Firstly, I want to thank you for supporting my Senatorial campaign. While we did not get the votes to take us over the top we did make a strong impact by reinforcing what’s possible when a small band of voices comes together in a grass roots movement. I am proud of the campaign we ran, energized by only five paid staff members and an outpouring of volunteers and netroots supporters—all on a budget of but $400,000. Local blogger and journalist Ed Cone paid us a high compliment in remarking that “the Jim Neal campaign seems to be redefining the art of grassroots politics in North Carolina.” We did.

Without detracting from Kay Hagan’s decisive victory, we were in a dead-heat in the SurveyUSA poll just one month prior to the election. In the final 30 days, we simply lacked the financial resources to air a single television commercial or send a direct mail piece to voters. In spite of being outspent about 3:1, we received almost 20% (about 250,000) of the votes cast. No regrets here—and neither should there be for the thousands of you who made this campaign so vibrant. We touched many people across our state and nation.

As I have previously stated (see below), Kay has my full support in her bid to unseat Senator Elizabeth Dole. I hope you will entrust her with yours.

Now that the primary is behind us, I am working to do everything possible to retire the approximate $130,000 in debt which our campaign has outstanding. About $120,000 of that debt is for personal loans I extended out of my pocket— and I’m not a wealthy person. I will not receive a nickel until other creditors are paid first. And if I lose every penny I lent our campaign so be it. I have no regrets at all.

At the same time I’d greatly appreciate your contributing toward retiring our debt through your continued generosity- at whatever level you can afford to contribute. You can contribute online to our Debt Retirement Fund at http://www.actblue.com/page/jimnealdebtretirement or by mailing a check to PO Box 697, Chapel Hill, NC. Please make checks payable to Jim Neal for Senate and notate “debt retirement”.

The total cumulative contributions to Jim Neal for Senate by any individual can not exceed $2,300. I have not and do not accept contributions from Political Action Committees (”PACs”).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Keep in touch and I’ll do likewise.

Yours,

Jim Neal

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Firstly, I want to again congratulate Senator Hagan on her nomination as the candidate to beat US Senator Dole in the 2008 senatorial race. I have told Kay that she has my full support and encourage you to work hard on her behalf.

To the staff, volunteers and bloggers who made our campaign so vibrant I thank you. We were a lean organization running a 21st century grass roots campaign. We took almost 20% (about 250,000) of the votes cast despite our lack of resources and the fact that nobody in NC had a clue who Jim Neal was seven months ago. I am very proud of each and every person who volunteered their time and contributed to our campaign.

I’ve become even more energized by the prospect of online communication as the emergent Fifth Estate. Online activism is the future of politics and social change. I believe that the power of the blogosphere is only at the tip of the iceberg (and that iceberg is melting…) so keep your involvement and your voices in the debate.

Remember that the campaign was never about Jim Neal. It was about you. You are the voices of change. Change is only going to come from the bottom up.

Many of you have emailed me and asked “what’s next?” Well, I’ve got a lot of people to thank and a campaign to wind down. Thereafter I’m taking some time, after six months and 35,000 miles on the road and not much sleep and too many pounds shed, to reflect. I don’t know what the next chapter in my life will be. I do know, however, it will involve continuing to work for empowering the voiceless many most in need. I have heard them. They have made me a richer person. They still have my ear and I’m not about to walk away from them.

We all have a lot of work to do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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ASHEVILLE – U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal said North Carolinians have been served by “career politicians” for too long.

“I think it’s time for us to have new people, fresh faces, new ideas and different backgrounds,” Neal, a financial adviser from Chapel Hill, said at a rally Thursday in Asheville.

Neal mingled with about 50 people at Asheville Brewing Co. as part of his last swing through Western North Carolina before Tuesday’s primary.

He is one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to run against first-term U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

If elected, Neal said he would continue to come back to North Carolina to take issues most important to voters back with him to Washington.

The top issues Neal said he’s heard while campaigning include the economy, health insurance and the war in Iraq.

“I would not vote for any more open-ended funding until the next administration either unilaterally or in consultation with Congress agrees to give the following order to our military authorities: Bring our troops home quickly and safely,” Neal said.

Read the full article at citizen-times.com

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From Murphy to Manteo, our campaign has relied on the grassroots to help deliver our message of North Carolina values: equality, opportunity, and fair play, and now, more than ever, we need the grassroots to bring this campaign to the finish line.

Now, we need your help. With over 1 million people expected to vote, and more than 50% of the electorate undecided, we can win this election. But, we have to win it on the ground. That is why I need you to take the materials below to your local polling place. Talk to voters about our campaign, and give them this simple message: if we want a voice that speaks for North Carolina, not the special interests in Washington or Raleigh, we need Jim Neal.

Thanks, I know I can count on you.

Election Day and Early Vote Literature [PDF] to print out and distribute at your local polling place.

Election Day Instructions [PDF] to help guide you at your local polling place.

Basic Talking Points [PDF] you can use to help persuade voters in your community to vote for Jim

Please let us know where you plan on helping, so we can allocate our resources:

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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(Greensboro, NC) U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal convincingly won the U.S. Senate debate at UNC-Greensboro tonight. The debate, sponsored by SpartanTV, is the only televised debate of the primary season. Neal, a small business and economic development expert, clearly bested his primary opponents on both style and substance.

Neal brought his grassroots campaign’s message of change to the debate.

“People are tired of business as usual in Washington. They understand that career politicians who are part of the broken system in Raleigh cannot bring about the change we need in Washington,” said Neal.

Neal made the case that’s has the best chance of beating Elizabeth Dole in November. “Democrats win when we offer voters a clear choice, not me-too imitations of corporate Republicans.”

Neal showed his 25 years of expertise in the private sector when he discussed economic development, health care reform, and energy independence. Neal also offered a clear choice on Iraq, advocating for a redeployment of troops, rather than the prolonged occupation strategy.

“We need real world experience in Washington, not more corporate lawyers,” Neal said. “People across North Carolina are struggling to find work, and few leaders in Washington understand their plight because they’ve never held a real job themselves.”

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Ex-Senator John Edwards could do the transformative agenda he has espoused a great deal of good by making an endorsement. One candidate is a committed, grassroots progressive and the other is a pitiful Big Money corporate shill, in some ways only marginally better than the Republican incumbent. No, no, I’m not talking about Hillary; she may be a corporate shill but she’s certainly better than the Republican incumbent and she’s also much better than his sadly transformed doppelgangerish would-be replacement. You see, while everyone else is urging the Edwardses to do what Governor Easley just did and endorse in the presidential race– where I doubt he would have much impact– I would like him to do the right thing in the race for the U.S. Senate seat, currently held by pathetic rubber stamp Republican Elizabeth Dole.

In a race like this, where not many people are aware of the giant chasm between the two candidates, Edwards really could make a difference. One candidate, Kay Hagan, stands for everything he claims to detest. She is owned, lock, stock and barrel, by the same pernicious Big Money interests that own Dole– and whom Edwards just spent two years railing against. The other candidate– the one endorsed by Blue America– is Jim Neal and he has a long way to go in the next 7 days if he’s going to be able to beat back the Establishment and give North Carolina voters a real choice– other than a basically meaningless choice between generic party labels– in November.

Hagan rarely goes on the record saying anything. Her victory plan is to just be the establishment Democrat against the outsider in the primary and the generic Democrat against the hated Republican in November. And when she does go on record about something, she comes out against the basic values and principles that differentiate between the party of FDR and the party of George Bush. A corporate tool like Chuck Schumer may love her but she can’t be trusted on choice, is as clueless as Dole on Iraq, is basically a George Bush Republican when it comes to tax policy, weak on economic policy, weak on ethics, adamantly unwilling to be pinned down on Equal Rights, on the wrong side of the health care issue, untrustworthy and confused about torture, weak on privacy rights, absolutely plutocratic when it comes to campaign finance reform, etc. She sounds like one of them, not one of us– and certainly not the kind of progressive Democrat that Edwards has evolved into. In fact, you have to ask yourself, is Kay Hagan really a Democrat in anything but name? Hers is the party of corporate campaign contributions that are exchanged for favors at the expense of regular folks.

It isn’t likely that a Republican-light version of Elizabeth Dole is going to beat Elizabeth Dole, regardless of what Chuck Schumer’s lizard brain is telling him. A few days ago the weekly paper in North Carolina’s most Democratic area made passionate endorsements of the two candidates for real change– Barack Obama for president and Jim Neal for U.S. Senator.

Read the full post - and join the conversation - at Daily Kos

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RALEIGH — When North Carolinians vote in the primary on May 6, the state of the economy is sure to have an impact on their decision. According to a recent Elon University Public Policy Poll, 35 percent of those surveyed said the economy was the most pressing issue facing the Tar Heel State; gas prices came in a distant second at 9 percent.

It’s no secret that gas prices are at record highs and the state unemployment rate is up for the third month in a row. Both are signs of the weakening U.S. economy. When voters head to the polls, many said it will definitely be on their minds…

Chapel Hill businessman Jim Neal and state Sen. Kay Hagen are the frontrunners in the race. Neal said, if elected, he will invest in what he calls homegrown wealth. He said he believes by ending the war in Iraq and repealing some of the Bush tax cuts, the country can invest money in small businesses and entrepreneurship.

Read the full article, and watch a video clip, on the News 14 website

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Neal is in a dead heat with State Senator Kay Hagan in the May 6th Democratic Primary to challenge U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and take our government back from special interests and political insiders. Jim says: “I look forward to meeting the residents and citizens of New Hanover County and learning how to serve them in the U.S. Senate.”

If we want a Senator from North Carolina that spends more time in New Hanover County than at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, we need Jim Neal.

WHAT:
Jim Neal, US Senate Candidate, to Attend New Hanover County Democratic Candidates Forum

WHERE:
UNC Wilmington
Warwick Center
601 S. College Rd.
Wilmington

WHEN:
Friday, April 25: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

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However, the DSCC has decided that Kay Hagan is their candidate. Take this little info that was slipped into a blog by well-respected North Carolina Journalist and Blogger Mark Binker:

Hagan is rolling with DSCC-vetted staffers…

The following is a rough transcript of a forum that took place recently in North Carolina…

Question: If you had to deal with President McCain, how would you deal with that and implement some different Iraq policy:

Neal: “Any of us up here will do a hell of lot better job than Senator Dole. With respect to Iraq, this is one thing that distinguishes me….I will not vote for any further funding for the war until such time as the administration has come to the Congress and has a discussion where the order is given to bring our trips home orderly and quickly. I can’t tell you how long it will take…”

Hagan: “First of all, I would never use the funding of the military as a political tool to not fund the military. However, I think what I would do is hold hearings after hearings after hearings.”

Who do you want standing next to Harry Reid, Jon Tester, and Jim Webb when the next Senate battle begins. A corporate, Lieberman-Democrat, or Jim Neal, a progressive who stands up for what he believes?

The DSCC has decided it knows best, show them they are wrong. Give to Jim Neal and if you are in North Carolina, go to early voting now and cast your ballot for Jim Neal! If you are in North Carolina and want a chance to meet Jim Neal, you can find him here.

Read the full post and join the discussion on BlueNC

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Neal is in a dead heat with State Senator Kay Hagan in the May 6th Democratic Primary to challenge U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and take our government back from special interests and political insiders. Jim says: “I look forward to meeting the residents and citizens of North Carolina and learning how to serve them in the U.S. Senate.”

Neal’s campaign has thrived off of grassroots support and precinct level involvement in County Democratic Parties throughout this state.

Jim will be attending Conventions in Chatham, Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties throughout the day on Saturday. He will also have other supporters and surrogates representing him at other Conventions across North Carolina.

A more detailed itinerary of Jim’s appearance schedule will be sent tomorrow.

If we want a Senator from that spends more time in North Carolina than at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, we need Jim Neal.

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