Pat McCrory 2.0

by | May 19, 2015 | 2016 Elections, Editor's Blog, NCGov | 6 comments

In the N&O this morning, state Sen. Bob Rucho said something nice about Pat McCrory. It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Rucho didn’t criticize the governor, either. That’s a big difference from the way Massachusetts Bob usually talks about McCrory.

Rucho now says the McCrory’s vision of the budget is closer to reality than the one the House rolled out. It brings to mind that John F. Kennedy quote, “In politics, there are no friends, only allies.” And right now, Rucho is more allied with the governor than the House.

Back in the day, Rucho ridiculed McCrory for his lack of business experience and generally showed him a lack of respect. That’s changed and so has the governor.

I miss the old Pat McCrory, though. Remember the free-wheeling guy who gave unscripted interviews and made up stuff along the way? He showed an utter lack of understanding of the General Assembly and the ways of Raleigh in general. He thought he sounded witty and charming when he really sounded shallow and ignorant.

McCrory’s team has put him in a box. They won’t let him off his short leash because they don’t know what he’ll say. By keeping him out of the public eye, they’re hoping his approval ratings improve–not for anything he’s done but because he hasn’t had the opportunity to make a fool of himself.

If he’s not exactly making nice with the Senate, he’s not angering them, either. With fellow Charlottean Thom Tillis no longer in the House, McCrory doesn’t have many close friends in the legislature–and that’s probably a good thing. He’s not getting too close to anybody who might be a liability. He doesn’t need anymore Aldona Wos–type relationships.

This is the McCrory Democrats will face in 2016. He’ll be highly scripted, somewhat isolated, and the press won’t have much access. They will have to find a way to define McCrory that’s not based on the 2013 version of the bumbling politician, light on gray-matter and heavy on ridicule. Beating McCrory won’t be the cakewalk a lot of people envisioned two years ago. It will be a long, hard-fought contest that will probably begin sooner than later.

6 Comments

  1. JC Honeycutt

    Prior to his being elected, apparently a fair number of voters thought that since McCrory had been mayor of Charlotte, he must have significant experience in governing. Fact is, the city of Charlotte is governed by the city council and the city manager and his/her staff : the mayoral position is mostly devoted to being a cheerleader for the city and (ideally) convincing businesses to locate there. I suggested to McCrory’s Democratic rival for the governorship that he run on the slogan “More than just a pretty face”: IMHO, if voters had known how little real experience McCrory had in governing, he might not be in Raleigh embarrassing us (and himself) now.

  2. Russell Scott Day

    I agree with Someone From Main Street. Democrats seem at business as usual when 25 percent of the state is living in poverty from reliable sources. I’d think if there was anything to attack the Republicans about, it would be that. McCrory may have heard that I agree that it is more important to make the ports work for all the people, and so he speaks of jobs coming to Robeson because of the ports and the RRs. OK, but is it real? Yes we have a deepwater port in Morehead City, but I’ve not heard of the container ships docking there to take away or bring in anything. And Wilmington, what exactly is going on down there that is so great? Year ago when I was doing research for whatever reason I was doing it, things really didn’t seem so great. But Roy Cooper hasn’t said much about much and if he doesn’t get at it Democrats will ensure McCrory will win on the strength of his pictures with every new company or company expansion. The Minimum wage needs to be raised, at the absolute minimum, and Cooper ought be demanding that daily so much as to be seen to make it happen now or when elected. All the working class pay attention to is wages.

  3. Someone from Main Street

    IF I remember correctly, he signed a bill that made it illegal to talk about the ingredients used in fracking.

    He’s signed several bills that went against his promise to keep abortion safe and legal for women.

    He’s signed bills that have trashed education budgets in NC.

    He’s signed bills that allow guns in parks and on campuses (but perhaps this is a plus in NC.)

    He’s done very little to spur Duke Energy to clean up the Dan River – and he’s done NOTHING to hold Duke Energy accountable for the Dan RIver spill – a spill which has poisoned the wells of those nearby. Duke is all revved up about making sure there are no big floaties in Lake Norman. I suppose that matters to some.

    He has yet to fire Aldona Wos, one of the most incompetent public administrators in the history of the US, if not THE most incompetent.

    But hey, if the best NCDems can offer up is that McCrory’s staying within the lines now, so he’ll be re-elected, that’s very sad for NC.

    But what’s even sadder – the lack of NC Democratic candidates in the ring right now….

    • wncguy

      You don’t think the sitting Attorney General is enough…hes the strongest democratic candidate there is. Wake up!!!!

      • Someone from Main Street

        Is Cooper officially running? You’d never know it by looking at roycooper.com or his twitter handle. Last blog post on his website is from 2014. His tag is “Roy Cooper for North Carolina.”

        Didn’t an intern announce Cooper was running for Governor? Apparently a minion wrote Cooper’s tweet to his wife on Mother’s Day (no -RC to indicate it was written by him.)

        All pretty wishy-washy. But hey – his party’s even worse.

        AND I AM A DEMOCRAT!!! A TERRIBLY FRUSTRATED DEMOCRAT!!!

  4. Apply Liberally

    You are right, Thomas. Unless he gives us a few new “stupid hat,” “fire that restaurant worker!” or “care-for-some-cookies?” moments, he could mostly be judged by voters on the state’s economy, its social-issue zeitgeist, and how his optics look compared to Cooper.

    But his track record of whining about bills but signing them anyway is an aspect the Dems should harp on. If he signs the bill on his desk now that will criminalizes employees reporting wrongdoing in the workplace, the bill that will further put limits on women’s reproductive choices (by expanding the abortion waiting period), and the bill that broadens concealed-carry (including into the State Fair), he could continue to exposed himself as the yes-boy of the GOP-led NCGA.

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