As many of you know, I'm the executive director of the Grassroots Farm Team.
Jay Ovittore is a Farm Team Prospect running for City Council (District 3) in Greensboro. He's the only Democrat in the race, a long-time blogger, and as of late he's been attacked by a local conservative paper because he was unafraid to blog that he was an atheist:
Before he decided on a career in politics, Ovittore was an outspoken atheist. On a blog in 2005 he wrote, "I am athiest (sic), always have been, always will be." It turns out "always" is not as long as some people think it is. Ovittore did not want to answer the question about his atheism. He said it was personal and he believed in the separation of church and state. However, Ovittore on his blog was the one who brought it up and declared his atheism more than once.
If you read the endorsements, the Rhino doesn't apply this litmus test to any other candidate. But they feel fine disqualifying a candidate based on a personal religious preference that has nothing to do with how effective he'll be as a Greensboro City Council member. Nevertheless, Jay's religious preference it didn't stop Jay from receiving an endorsement from Greensboro's Heroes, the Professional Firefighters of Greensboro (IAFF Local 947).
Needless to say, it's unfair. Even though America tends to be the country where anything is possible, and even though the only thing Jay is guilty of is honesty, he's been attacked for a ridiculous reason. I'm asking you to stand with Jay tonight to help him win his race
On Tuesday, Jay faces a non-partisan primary election in his effort to bring new leadership to North Carolina. He's the only Democrat in the race. We're organizing a GOTV phone bank to help him out.
In addition to raising money to help out in the general election, the Grassroots Farm Team has been working to help these exciting Democratic candidates. On Saturday we were canvassing for blogger and Asheville City Council Candidate Gordon Smith and today we're asking you to give a couple minutes of your time today or tomorrow to help us Get Out The Vote in Tuesday's election. Please e-mail NCFarmTeam <:at:> gmail.com if you can spare an hour to GOTV for young candidates!
It's important that we have new leaders that can represent all points of view. Please e-mail NCFarmTeam <:at:> gmail.com and we'll send you a list and a script to GOTV Jay!
As always, if you’d like to help out, you can DONATE at this address.
Reach us at @NCFarmTeam on twitter, on our Facebook Fan Page, or by e-mail at NCFarmTeam <:at:> gmail.com.