Washington Daily News: Senate hopeful Kay Hagan campaigns in Washington

Washington Daily News
Ted Strong
August 3, 2008

Kay Hagan told a group of supporters Saturday in downtown Washington that she wants to help rural North Carolinians.

During a speech to more than 50 supporters, including several prominent local politicians, Hagan pushed her plan to revitalize rural areas such as eastern North Carolina.

“I want people to see me face-to-face and know I care about eastern North Carolina,” she said before her speech.

Hagan spoke to the crowd at Ross and Chris Hamory’s house on East Main Street on her way from a tour of a Snow Hill rural health clinic to the Outer Banks and Wanchese, where she hit a ribbon cutting before holding a round-table discussion with commercial fishermen.

During the speech, Hagan, who is currently a state senator, pushed several components of her plan, including disaster relief, crop insurance and a push for clean energy generated in the rural parts of the state.

She also called for increased research funding for N.C. State and N.C. A&T universities to help her plan.

“Energy is a security issue,” she said.

Nationwide high-speed Internet access is also a cornerstone of Hagan’s plan.

Dole’s camp criticized Hagan’s plan in a press release, claiming Hogan has a history of taxing North Carolina’s farmers. The release also implies that Hagan’s push for non-petroleum energy may be impractical.

During her speech, Hagan also addressed the overall national economy, which she called “on the brink.” She called for a reduction in debt and dependency on foreign oil.

And she called for U.S. troops abroad to be positioned to concentrate on hunting terrorists like Osama Bin Laden.

“We need to safely and responsibly end this war in Iraq,” she said.

Hagan’s years living in North Carolina make her a good choice for Jesse Helms’ old seat in the U.S. Senate, she said.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who now holds the seat, is vulnerable because she doesn’t spend enough time in the state she represents, Hagan said.

“(Helms) was Senator No,” she said. “Well, Liddy Dole is Senator Nowhere.”

Hagan spent much of her speech criticizing Dole.

Hagan said Dole is a transplant from Kansas, who moved east just to run for the Senate.

“I want to give Miss Liddy Dole that pair of ruby red slippers,” she told the crowd, referencing Dorothy’s trip back to Kansas in “The Wizard of Oz.”

She also accused Dole of being a Washington, D.C., insider.

“I think people are sick and tired of politicians like Elizabeth Dole who are spending too much time taking care of lobbyists and their special interests,” she said.

Ann Wall, a Bath-area resident who attended the speech, said she enjoyed Hagan’s speech.

“I thought it was good, inspiring,” she said. “She covered the issues that I’m really concerned about.”

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