Larry Kissell Finds one of His 330 Votes, Robin Hayes Running Scared

The Larry Kissell team has found one of the 330 votes we were missing in 2006. Not only that, this vote actually takes one away from Robin Hayes. The young lady you see pictured on the left was willing to speak to us on Saturday at the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party convention in Charlotte. She explained that her family had always voted Republican and she followed suit.

Then, she made friends of a different political persuasion and she opened her mind to the things they were saying. It didn't take long for her to become a Kissell convert. Before you hear her testimonial, though, Larry needs your vote. No, not for congress. That comes later. Larry is in the running for DFA Grassroots All-Stars. At last check he was running a close fourth and we need to bump him up into the top three. Please visit DFA and vote for Larry Kissell.

Meet voter #1 of the 330 missing in November 2006:http:

OK, so we got a little silly at the end. Meredith is real. This isn't a stunt. She's also a very good sport. She had no idea we were going to drag her out of the convention to tape her. Not only did we catch her by surprise, she had just sat through her first Democratic convention. That's a lot in one day for a former Robin Hayes voter. Please join me in welcoming her to the Kissell voting family.

How can one voter make Hayes run scared? It isn't one voter. It's Larry Kissell and the enthusiasm surrounding his campaign that has Hayes running scared. There have been several indicators, but I'll just go into a couple today.

I took a look at the contribution levels of his family members. Granted, many have given and have been generous through the years. One, and I won't name names, stopped giving after 2001. Now, she and her husband(?) are both in with two donations of $2300 each. They've each given for the primary and general of the '08 cycle.

Another relative typically gave $500 a year until the 2006 cycle when Hayes was so scared by Larry Kissell this person forked over so much he had to refund her $1400. If Open Secrets is correct, Hayes still owes this poor woman a refund. Ooops.

I'm not knocking Hayes for turning to family for support. That's normal and everyone does it, even people worth $55 million like Robin Hayes. I'm just looking at the trends of family giving for Hayes and the heavy, early support shows they know he is in for a battle.

Another indicator, but I haven't looked at all specifics of the donors is that the PACs are giving earlier to the Hayes campaign than normal which boosts his early numbers. In the 2004 cycle Hayes had $16,000 in PAC donations for the first quarter. In the 2006 cycle he had $29,500 and in this cycle the amount has more than doubled to $61,000. That's a good thing for Hayes, too. The man is still retiring campaign debt and has less cash on hand than he did to start the 2006 cycle.

That's gotta stink.

Yes, he has more cash on hand than Larry Kissell. So, if you feel inclined you can help out there after you've voted at DFA. Just follow this link. Larry has just kicked off his 2008 campaign and fundraising has started. Believe it or not, Rahm Emanuel, the one person who came along too late for a lot of our tastes, is going to do his best to make up for that by headlining a fundraiser for Larry Kissell in Raleigh, NC.

There will be a lot of resources drawn to the presidential campaigns, so lets make sure the DCCC sees the netroots still supports Larry Kissell.