Congressional race gets VERY nasty

You can read in this article about the race for the U.S. House seat from North Carolina's 13th District. Incumbent Brad Miller, a Democrat first elected in 2002, faces a stiff challenge from the infamous Vernon Robinson, a former Winston-Salem city councilman who has lost several statewide and Congressional campaigns.

Robinson, an African-American Republican, has a reputation for mudslinging that may be unsurpassed in recent times. He has criticized Rep. Miller for being childless (thereby making his wife's hysterectomy a political issue) and has aired radio advertisements that feature mariachi music and accuse Miller of turning the U.S. into "one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals."

The Raleigh News & Observer goes beyond the usual "he said/she said" of campaign coverage in this additional piece, examining some of Robinson's outrageous claims for factual merit.

Robinson has shown an extraordinary ability to raise national money (he raised more than $4 million in 2004 even though he failed to win the GOP nomination for Congress). This is definitely a key race to watch in 2006 to see how issues of race, immigration, and sexual orientation play out in the South.