Thom Tillis is still having trouble with his right flank. Maybe it’s just a very few vocal disgruntled conservatives, but at this point in the campaign, it must be giving the Tillis campaign heartburn. Regardless, the campaign must have decided they need the middle right now more than they need their base.
Tillis brought in Mitt Romney yesterday and John McCain and Lindsay Graham on Tuesday. These are the same men that conservatives blame for losing the White House in 2012 and 2008. In their reading of the elections, Republicans should have nominated true believers instead of moderates like Romney and McCain.
The Daily Haymaker, a conservative web site here in North Carolina, blasted Tillis yesterday for supporting parts of Obamacare. And down in his home territory around Lake Norman, the Lake Norman Conservatives announced yesterday they’ve retained legal counsel to oppose toll roads pushed by Tillis. Members of the group have blasted Tillis for not holding true to conservative principles.
With just five days left, Tillis must have decided that they will either grudingly fall in line or that he can steal enough votes from the middle to make up the difference. Regardless, he’s given up on trying to silence them or win them over.
This is where Sean Haugh may actually play a role. The Libertarian is getting an inordinate amount of attention. A Koch-funded group is trying to drive a wedge between Hagan and younger voters by promoting Haugh’s support for legalization of marijuana. And then Haugh made news when he admitted smoking pot.
The strategy, though, may backfire. Haugh is a libertarian. People who are paying enough attention to know Tillis supports toll roads and is backtracking on his pledge to repeal Obamacare realize there’s more to Haugh and his brand of politics than just drugs. They may see more of a kindred spirit in an ideological purist than in a guy they believe will sell out his ideals and say anything to get elected. Haugh’s publicity may reinforce the notion that they have a place to go besides Tillis.
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 >
Sure seems to me like Tillis is aiming for the “social-warfare” end of the spectrum. He’s relentlessly running ads blasting both Hagan and Haugh for not being on the whole anti-abortion bandwagon. I think I might have also heard ads for ‘traditional’ marraige.
So if he’s looking for that middle, you can scratch the women and the gays.
Lily, sorry, but I don’t believe that enough voters know or understand what an exposed and costly position Tillis has put them with the toll road deal. It likely won’t hurt him in any significant way to effect Tuesday’s election. They could very well find out –the hard way, but having to pay their tax dollars to foreign companies– but that will only be after he becomes a US senator. Then it’s unlikely the fiasco could be effectively used against him when he’s up for re-election in 2020. Just another example of how Tillis has screwed NC’ers for his own personal and his party’s political gain. Finally, it should not be tough being a GOOD and CIVIC-MINDED politician. See:
http://wideni77.org/2014/04/out-of-four-bidders-successful-one-is-sole-alec-member/#more-1874
This Toll Road thing, that Tillis backed is going to hurt him. It is a sweet heart deal he and others gave a foreign corporation to build and operate toll roads in North Carolina. Unfortunately, backed by the taxpayer, if revenue fails to show a profit. Putting the taxpayer in the position as guarantor of this deal certainly falls short of any standards. It is tough being a politician.
Mick, tillis just got bunch of a couple weeks ago. That’s why see all the ads for tillis. Plus more GOP voters tend to vote on Election Day so that’s another reason for the late add. Not that agree with the strategy though.
Is it just me or are there ALOT more pro Tillis commercials on the air this week compared to pro Hagan? I hope that doesn’t end up helping Tillis come Tuesday…
I chose to write in John Rhodes. Will make more of a statement. Too bad the libertarians didn’t field a really good candidate.
Tillis’ ads of late, as well his holding court with the likes of Romney/McCain/Graham, definitely show a move toward the middle. You are likely right in that he is aiming to gain enough right-center votes in order to offset any lost extreme right votes. I do hope Haugh does way better than expected, hopefully at Tillis’ expense.
Overall, his ads, campaign romps with renown GOP pals, and his back-peddling on ACA just indicate that he will do and say anything to put another notch in his political career path. He has no true adherence to any political tenets, no ethical standards, and no moral anchoring. With Tillis, it’s personal ambition over civic altruism. It will be sad if he ekes out a win…….
Ads in support of Haugh are running on Pandora saying, “More weed, less war.” My guess is someone is paying for these to lure votes away from Hagan. Just saying.
It is done by: The American Future Fund is an Iowa based 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization[3] affiliated with the Center to Protect Patient Rights,[4][5] which in turn has reported ties to billionaires Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch[6][7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Future_Fund
Any publicity or boost for Haugh is probably bad for Tillis at this point, which makes the AFP funded “Get Haugh, Get High” ad campaign seem, um, questionable. Another instance of the Law of Unintended Consequences rearing its head.
OTOH, registered Libertarians sure aren’t showing up at the polls, with a whopping 0.2 % of the turnout so far.
So with negligible party infrastructure, Haugh votes will mostly be protest votes from the right, I suspect. That’s all downside for Tom Tillis of the Trillion Dollar Deficit.