The governor deserves no praise for his comments on the abortion bill. For one, his so-called “threat” was laced with weasel words and obsequious courtesies. There’s nothing brave about that. More importantly, McCrory’s latest move is just another of the PR stunts that gave this silly man a career.

From the beginning, insiders considered McCrory a light-weight. In 1993, his City Council colleague Cyndee Patterson deadpanned, “He certainly is enthusiastic about things he cares about….I don’t think he necessarily spends the time getting knowledgeable about [them].” To look substantive, McCrory would hop in the car and play policeman. That’s perhaps why Patterson added, “He looks good, and I think he’s a good campaigner.”

McCrory’s always treated governing as a pageant, too. He had no serious responsibilities as mayor, but he loved to using the veto pen as a prop. For example, he vetoed a living-wage bill for city employees and vacuously thundered that it was “socialism”! He kept making insipid gestures as governor. In the course of about a month, he created a North Carolina Innovation Center–which has no apparent purpose–and proposed gutting the highly successful Biotech Center. When it comes to governance, there truly is no there there.

Already, some people are taking the veto threat as a sign of seriousness. But the true substance of his position was left barely intelligible. One more press conference later, he’s still the same empty suit he’s always been. Back in ‘93, one anonymous Council Member remarked, “It’s sort of like he’s channel surfing through the city’s business and never stops on anything long enough to know what’s going on.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Alexander H. Jones

Alexander Jones is an original contributor to PoliticsNC.