Salisbury Post
Monday, October 9, 2006
www.salisburypost.com

Kissell challenges Hayes for 8th District

By Joanie Morris

It's an uphill battle for Larry Kissell, the Democrat challenging for North Carolina's 8th District seat in Congress.

But it's a battle he's going to fight until the end.

Kissell, 55, is running against Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C. 8) because he feels there need's to be a change in the way the needs of the 8th District are met and a change in the way Congress runs.

This is a race that's shaping up to be closer than a Duke-Carolina basketball game.

At various times during the race, Hayes and Kissell are both shown to be ahead in the polls. In April, Public Policy Polling showed Hayes vulnerable in November, with only 28 percent of voters polled saying they would re-elect the incumbent. Another 48 percent said they would vote for someone new.

On Oct. 5, OnPoint Polling and Research, an independent polling firm, released data showing that Kissell had pulled to within 1 percentage point of Hayes, at 47 to 46 percent.

Kissell's momentum may be due to grassroots politicking, working-man attitude and sly campaigning. He's got moxie, going door-to-door in the 8th District looking for votes. In his hometown of Biscoe, he offered gasoline for $1.22 a gallon (he paid the difference) — the price of that fuel when Hayes took office.

OnPoint also points to the House page scandal involving former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley and House Speaker Dennis Hastert may have helped Kissell among voters.

On Aug. 16, Hayes held a solid lead of 44 to 29 percent. The incumbent has relied heavily on television campaign advertisements and his record in Congress.

The poll was taken Oct. 4, with OnPoint contacting 594 likely 8th District voters. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Kissell said he is running for Congress because it is time for a change.

"I think it's a matter of representation," Kissell said. "That's why I'm running. The people deserve a congressman that will be their own person, standing on the issues as they relate to the 8th District. I think the people also want someone who can understand what they are going through. That's where my background is."

As an example, Kissell announced Friday he has only $88.94 in cash on hand for the third quarter, and he challenged Hayes to declare how much he has in his campaign account.

"I'm sure my bank account looks a lot more like a typical 8th District voter than Hayes'," said Kissell in a press release.

In recent interviews, Kissell and Hayes offered different views on illegal immigration, local issues and the war in Iraq.

On illegal immigration, Kissell said it's just that — illegal.

"We need to be able to control who comes into our country," Kissell said. "It is a matter of national security."

The federal government has not done a good job keeping track of immigrants or keeping illegals out of the country, he said. He does not support the president's plan fort giving guest-worker permits to illegal immigrants. He supports the proposal to build a fence along the border and combined that with other efforts.

"What we've done so far has not worked," Kissell said. "We've got to stop the bleeding. We've got to stop the influx of 3 to 4 million illegals coming in every year. Once we've done that, it's a combination of finding out who's here and dealing with those on an individual basis. Then, we've got to deal with the companies that are hiring known illegals.

"Make no doubt about it, it is a problem in our communities. It is a burden on the community."

Kissell believes the war in Iraq can be over soon.

"We have been given three missions in Iraq," Kissell said — looking for weapons of mass destruction, getting rid of Saddam Hussein and creating a democracy in that country. "With those accomplished, we need to begin to phase out of Iraq. We phased in in a year, we can phase out in a year — with honor — with our missions completed."

He said the fight against terrorists is a global war, not one limited to Iraq.

"We've got to get the troops home," Kissell said. "We've got to be getting ready for the next crisis, wherever that might be."

Immigration, Iraq and the growing national debt are part of a larger question of national security, Kissell said.

"We've got to secure our borders," Kissell said. "We've got to protect our ports. And we've got to fight the terrorists with every tool we have in our arsenal."

The growing national debt weakens the country.

"If our nation was a business, we would be owned by China," he said. "We cannot continue this borrow-and-spend approach. We have become a debtor nation."

He blames part of the problem on the federal government's policy toward big business, especially the big oil giants.

"We've got to have a congressman who will stand tough against corporate welfare," Kissell said. "The huge tax breaks that we've been giving to this most profitable business on the face of the earth (needs to stop). This is one thing we can do...

Conversion to biofuel can be completed within 10 years, leading to cleaner fuels and energy independence, he said.

"Not only can we put our farmers to work here in America, we can be energy independent," Kissell said. "In doing that we can inject competition, something we don't have in the market right now. That's the only way we can meaningfully break this addiction to foreign oil. Let's start the process there."

The most important local issue for Kissell is jobs. As a former textile worker, Kissell said he feels the pain of the working man.

"We have six counties that are fully in the 8th District," he said. "Of the six counties, four have consistently been in the top 10 in terms of unemployment" in North Carolina.

He said unemployment in the 8th District can be traced back to "the liberalization of trade policies."

"It comes down to we've got to be committed to finding jobs for this district," Kissell said. "We must match our words with action, and it must be done at all levels."

He believes all levels of government should work to create jobs for unemployed and under-employed workers. "We've got to ... to help these people. They are hurting."

Kissell is a Biscoe native married for 22 years to the former Tina Eberly. He has two daughters, Jenny and Aspen. He is a life member and deacon at First Baptist Church of Biscoe. He is immediate past-chair of FirstHealth Montgomery and two-times past president of the Biscoe Lion's Club.

He worked for 27 years at Russell Hosiery Mill, which eventually was acquired by Renfro Corp. before closing. Prior to the closing, he obtained a job as a high school history and civics teacher at East Montgomery High School in 2001.

He graduated from East Montgomery High School in 1969 and Wake Forest University in 1973 with a bachelor of arts in Economics.