Protesters’ form a flotilla to pitch anti-coal stance
‘Atlas Shrugged II’ termed good-but-not-dazzling film
— See Pictures, Pg. 2
— See Movie Review, Pg. 23
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
November 2012
Vol. 8, No.12
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville
Former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee was a featured speaker at the rally.
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Romney’s Asheville rally touts better way
By JOHN NORTH
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
Photos courtesy of Robert Coffey Photography
A fired-up GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresses the crowd during an Oct. 11 campaign rally at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville.
Sen. Tom Apodaca slams the Asheville Citizen-Times for what he felt was the derogatory slant of its Oct. 11 headline: “Romney visit could clog downtown.”
House Speaker John Boehner made a surprise appearance at the Romney rally.
Under the watchful eye of his security team, Romney shakes hands with the crowd after his speech.
Democratic women candidates claim ‘vicious’ BCGOP waging war on them
By JOHN NORTH
john@ashevilledailyplanet.com
A group of local Democratic women candidates and their supporters staged an Oct. 22 rally in downtown Asheville to protest what they claimed is a campaign of “slander and hatred” waged against them by men in the Buncombe County Republican Party. The Power of 5 Women organization called the event a press conference, but it morphed into more of a rally, as the group posed with political signs for photographs, and a speaker read a lengthy statement — and then the event was adjourned.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney was joined by two conservative heavyweights — former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Speaker of the House John Boehner — as he fired up a full-house crowd during an Oct. 11 Victory Rally at downtown Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center. His visit to the so-called “Paris of the South” followed closely on the heels of Vice President Joe Biden, who spoke at UNC Asheville’s Justice Center on Oct. 2. Biden’s appearance filled all of the 1,100 seats, as well as an overflow room with 200 people, for a total attendance estimated by UNCA officials at 1,320 people. For Romney’s visit, the much-larger civic center had no empty seats, and Robert Reid, North Carolina communications director of the Romney for President office, told the Daily Planet afterward that there were “about 10,000” people at the rally, with 7,500 in the civic center and 2,500 in the overflow room, the ThomasWolfe Auditorium. What’s more, the Daily Planet received reports that a number of people who lined up to attend the rally were turned away, when all of the seats were filled. They, therefore, could not be counted in Romney crowd counts. Reid’s 10,000-people turnout estimate was significantly higher than then “more than 7,000” reported in the Mountain Xpress, and the “7,600 who packed the Asheville arena,” according to the Hendersonville Times-News. See ROMNEY, Page 25
Gwen Wisley, who read the group’s statement aloud at the rally, said it is part of “a campaign to elect Democratic women to represent Buncombe County.... “Specifically, we’ve asked the media here because we are fighting back against the false mailers and vicious comments that are coming from the Buncombe County GOP and directed at Jane Whilden as well as unconscionable billboards proposed by the local GOP against Holly Jones.” Meanwhile, BCGOP spokesman Nathan West told the Daily Planet on Oct. 25 that “their assertion Daily Planet Staff Photo — that we’re attacking women — is ridiculous.” Gwen Wisler (with microphone) is flanked at the rally by County ComSee WOMEN, Page 4 missioner Holly Jones and congressional candidate Jane Whilden.