I met John McNeil this past January as he was just beginning his run for the House of Representatives. At that point it was in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. Due to a subsequent court ruling that the Republicans in Raleigh had unconstitutionally redrawn the districts in 2011 he and I now find ourselves in North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. Long story short: John won his primary and ends up facing Republican incumbent “Sleeping” George Holding in the general election anyway.
I decided to support John within two hours of our first telephone conversation. He struck me as smart, principled, prepared and sincere. A trip to his website reinforced all those impressions. Most Democratic websites this cycle have been bare bones; John’s has a lot of meat on it!
As a newspaper publisher told me, “He’s a different kind of candidate.” That was meant as a compliment. John’s not even a typical Democratic candidate. He’s basically a blue collar guy who earned a white collar education.
John is a self-described military brat. After high school he enlisted in the Marines. His stops along the way to earning his sergeant’s stripes included active participation in Operations Desert Strom and Desert Shield. His background won’t come from white papers; it will come from facing live fire. After leaving the Corp he graduated from college and law school. He currently owns and operates a small law firm in Raleigh.
Please allow me a brief word about his opponent. Holding is a member of the Lucky Sperm Cell Club. His family owns a bank and they have greased the skids for him every step of the way. He currently serves in the House and has the “distinction” of having been caught on national TV asleep in the Speaker’s chair when he was supposedly presiding over the chamber. His voting record is almost identical to recognized radical loons like Texas’ Louie Gohmert (who incidentally was speaking when George took his nationally televised nap on your nickel). I’m not supporting John because his opponent is bad; I’m supporting him because I believe he will be a very good Representative.
McNeil, like me, is more progressive than the average North Carolinian. As you would expect from a Marine he is strong on national defense, national security and veterans’ rights. He believes that we need to combat terrorism, both foreign and domestic.
Unlike Republicans he actually believes in science including the threat of climate change. In that vein he supports the development of renewable energy.
Like all progressives McNeil believes all people are inherently equal and that discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race and age are un-American.
Unlike a lot of candidates McNeil hasn’t forgotten those who feeds us – our farmers. I was born and raised a big city boy so I have to plead ignorance when it comes to most agricultural issues and challenges. That doesn’t mean I don’t realize their importance and it’s nice to see a candidate who actually addresses those issues even though he wasn’t raised on the farm.
John realizes the harm the undue power of money in American politics is doing. He opposes the Citizens United decision and is willing to support a Constitutional Amendment if that what it takes to cure this evil.
Despite being a Marine and gun owner (or perhaps because of that) McNeil supports reasonable gun regulations that keep the citizenry safe while not abridging the rights of legitimate, law abiding citizens. Those opinions are shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans. Unfortunately that doesn’t include the likes of his opponent or most of his Republican colleagues.
All of the above are good reasons to support John McNeil, but the unique thing that struck me is that he is among the first politicians to recognize and warn of the coming student loan bubble. While Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren started the national conversation on this topic it normally doesn’t make a candidate’s top ten list; it did in John’s case.
I ask you to visit www.johnpmcneil.com and when you do (if you are an American citizen) I ask you to consider donating. I keep my website free and generally do not ask my readers to donate to those I endorse. This cycle I am only endorsing two “local” candidates both of whom are up against machine financed and in this case an individually wealthy opponent.
In conclusion it is with great pride that tellthetruthonthem.com endorses a man I am delighted to call my friend, John P. McNeil for the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina’s Second Congressional district.
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