#66: "I'm Clay Aiken, and I Approved This Message!"

[ldyjocelyn]

Over the weekend, we had someone register and then post a very stream-of-consciousness post in one of our auxiliary threads. Just as an FYI, I originally thought this person was rather strange, but harmless. However, I've decided that the post was too weird for me to keep up, so I've deleted it, and have limited that new member.

Sorry for the problems....

[FearofH2O]

Thankds ldyj. Whoever it was seemed to have an agenda I couldn't figure out. I chose to ignore. He/she obviously knew you were not available. Have a great time.

One day this week is Clay Aiken Day in Lee County. We should have some news regarding that. I'll be ata high tea that afternoon and a fund raiser in the evening for a friend who is daring to run for the NC legislature. She is a voice for the Hispanic community having been an English as a Second language teacher. Have my fingers crossed for her and Clay.

Hope everyone has a great day today.

[ldyjocelyn]

codylamb18

2 minutes ago

So we are eating breakfast in our hotel... but first let me take a selfie with Clay Aiken haha Brandi is freaking out! Super fan over here.

[ldyjocelyn]

I'm reading on CV that someone asked who Clay was with, and the tweeter replied that he was with his son; therefore, we have a new picture of Parker. Heh.

rotorglow83

4 hours ago

Selfie Time with #ClayAiken

[FearofH2O]

There are some new pictures of Clay out there, I just don't know how to post them.

If you are going to the Gala in September, please let us know here in misc events. Sorry I can't even bring a link over. Bought a new laptop and for the first time ever I can't get email on it. I'm just getting older and more inept. .

Have a great day!

[ldyjocelyn]

Having a great time in Vegas! Today we went to the Hoover Dam, and then taking the afternoon to rest.

I will try my best to catch up on pictures and emails when I get back next week!

[merrieeee]

Clay is going to be on State of the Union with Candy Crowley! Sunday on CNN

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80655783/

[jmh123]

Hey all. Got an email from ldyj, with a heads up. Clay will be on CNN Sunday:

Sunday morning guest lists

Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are the main guests on the Sunday programs this weekend.

Obama talks to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," which starts at 11 a.m. on WFTV-Channel 9. Obama told ABC that the World Cup is affecting some foreign policy moves, and he dismissed as a stunt House Speaker John Boehner's threat to sue the president.

Former President Clinton talks to David Gregory on NBC's "Meet the Press" at 9 a.m. on WESH-Channel 2. In the interview, Clinton defends his wife, Hillary, and chides Dick Cheney for criticizing the Obama administration on Iraq.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., talks to CNN's "State of the Union" at 9 a.m. and noon. Other guests are Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Clay Aiken, the "American Idol" alum who is a Democratic candidate for Congress in North Carolina. A political panel brings together Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter, co-host, CNN's "Crossfire"; Mattie Duppler, director, Budget and Regulatory Policy at Americans for Tax Reforms; Republican strategist Liz Mair; and Neera Tanden, president & CEO of the Center for American Progress.

Hee, she must've emailed merrieeeee too.

[FearofH2O]

And tonight Friday, Clay is on a repeat of the Arsenio show.

[Couch Tomato]

I heard Arsenio got cancelled. I watched a couple but it's too old school. Time for all the old timers to go. And Looks like David Letterman is leaving as well.

Good for Clay. That's high profile.

LadyJ...enjoying your vacation picture. I'll be there in exactly 4 months. Definitely going to Hoover Dam. I've been to vegas many time but never managed to do that. Looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend everybody.

[ldyjocelyn]

Good morning! Busy day today, as the conference really kicks in for me. However, I am reading now that Clay may be bumped from the CNN show tomorrow.

Couchie, I will email/chat with you after this trip with recommendations on LV...

Fear, I saw on CV that you saif you rewatch the Arsenio performance frequently. I do too...and I love that interview, especially eith what we know now.

Gotta run!

[FearofH2O]

I also loved his performance that night despite forgetting a few words. I think this was his promise to sing for us one last time. I also watch the thanks for ten great years video, he recorded on his laptop.

[luckiest1]

So did the CNN thing happen or get bumped?

I watch the Arsenio occasionally, too. Loved that he sang for us.

[FearofH2O]

I believe he got bumped, but they probably promised another date. It's only right. IMO

[ldyjocelyn]

Home! Will try to work today (in other words, bring stuff over from last week, cough cough). It was a fun trip, but I am glad to be home!

[ldyjocelyn]

Sorry guys...yesterday I couldn't stay awake, and today I was just too busy, and tomorrow my husband and I are going away again for a few days. I won't be back until Saturday afternoon. Someday I'll catch up with all the pictures and stuff from the past two weeks!

[FearofH2O]

Happy Fourth of July

[merrieeee]

Hi!

[ldyjocelyn]

Hey merrieeeee!

I'm back,! It's been a crazy busy two weeks for me -- started with my nephew's wedding in the south suburbs of Chicago. Then, a vacation and conference in Las Vegas, and ended with going with my husband (and his new band, SideTracked) to a couple of gigs in southern Illinoi, near St. Louis. That was fun, as I got to get to know the members of the band (and their significant others) much better. I'm glad my husband has this new outlet, and this band is a good group of people!

Anyway...tonight, I'm going to start trying to catch up and post Clay's activities here at FCA. Lots of sightings, and with the 4th of July holiday, he did some major campaigning...and Parker was with him. A few blurry pictures have emerged.

I want to get this caught up because I consider it a "labor of love." I'm impressed by Clay Aiken, even if his life has taken a path no one expected.

However, if anyone else is willing to help...I'd be more than happy to have a co-conspirator. jmh has been having wrist/hand issues or I think she would be here more...

Gotta run...

[Couch Tomato]

Welcome back Lady J. Sounds you have been having a great and busy time. SO exciting for your hubby and his band. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

[ldyjocelyn]

From June 22:

Twitter:

UM UM Concessions

44 minutes ago

Check this out. CLAY AIKEN with UM UM Concessions enjoying some Italian Ice.

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From Facebook:

Margarita Taylor

57 mins via iOS

Clay Aiken " American Idol " at Westover Park. — with Lashanda pearson.

Omar's II Italian Restaurant

2 hrs

We had a "Celebrity" enjoy lunch today at Omar's! Clay Aiken with the Omar's Gang!

On the Clay for North Carolina Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Cumberland County Dems today for their hard work at the GOTV and voter registration drive! It's great to see the citizens of Cumberland County working to move North Carolina forward!

Back to Twitter:

Fayetteville Today ‏@myFayToday 2m

PHOTO: Clay Aiken and Borinqueneers MC - NC at the Latin Party in Westover Park

by Frank Maness http://fb.me/6y6QzcxiP

[ldyjocelyn]

OK, I just went back and realized that I was able to post some of the things from June 22 and June 23. Oh well. Double posting isn't too bad, right?

June 23:

From Facebook:

Gail Eluwa

Just enjoying good conversation on Fayetteville Street, Raleigh NC with Clay Aiken, Candidate for Congress, District 2 and friend Octavia Rainey.

[ldyjocelyn]

June 24:

From Facebook:

Hollie Young

2 mins

Selfie with Clay Aiken — at The Fairview Dairy Bar.

James Thompson

6 mins

My niece Sarah speaking politics with Clay Aiken.

From Twitter:

Holly Caroline‏@MagicMinaudiere

@jayriley we had a nice chat!

sanfordherald.com

Aiken Outlines Congressional Aspirations

Aiken outlines Congressional aspirations

Jun. 24, 2014 @ 06:38 PM

Will Doran

Wesley Beeson | The Sanford Herald

Clay Aiken, the Democratic candidate for the 2nd North Carolina Congressional District, stopped in Sanford Tuesday to meet with local officials.

SANFORD —

Congressional candidate Clay Aiken stopped by Sanford on Tuesday, meeting with Mayor Chet Mann and Democratic Party volunteers and having lunch at the Fairview Dairy Bar.

Aiken has two siblings, Jeff and Amy Parker, who graduated from Lee Senior High School in the late '80s and early '90s, although Aiken himself grew up in Raleigh. He had a short career in special education, both as an assistant to an autistic child and a substitute teacher for special education classes, before finding fame through the reality television show "American Idol."

In an interview Tuesday, Aiken laid out several goals he said he'd like to pursue if elected to represent this area in the U.S. House of Representatives. He's the Democratic challenger to incumbent Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) for the state's Second Congressional District, a heavily Republican area that stretches from High Point and Cary down toward the outskirts of Fayetteville.

Aiken said education is the issue nearest and dearest to his heart, and he'd like to see changes at both the state and federal levels.

Aiken said he is opposed to efforts to standardize education through testing and performance-based pay tied to test results, and that he would like to see a federal version of the Teaching Fellows program that North Carolina recently discontinued.

Wading into the debate on Common Core, he said he likes having the idea of similar curricula across the nation, so children who move to a new state don't face too much disruption. But he said he wouldn't support requiring states uncomfortable with Common Core — like North Carolina — to stick with it.

"I don't think it's the federal government's role to force states to decide what they teach," Aiken said.

That's in line with his stance on the role of individual teachers, whom he said should have more freedom over their lesson plans.

"The best teachers I had growing up were allowed to be creative in the classroom," Aiken said. "But now we require them to teach to a test."

He said he differs with the Obama administration in that, but he won't change his mind for political expediency. Blindly following the official party line, Aiken said, is what has created the current Washington culture, "where you only succeed by making the other side look bad."

He added: "Why does everyone in the country understand that except the 535 people in Congress?"

Although Aiken never mentioned Ellmers by name, he said anyone who supported sequestration should be ashamed — and Ellmers is known for being a vocal supporter — and that he, on the other hand, would support efforts to reverse the cuts.

Aiken also said a good representative should be on the ground in North Carolina as often as possible, instead of staying in Washington and meeting with donors and lobbyists.

"The only people who should be telling you how to vote are the people you represent," Aiken said.

Both Aiken and Ellmers can find common ground, though, by opposing plans to cut the 440th Airlift Wing at Fort Bragg. Ellmers has tried several political maneuvers to stop the military's request to scuttle the unit and affect its 1,400 employees who live in the area. And Aiken said if elected, he would also fight for the unit, which is in charge of Fort Bragg's only C-130 planes.

Another topic Aiken said he wants to take on is the student loan system. Most loans come, he said, with an interest rate that's higher than the rate for a mortgage or a loan to buy a car. Such high rates, Aiken said, harm the economy by discouraging risk-taking and innovation because someone who's 22 and already tens of thousands of dollars in debt isn't likely going to try to become an entrepreneur.

Aiken had several other politically progressive ideas for boosting the economy, suggesting more investment in education and safety net programs.

He said he is ashamed that North Carolina did away with the Teaching Fellows program that paid the college tuition of anyone who worked as a teacher after graduating. He said he'd support a federal version of the program, though, which would take the further step of requiring people to teach in the same school district they attended. That would help places like Lee County, he said, stop some of the exodus of smart young people to more urban areas where they attend college and then stay for a career.

He also said he would support efforts to help low-income families, including raising the minimum wage or reforming the Earned Income Tax Credit program, which supports low-income working families. Aiken said he favors expanding the program and extending benefits to people without children. He said it incentivizes work over unemployment by only aiding people who have an income.

Clay for NC Tweet:

Clay Aiken ‏@ClayForNC 1m

Talking issues with folks in #SanfordNC. Great way to end a day in #LeeCounty.

From Instagram:

Look who we ran across in Sanford #clayaiken

[ldyjocelyn]

June 25

Letter from Clay:

X

Our headquarters has an exciting buzz in the halls these days, and one of the reasons is the overwhelming enthusiasm we can hear in the voices of each of you, our supporters. Folks are excited by our message of breaking gridlock and getting things done in Washington.

We need your support to get our message out to more voters. With less than a week left before the important FEC deadline of June 30th, we are EXTREMELY close to reaching our 2nd quarter fundraising goal.

Will you support our campaign with a $25, $50, $100 contribution today?

Every contribution, big or small, helps us as we continue to change the tone of politics and give the people of the Second District the representation they deserve in Washington.

Please invest $25, $50, $100 in our campaign today to help us reach our June 30th goal.

Thanks for being part of our team. We couldn't do this without you.

Yours,

Clay

leedemocrats.net

Clay Aiken Headlines LCDP Rally!

Clay Aiken headlines LCDP rally!

Jun 25 2014

Congressional candidate Clay Aiken spent yesterday in Sanford, meeting city officials, voters, and the many Lee County residents who still hadn't gotten their "selfie with Clay"! He went to lunch at the Dairy Bar, where he spoke with over 75 voters about the issues important to them in the midterm election. And, he finished the day by headlining the Lee County Democratic Party's "Clay Day" rally!

Clay spoke to a standing-room only crowd of over 75 Lee County residents. Most were Democrats, but there were Unaffilaited voters there, as well. The event had some competition from a beach music band playing at the Temple, but Clay, joking that, "hey, I can sing, too," kept the crowd engaged and excited! Clay talked about education, bringing jobs to the district, and veteran's issues. He spoke about the need for a congressional representative who knows the district's voters, and would be willing to meet with them.

And, he laid down a challenge. Apparently, WRAL has been trying to line up a forum with both Clay and his opponent, but Renee Ellmers has, so far, not responded. Local newspaper The Sanford Herald also has a forum every year, but it is still unclear whether "Representative" Ellmers will attend.

"Bill O'Reilly can moderate the thing, if he wants," said Clay. "I am ready, right here in Sanford, to talk about the issues and talk about [Ellmers'] record." Sounds like a challenge to us!

Other highlights of the meeting included recognition of all of our great candidates, and appeals for the two things every volunteer organization needs: volunteers and money. To volunteer for or contribute to the Lee County Democratic Party, please click the "Volunteer" or "Contribute" menus right here on www.leedemocrats.net.

[luckiest1]

I think I saw one of those fuzzy Parker pics somewhere, and I wondered if that maybe was him. Cool! Thanks so much ldyj.