Pat McCrory is starting to flail. It’s not pretty when incumbents realize that they are trailing and time is running out. They start looking for something—anything—to change the dynamic of the race. In the final throes of her loss in 2008, Sen. Elizabeth Dole accused Kay Hagan of being an atheist. GOP commentator Alex Castellanos memorably said, “When you’re making ads that say [your opponent thinks] there is no God, it usually means your campaign doesn’t have a prayer.”
It’s early but McCrory seems to have hit that point. He’s stuck on HB2. Even though most people blame the fiasco on Republicans, McCrory is desperately trying to push it off on Democrats. It won’t work, but that won’t keep him from trying.
This week, McCrory released an ad that doesn’t mention HB2 but implies that Democrats want to allow boys to use girls’ locker rooms and showers in schools. It’s not believable but that doesn’t matter. He’s flailing and he thinks HB2 was his undoing. If he can just get it off of him and onto somebody else, maybe he can survive.
On Tuesday, he tried to blame the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, saying they wrote large parts of the bill. The Chamber released a statement denying it. Yesterday, he blamed Cooper and the “political left” for forcing the HB2 issue. Again, he’s not believable. McCrory signed the bill into law. Nobody is going to believe that Cooper and his allies forced him to sign the bad piece of legislation. It’s a bit pathetic but it’s reminiscent of the governor we’ve watched for the past three and a half years. He’ll say anything to pass the blame no matter how silly he sounds.
McCrory is hitting the desperation stage. He’s got to get inside of five points in the next few weeks or he’s probably toast. Voters have seen enough information about the two candidates to have developed pretty firm impressions and right now, they’re not impressed with McCrory. It’s not over but the window is closing—and he knows it.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Gee, D..g., with no photo Id required, same day registration and voting in the wrong precinct allowed and 17 days of early voting, one would think the Democrats would be able round enough derelicts and fraudulent votes to handily win the election this year. What are you worried about?
Most all the true derelicts and frauds are registered Republicans. As such, the Dems are focused on getting the educated, successful, and responsible folks out to vote….
You might be right if your side was winning. Latest NC statewide polls—Trump up by five, Burr up by six, McCrory up by three. But it’s ok for you to remain in denial, D.g. Wouldn’t want ya to drop out. Your intolerant diatribes help prove my case over and over again.
Misrepresenting things again, Ebrun? Yes, you are.
The most recent NC statewide polls:
PPP – Cooper +7, FOX – McCrory +3
FOX – Burr +6, PPP – TIE
FOX – Trump +5, PPP – TIE
Oh, and here’s one from today you conveniently ignored:
General Election: Trump vs. Clinton
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl: Clinton 48, Trump 41 = Clinton +7
OMG, McCrory is up in the latest two statewide polls. Seems many North Carolinians don’t approve of the NCAA and the ACC getting involved in partisan politics.
A legend in his own mind. A disaster in reality.
Flailing? Yes. Pointing fingers? Yes.
But the race is still way too close for any comfort, IMO.
It’s still within the range where a single misstep, gaffe, or lapse by his opponent, or where lots of ridiculous ads sponsored by dark money at the RGA or other radical right orgs could result in a McCrory re-election win.
Thomas recalls the Dole-Hagen match-up in portraying where this gov’s chances may stand at the moment. But I’ll call attention to the Hagen-Tillis race, in which most pundits thought, right up to election day, that Tillis would fall short.
Tillis squeaked by because so many people couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2014, a midterm election. The only people I saw at the polling place were elderly and white. That won’t be the case in November. We can get rid of McCrory with enough effort.
Tillis also squeaked by because in the final three weeks before election day he got a secret $4.9 million-dollar infusion of cash for ad buys from friends of Art Pope and the Kochs: money that went to a brand-new, just-formed PAC (which therefore hadn’t had to register).
YES!!!!! McCrory is doing a great job keeping his base riled up! And his base is very much going to come out in big numbers in November.
That’s why GOP is working so hard to suppress the vote. In my county, Watauga, the early voting hours have been reduced from those offered during the March primary and the 2012 presidential election. There is NO early voting outside of 9-5 work hours except at ONE site (the county building) on ONE Saturday (11/5) from 8am – 1pm.
Revised – No early voting outside of 8-5 work hours.
It was more like he desperately wanted to be like one of the mental defectives in the state legislature. With a sexually ambiguous name like “Pat” he was seeking approval. Remember Pat from SNL? https://youtu.be/M-cnj1SVDiw
The Guv, as usual, is grasping at straws, saying “he sued Duke Energy” over the ash pit debacle”, or “…out teachers will be making $50,000 +’ next year”
or “Roy Cooper is responsible for the backlog of lab work in the Crime lab”,
ad infinitum, ad nauseam, etc.
Then he comes on with ads in the same vein he tried to take in the last election,
the homespun, good old boy, bulls**t style he tries spin himself as,
but it still stinks. He’s not a good governor, he is a good manipulator and hater,
he does not love North Carolina like we do. He’s in favor of the Republican party in NC running things the way they have since 2010, which is into the ground.
We don’t need you anymore, Pat. Just resign and get out of town
You are right on target. The Republicans were intoxicated with their majority, and they had the votes to do whatever they wanted. However, the pendulum that swings to the right will swing back to the left. When the Democrats were in control, North Carolina was run from the center. There are a lot of conservative Democrats in North Carolina. Every objective analysis of the laws passed by the legislature prior to the Republican takeover said so. The concerns of the business community were paramount.
Instead of legislating from right of center, the GOP moved to the extreme right and passed laws which represent ideological extremes. Ideologues are more dangerous than pragmatists because facts don’t matter. Ideologues run on blind faith. When the facts on the ground contradict preconceived notions, the facts are ignored. Pragmatic conservatives will adjust when feedback tells them they are on the wrong course. Ideologues are incapable of dealing with reality because their faith in their beliefs is so strong – a good reason to put a wall between government and religion. An ideologue will continue down the wrong road in the belief that the world will eventually conform to their right ideas. The pragmatic conservative will adjust to reality.
Much evidence has come forward regarding the folly of HB2. It has been a public relations disaster. It has made North Carolina famous as a bigoted, ignorant place. At every turn, the Governor and the legislature have continued down the wrong path, while announcements of lost business, lost jobs and lost reputation accumulate.
With his latest ad campaign, Gov. McCrory has twisted the facts into a lie he keeps telling. McCrory isn’t wrong. The media is wrong. Business people are wrong. The Fortune 500 is wrong. The NBA is wrong. No one but McCrory has common sense. In the meantime, he and the legislature continue to inflict losses on North Carolinians. At some point, the governor will have to stop lying about HB2 and he will have take responsibility for the folly. His losing streak in the courts will not stop. His $10 million in legal fees was misspent. He is wrapped around a bad idea. The bitter consequences will not stop no matter how much he believes in it.
It’s a helluva thing, isn’t it?
When the Democrats were in power “The concerns of the business community were paramount”.
When the GOP took over “Instead of legislating from right of center, the GOP moved to the extreme right and passed laws which represent ideological extremes”.
It does not appear that this vehicle is capable of making left turns – EVER. It’s only navigation options are to decide when it is expedient to make the next right turn.
Are you enjoying the ride?