Lessons of HB2: McCrory never learned

by | Feb 1, 2017 | Editor's Blog, NC Politics, North Carolina | 4 comments

The News & Observer’s article about Pat McCrory’s emails concerning HB2 describe a man who never figured out to survive in state government. He was clearly thin-skinned, obsessing over news reports and unwilling to stand up for what he really believed. He got rolled by the legislature throughout his tenure and it eventually cost him his job.

McCrory was always ill-suited for the job and HB2 laid bare all of his weaknesses. He was unsure of the bill but unwilling to stand up to the legislature. He could never get ahead of the story and was perpetually reacting to news stories. He took on a victim mentality, complaining about abuse by the press and the Democrats and got little respect from leaders of his own party. It’s not a way to instill confidence in the voters.

McCrory’s background as mayor of Charlotte didn’t prepare him well for Raleigh. Charlotte is a moderate town dominated by the banking and financial industries. While the Queen City has certainly had some political battles, the politics is tame by Raleigh standards. The Republicans in the legislature were ready for radical change and vengeance against Democrats who had controlled state government. McCrory didn’t really understand the environment or the personalities in the General Assembly. Over four years, he never learned.

House Bill 2 dominated McCory’s final year in office. Before he called the special session to address a Charlotte ordinance which said transgender people could use the bathroom of their choice, McCrory sent emails demanding that the legislature tailor a narrow bill to address just that issue. When the General Assembly instead passed a broad bill that restricted rights of LGBT people across the state and added a few more unrelated goodies, McCrory signed it like a good soldier instead of pushing back like a strong leader.

With his name on it, HB2 became his responsibility and the anvil around his neck that eventually sank him. Emails for the rest of the year show McCrory complaining about the fallout and demanding his staff react to bad press. The episode defined his tenure and illustrated the way he governed. He was never able to get ahead of a story. He let the legislature lead while he took the heat. He became defined by their actions, transforming from a moderate Republican who worked across party lines to a social conservative out of touch with mainstream North Carolinians.

The moral of the story is be true to yourself and stand up for what you believe. If McCrory had done that more often, maybe he would still be governor. Then, maybe McCrory didn’t have enough principles to defend.

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Norma Munn

    McCrory was inadequate, to put it politely. As far as I could discern, he had the political instincts of a turtle, and the backbone of a snake. Add to that the thin skin, and you get an embarrassment to this state. None of that means Cooper will be any more successful, but at least he won’t roll over and play dead — or bend with the latest wind.

  2. Mike Leonard

    McCrory was in over his head from Day One in office, just like we are now seeing with Trump.

  3. Jay Ligon

    A flexible spine is required for success in politics as well as a sensitive finger to test the direction of political winds. McCrory was spineless, but he lacked the ability to assess the changing mood of the people.

    Ex-governor McCrory was able to twist himself into pretzel shapes as the conservative tide rolled into Jones Street. His campaign message was warped over time: for example, he would not impose new abortion restrictions until he went along with the legislature when it did. There were a few flashes of integrity when he opposed a few absurd, clearly unconstitutional laws emerging from the legislature.

    McCrory, like a lot of politicians, did not see the trend favoring tolerance of sexual preferences coming. President Obama was opposed to gay marriage when he first took office. Hillary Clinton changed her mind on the issue as well. A lot of politicians had to do a quick about face to align themselves with the will of the people.

    In California, opponents of same-sex marriage put Proposition 8 on the November 2008 ballot and the measure won by 52%. Same-sex marriages were a routine event until the proposition went into effect. In 2010, the Supreme Court struck down Proposition 8. Those dates, 2008 through 2010, may serve as the rough reference points for the turning of the tide of the public’s mood regarding sexual preference.

    The prevailing political winds turned very quickly, and the many traditional politicians adjusted to the climate. Those who did not adjust were left behind. Large segments of the nation remained as much or more opposed to gender issues, and red states became entrenched and defiant. North Carolina has an unusually binary electorate with a strong progressive core alongside an intensely conservative base.

    Clearly, McCory wanted to remain governor and was willing to adapt to whatever change was necessary. The legislature wrongly assumed that a minuscule segment of North Carolina’s population – transgender people – could be bullied and disenfranchised with an unnecessary, unconstitutional, unenforceable law. A piece of legal fluff that would highlight the differences between the conservatives and the rest of us. They were wrong. Big business, big sports, colleges and universities, and organizations including the Chamber of Commerce opposed HB2. McCrory bet wrong. His finger had tested the political winds and gave him the wrong answer.

    His responses became ever more shrill and ludicrous. The people were eventually spared the spectacle of watching McCrory being dragged from the governor’s mansion by his heels, but he did not want to go.

    His gamble was costly to the state. In the end, jobs and basketball sent McCrory back to civilian life.

    • Stephen Lewis, Sr.

      I see it differently the end result is the same he lost. If you have followed McCrory’s career as those of us in the Charlotte area have HB 2 was classic McCrory. If there is a group that has always had the biggest dislike for him it was the conservative wing of the Republican party the real deal conservatives, something McCrory never has been. As mayor of Charlotte he pushed light rail lines, basket ball arenas and camera in stop lights. Angering many conservatives but around election time he would pick fights with the far left over issues that always seem to rally conservatives to his cause, issues such as crime and policing, Budget fights with liberal often black liberal councilman, and other such causes. Now do not for a minute think I am calling McCrory as racist I am not, racist believe in something, it may be racism that they believe in but its something, McCrory believes first and foremost in himself it is all about him. McCrory had issues with conservatives again, There was a group who formed a Republicans for Cooper group in the Lake Norman area, These were folk who had felt for good reason the McCrory had screwed them over on the toll road issue. Because he had done just that. There were other thing he had done also. When the opportunity for HB 2 came up McCrory embraced it, he was never concerned about any of it, it was so he thought he meal again. He was going to use it to as a rally call for conservative to come back to him. But it failed, it failed not because of the cause it self but in the end no one baught into Pats game. I honestly don’t think he gave a tinkers damn about the issue and that is why he failed. The Republicans of Lake Norman had been played by him so many times they just so it as another smoke and mirror McCrory game that they had seen so many times before.

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