The Orange County Ticket?

I was thinking the other day about the possibility, albeit slim, that come primary-time in May I'd have the ability to vote for a full slate of folks who live within five or ten miles of my front door. I won't say that any of these would have been my natural choice, but I'm assuming that even with his campaign in suspension, Edwards will still be on the ballot for president; Chapel Hillians Jim Neal and David Price could snatch my votes for Senate and House; at least in theory I could vote for Chapel Hill resident Bev Purdue for governor; and let's not forget lieutenant governor candidate Hampton Dellinger, who grew up in town though he's since fled to Durham.

Obviously I wouldn't have a hard time keeping my votes for NC House and Senate in the county, as will those for Commissioner, both for geographical reasons. I'll probably have to throw my vote all the way over the Alamance County for Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, though, and perhaps over to Durham for Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Eddie Davis and even to Wake County for Fred Aikens for State Auditor and Michael Weisel for State Treasurer. Elaine Marshall, running for re-election to the post of Secretary of State might be an “outsider,” but to her credit, the one time I've ever met her, she was here in Chapel Hill. And Attorney General Roy Cooper is at least a Carolina grad. I can't find much of anything on Commissioner of Agriculture candidate Ronnie Ainsley, and I've yet to find anyone challenging Cherie Berry for Labor Commissioner, but neither of the incumbent Republicans hail from the Southern Part of Heaven, so I'll stick to my Democratic guns.

So the question, then, is would anyone support "the Orange County ticket" in reality? We're talking about a primary here, and the Democratic one at that. But these candidates seem to be all over the map ideologically, so I don't see it being likely. It certainly challenges the notion that a Chapel Hillian would be immediately dismissed a too liberal to win at large simply because of their address, though. Growing up in the mountains I'd often hear the complaint about how long it had been since anyone in a statewide race had been elected from west of Charlotte. This begs a whole slew of questions, from why are we so politically inclined, to why doesn't one of the most progressive places in the state produce more actual progressives (I'm not digging at anyone in particular here) for state office? I've heard the form answers to these questions - anyone have a creative one?

Of course, if you take a bite at this, I'd ask that you keep your discussion reasonably confined to the local aspect.