Asheville News

Cecil Bothwell blog: A watershed year in Asheville politics

Jason Sandford September 21, 2009

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Asheville City Council candidate Cecil Bothwell says this year is a watershed year in Asheville politics:

After decades as a participant and observer of Asheville and Buncombe politics I have to note that this year’s election represents a watershed. For many years the debate was relentlessly dragged to the right, but now we have begun to pull discussion back to its traditional middle ground.

It’s a watershed year when two of the front-runners, Gordon Smith and myself, have centered our campaigns on traditionally liberal issues: fair wages, domestic partner benefits, affordable housing and transportation, environmental stewardship and expanded public involvement in decision making. That’s progress!a speech

It’s a watershed year when big dollar, pro-development donors like Jerry Sternberg, Albert Sneed and Chris Peterson place their electoral bets on the socially liberal and pro-sustainability candidate Esther Mannheimer. The arch-conservative candidates that they used to back are no longer politically viable here, so they have apparently dropped the old litmus test and accepted the inevitability that Asheville is a progressive city. We should celebrate this!

Its a watershed year when we see Kelly Miller, whose day job is at the Chamber of Commerce, spending almost as much time talking about greenways and multi-modal transit as he does about business development and tourism. And despite the anti-populist, anti-health care leaning of his employer, he has even crossed the aisle to register as a Democrat. Another cause for celebration!

Thoughts?

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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3 Comments

Ash September 21, 2009

Cecil, thanks for your comment, and your blog post. Didn’t mean to cut you off – I thought the top was a nice summary, and juicy enough to get people to click through.

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Cecil Bothwell September 21, 2009

I hope people click through to the whole post. The excerpt here is unfortunate in that it eliminates most of what I had to offer. (Though I understand the need for brief exerpts.) To answer PolWatcher, I think I self-identify as liberal progressive, since the only qualifier for "progressive" these days seems to be possession of a navel.

As for your second question, this from my post: " A difficult side-effect of the growth of the new media is the decline of the old, reducing news coverage that is essential to democratic governance. In its place we are seeing the growth of independent Web sites and blogs. The best of them are developing a track record for accuracy and accountability.

In this regard I feel compelled to comment about the newest Web presence in the current Asheville City Council race, that of a PAC which calls itself the Progressive Research Group.

Understandably, I have heard the suggestion that I must be connected to PRG since Elaine Lite appears in a video on the site. It is true that I supported Elaine’s bid for City Council two years ago, and I count her among my supporters, but I can categorically state that I am not involved in or connected to PRG in any way.

My observations about PRG’s site are the same I would offer about the Carolina Stompers on the right, or Ashvegas in the middle: Is the information offered accurate or inaccurate? If the information is correct it qualifies as voter education. If it is incorrect, it amounts to “swiftboating.” Voters need to read through the opinion on clearly political sites when they are offered spin, and weigh the facts."

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Politics Watcher September 21, 2009

Have you been able to determine who was behind the e-mail attack on Esther Manheimer from the " Progressive Research Group?" Does Mr. Bothwell define himself as a "progressive?"

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