June 02, 2010 Elections
... we offer two predictions. One is that if nominated, Marshall would have a better chance of winning the fall election against Republican Sen. Richard Burr. The second: If elected, Marshall would be the stronger senator.
Neither statement should be read as a slam on Cunningham, who is very bright and has run a respectable, progressive campaign. Indeed, his positions on the issues are remarkably similar to Marshall's. But Marshall has the longer, stronger record of public service to pit against Burr's myopic conservatism. And while Marshall and Cunningham both offer themselves as advocates for working-class Americans—and no doubt about it, the Senate is short of members who give a damn about the working class—we think Marshall comes to that stance from her gut as well as her intellect. Cunningham, by contrast, often sounds a little too rehearsed, a little too calculating or hesitant.
The difference may be as simple as the fact that Marshall, in her bones and in her roots, is working-class. So she's not confused about what the rights of working men and women should be in a world economy dominated by giant corporations and banks. Nor is she in doubt about where the federal government should stand. It should stand, she believes, with the working class for their jobs, and against labor and trade policies that privilege capital at the expense of people and the environment—at home or abroad. No more outsourcing of America's future.
As a lawyer, a state senator and for the last 14 years as secretary of state, Marshall has been a consistent voice and vote for the interests of regular folks and equal rights for all. She was a forceful exponent of women's equality early in her career, and as a legislator she helped enact a series of laws improving women's health care in North Carolina. She has also stood for equal rights for gays and lesbians, and in this campaign came out early and strongly for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the anti-gay military policy, and of the federal DOMA, the discriminatory law misnamed the Defense of Marriage Act ...
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/elaine-marshall-working-class-at-heart-reeves-for-13th-district-in-orange-county-its-medenblik-a-tough-call-in-durham-but-its-martin/Content?oid=1457773