As Duke students move on to campus and once again become eligible to vote in North Carolina, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. is gearing up to defend his seat against Democratic challenger Elaine Marshall in what is shaping up to be a close and contentious race.
According to a poll conducted earlier this month by Public Policy Polling, 44 percent of North Carolinians disapprove of Burr’s job performance and his lead over Marshall has shrunk to two percentage points. In a statement, Dean Debnam, president of the Raleigh-based PPP, described Burr as the “most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the country.”
Voters will face a stark choice between Burr, who spent five terms as a Congressman representing North Carolina’s fifth district before being elected to the Senate in 2004, and Marshall, who has served as North Carolina’s secretary of state since 1997 and defeated Cal Cunningham in a June primary runoff to secure the Democratic nomination. The two candidates offer competing visions of the role of government and differ on almost every pivotal issue, from health care to the war in Afghanistan.
In a state with 9.8 percent unemployment, though, both candidates recognize the importance of persuading North Carolinians that they are the better choice to help fix the nation’s economy as well as the need to paint their opponent as out of touch with voters and in touch with the status quo.
“Senator Burr has spent 16 years in Washington and he’s just part of the problem,” said Sam Swartz, communications director for the Marshall campaign. “He’s sided over and over with Wall Street executives and special interests, not the people of North Carolina.”
Samantha Smith, spokeswoman for the Burr campaign, disputed this assertion and used similar language to argue that it was Marshall who would only give voters more of the same.
“[Marshall] endorses every policy of the Obama administration,” she said. “She has mentioned that the only way to fix this economy is to spend more.”
Although Burr voted for the controversial Trouble Assets Relief Program, the largest part of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout plan, he has repeatedly set himself against increasing government spending. Recently, he voted against extending unemployment benefits, arguing that it would increase the deficit and discourage people from looking for work, and against a Wall Street reform bill he deemed a misguided government intrusion into the private sector.
“The bill that the Democrats voted for did nothing to address the crisis,” Smith said. “It did nothing... it created a slush fund.”
Marshall supported the bill and her camp is quick to highlight her past experience as evidence that she is prepared to take on special interests and fight for the average citizen.
“She’s protected consumers,” Swartz said. “When she was in the [state Senate], she took on insurance companies and [as secretary of state] she’s taken on Wall Street banks and won more than $500 million for the people of North Carolina.”
The college crowd
Because all Duke students will have lived in North Carolina for more than 30 days prior to Election Day, they will be eligible to vote in the Nov. 2 election. To secure the college vote, both candidates have been making plans to raise awareness of and support for their campaigns on campuses across the state.
“[Marshall’s] message and the things she’s fought for appeal to college students,” Swartz said. “We’re going to run a grassroots campaign and be active on campuses.”
Ben Bergmann, a senior and president of Duke Democrats, hopes to bring Marshall to campus as part of a larger effort to engage students with a race with a result that he hopes will mirror that of the 2008 presidential election.
“It’s going to be sort of a repeat of what we did two years ago,” Bergmann said. “We’re going to have a lot of canvases in Durham... we’re going to be phone banking... we’re going to do a lot on campus.”
Furthermore, he added, North Carolina has an early voting option that allows students to register to vote and cast their ballots at the same time until three days before Election Day.
Burr and his supporters at Duke also hope to be active this Fall. Burr’s campaign is in the process of implementing a “Students for Burr” initiative across 19 N.C. campuses in which a selected student will officially represent the campaign at his or her school, according to a press release.
“This will be a grassroots effort in terms of organizing throughout college campuses,” Smith said. “It will be a part of our ground strategy to get out the vote and have representation throughout North Carolina.”
Carter Boyle, a senior and chair of Duke College Republicans, expressed confidence about the race and stressed that his organization has already been working with Burr over the course of the summer, assisting him with his Facebook page and setting up a date for him to come to campus.
“We’re working with [Burr] to set up this plan that his campaign has called ‘Tailgate Tours,’” Boyle said, explaining that the Senator will try to visit each N.C. campus that plays college football in the Fall and make an appearance on gameday. “We’re trying to arrange for him to come to Duke for one of our football games.”
A third candidate
Although they are the favorites to win the seat, Burr and Marshall are not the only candidates Duke students can choose from to represent them in the Senate. Mike Beitler, the Libertarian candidate, hopes to convince voters he is an attractive alternative to the politics as usual that he feels Burr and Marshall represent. He is currently polling at between 5 and 10 percent but is confident that he will make gains.
“I think it’s a matter of name recognition,” Beitler said. “Most North Carolinians are not on that extreme right like Burr or that extreme left like Marshall.”
Beitler supports gay marriage, abortion rights, a rapid withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and an independent audit of all Federal agencies that would highlight ineffective programs to be purged from government.
He said he looks forward to elaborating on his positions that differentiate him from both Burr and Marshall at the next debate.
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