncombe County is a diverse and growing community. The strength of our party and of our county depends on encouraging new people with new ways of thinking to participate.”

Gary Shoemaker is a Vietnam War Veteran and a former Candidate for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania. He recently served as the Asheville grassroots campaign coordinator for Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul. As Membership Director, Shoemaker will reach out to new residents, new Republicans, unaffiliated voters, and young people who support Republican principles such as smaller government, lower taxes, and individual liberty.

Crystal McDonald, local business owner and newly registered Republican, was recruited by Shoemaker to head up the Young Republicans.

“We have more and more young people wanting to participate and looking for a forum where they can discuss the issues that are important to them.” Johnson said. “As Republicans, we all share the same common principles, but young people have a fresh perspective that needs to be heard.”

[Photo by Max Cooper]

A report issued by an independent organization, Environment North Carolina, indicated that Representative Bruce Goforth, D-Buncombe County (District 115), has the lowest environmental voting score of anyone in either the North Carolina House or Senate. Goforth scored 20% overall for 2007 based on issues such as restricting landfills, promoting solar power, and removing incentives for coal and nuclear plants. Goforth’s voting record on a majority of issues was considered to be “anti-environment” by the organization.

Paul Purdue, Republican candidate for House District 115 released a statement in response to this report, stating, “This should indicate to voters that just because Bruce calls himself an environmentalist does not make him one. Bruce Goforth touts his credentials, yet the independent group’s audit proves he has none when it comes to the environment.”

Read the full press release from Paul Purdue’s campaign.

Active BCGOP member and president of the Blue Ridge Republican Women’s Club, Dorothea Alderfer, had a letter to the editor in yesterday’s Asheville Citizen-Times. There are many pressing issues facing our country and our community. It is vitally important that we all participate in these public debates. Thanks, Dorothea, for making your voice heard!

Rep. Heath Shuler will disappoint us again. He will not vote to allow oil drilling offshore. His local office told me this. I hope he does not vote for the bill in the House that would allow our government to take over our oil refineries. I also hope he will not vote with Maxine Waters, who told the president of the big oil companies that she wanted to take them over.

Until we have a preponderance of geophysicists in our Congress, we better leave the business of oil exploration, production and refining to those who know how. We must be free and independent of foreign sources of oil.

Read the full letter in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

[Photo by Max Cooper]

URTV, Asheville’s Public Access Channel, has some great GOP coverage planned for this week.

Monday:
7:30am - Sit down with Carl Mumpower
8:30am - Mumpower speaks out
10:00am - Citizens Speak
3:00pm - Sit down with Carl Mumpower

Tuesday:
7:30pm - Citizens Speak “Live Show”
9:30pm - State GOP Convention 30min preview

Wednesday:
12:00am - State Gop Convention 30min preview

Thursday:
7:30pm - Buncombe County Ladies GOP Picnic 90 mins

Friday:
9:00pm - State GOP Convention 30min preview

Saturday:
1:00pm -  Buncombe County Ladies GOP Picnic 90 mins

Senator Elizabeth Dole, one of NC’s 2 U.S. Senators, is up for re-election this November.  Check out her campaign website at www.elizabethdole.org.  Senator Dole’s campaign committee sent out the following update:

Dole Exposes Her Opponent’s Empty Rhetoric versus Real Record

Atlantic Beach, NC – Today, Senator Elizabeth Dole took the opportunity at a forum, sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association, to discuss how she has fought hard for all North Carolinians during her time in the U.S. Senate.  Dole mentioned a handful of her successes; including the first in the nation statewide illegal immigration enforcement plan, protecting and expanding our bases while adding thousands of jobs, and saving North Carolina hospitals from hundreds of millions in Medicaid cuts.   However, as is commonplace throughout the campaign so far, her opponent took some liberty with facts, tried to misrepresent Dole’s record, and attempted to gloss over her own failed record in the State Legislature.

During her opening remarks, Mrs. Hagan commented, “You only have to look at what kind of state senator I have been to know what kind of U.S. Senator I will be.”   Hogan Gidley, Communications Director said, “While Kay Hagan was in the State Legislature, North Carolina budgets increased by $8.1 Billion, she voted for just about every tax increase imaginable, and she voted to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses.  We agree, that is the kind of U.S. Senator Mrs. Hagan would be, and that is not what voters want in North Carolina.”

Mrs. Hagan also misrepresented the facts by claiming the 287g Illegal Immigration enforcement plan is an unfunded federal mandate when in fact it is voluntary and funded with federal dollars.  Mrs. Hagan also claimed that “We’re doing things right” referring to education in North Carolina.  Unfortunately most folks would disagree that our states’ extremely high drop-rate is ‘doing things right.’”