The beginning of the end

by | Oct 8, 2014 | 2014 Elections, Editor's Blog, US Senate | 18 comments

Rarely is the collapse of a political campaign televised. Last night, though, we may have watched the beginning of the end of the Tillis for US Senate campaign. Hagan certainly outperformed the North Carolina House Speaker, but, more significantly, all the weaknesses of his campaign were laid bare.

Hagan began the debate on the attack. In her opening statement, she made the case that Tillis’ leadership in the legislature damaged North Carolina. She never let up the entire debate, even mocking him for not answering questions and getting her committee assignment wrong. 

Tillis, for his part, looked uncomfortable. He fell back on tired talking points and never connected, either with Hagan or his audience. His performance mirrored the troubles his campaign faces and showed just how far he has to go in a very short amount of time.

Tillis is obviously still trying to convince his base. He spent too much time talking about Obamacare and calling for its repeal. He harped on amnesty. But he never looked comfortable doing it. If he still hasn’t convinced the ideological core of his party after a year and a half of running and millions of dollars in ads, he’s not going to do it in an hour long debate.

He can’t find a line of attack that will stick. He used the same lines in the debate that have failed to work in ads. He repeatedly accused her of voting with Obama 96% of the time. And of course she voted for Obamacare. He went after her for missing committee meetings on ISIS and terrorism but Hagan had a better response. She first showed off her knowledge of the situation and then noted that his hometown newspaper had called for Tillis to resign from the house because the campaign was causing him to miss so much of the legislative session.

Finally, Tillis clearly hasn’t established himself as a credible alternative. He didn’t offer any signature accomplishments even though he’s speaker of the house. Instead, he claimed to have gotten people back to work and put a billion dollars into public education.  Neither claim rings true. The unemployment rate in is going up, not down and wages have been stagnant for seven years. Local newspapers have documented the cuts to local schools.  His claims fly in the face of the reality people in North Carolina are living.

Hagan, for her part, showed all of the fire and anger that North Carolina Democrats, and a lot of independents, feel toward the General Assembly that Tillis led. She stuck to her guns that he cut education by $500 million. She beat on him for giving tax cuts to rich. But she went beyond that. She called the entire Republican agenda a failure that was taking North Carolina down the wrong road. Now, she said, Tillis wants to take that same agenda to Washington. And Tillis never offered a satisfactory rebuttal.

Hagan looked confident and energetic. Tillis looked desperate and deflated. I suspect that both candidates know something that the public polls have been hinting at: Hagan’s lead is solidifying and she’s beginning to break away. Last night, Tillis needed to score big, but Hagan smelled blood. She landed solid punches all night and Tillis couldn’t deliver one good blow. That, in a nutshell, is the story of this campaign.

18 Comments

  1. StreetPundit

    There is another scenario that one would be wise to consider: Amendment One was fundamentally flawed in its subversion of Constitutional protections which is why I couldn’t support it; but the 60+ percent of North Carolina voters who did vote for it could well express their anger at having their vote “usurped” by an Obama-appointed federal judge by voting for Thom Tillis on Election Day. This “October Surprise” may gin up a last-minute groundswell that would be difficult to countermand.

    • Lily

      Why do republicans waste time and money on stupid issues, like amendment 1. Sure it looks good to say republicans are “family value” folks, but they need to make that clear to those republican politicians in Washington and Raleigh who vote against raising the min. wage and equal pay for women. I am not supporting the gay life style, but I suspect there are other more important issues facing this nation and the state of North Carolina.
      Republicans would prefer to allow business operations, like Walmart to pay their employees wages that qualify them for food stamps and numerous other public assistance programs. You the tax payers pay for these programs…Why bit the hand that makes large donations to their campaign fund? Voting for programs that allow business operations to frack (pump toxic chemicals into the earth) or pass along the cost of cleaning up the Dan River coal ash mess to the consumer or denying the Medicare expansion as a political statement against the ACA shows where their loyalties lay. Uncle Thom Tillis and his little buddy Gov. Pattie are perfect examples of this principle. It is truly amazing how republicans can convince folks to vote against their own best interests.

      • Troy

        Fairly simple ma’am and it happens to work. It’s called divide and conquer. You’ve got all these people that make up the middle class. You divide that rather large group since they do most of the voting and earning with petty little hot button issues that keep them bickering with each other and divide them as an entity…and divide their voting strength as a voting block. So rather than the middle class being focused on how badly those of the ruling elite are, pardon the expression, screwing them over, economically, socially, and institutionally (social security, Medicare, unemployment), and voting their economic interests in solidarity, they remain divided and enable Republican policy to perpetuate this travesty they call “Carolina Comeback” on the State. I guess if we are “coming back” to the Middle Ages, it’s working.

        But the Republicans have opened Pandora’s Box. Reading some of the commentary elsewhere on the topic of gay marriage, people are incensed and demanding a “return to God’s law.” They are insisting on a return to theocracy in this country; like it “used to be.” Well that’s just it, it never has been. But these right wing wingnut extremists are starting to believe their own fantasy…and the Republicans started it. Of course, they win either way. They are going to get reduced government if the ruling principles in this nation ever flip. They are going to be the party so favored in the eyes of God. They are going to be the ruling class and everyone else will be chattel.

        Not all Republicans think like that. The core however, the faithful, the ‘true’ believers, in political and religious thought do. And they are driving these rifts in the social class structure. They are quick to try and shout down those pointing this out calling it “cultural warfare”; but they are simply trying to vilify those that notice. And they’re very well funded. Seems this sort of thinking and the end result is popular in more places than you might think.

    • preserver3

      60% of 32% of eligible voters.

  2. Jeff

    It is a shame that our choice is between these two. The option is always for the opposition party to beat the incumbent even if the incumbent accomplished very little or nothing in their time in office. It is a shame that we cannot have two candidates whose intentions are to fight for the people of NC and not just for the agenda of their political party. Elected politicians have lost sight of the fact that they are elected to be the voice of their constituents and not to create a comfortable life for themselves as a career politician. Term limits and the elimination of PAC money would be a great start. I would also offer that voters could be polled to determine the 5-10 greatest issues facing the people of NC and the candidates would have to provide information on where they stood on each of the issues and what plan of attack they would use to take on these issues. Career politicians and politicians who become wealthier after taking office need to be done away with. This is still “public service” after all.

  3. Elaine

    Thom Tillis was too busy trying to get involved with pointless lawsuits to try to stop gay marriage in NC to really focus on his campaign. Which is really illustrutive of what kind of Senator he would be. Let’s stop focusing on the stuff that doesn’t matter and get to work on real problems.

  4. carl bimbo

    THERE is an old saying you cant turn a sows ear into a purse…that somes up tillis. He hasnt got the expierence moved up too fast and his policiesvfly in the face of nc average folks….

  5. Scott

    Sadly enough these two are the best we can offer, our State is in a mess.

    • Ray

      FLASH: Libertarian Sean Haugh will debate both his demopublican opponents on WECT-TV out of Wilmington, at 7:00 p.m. TONIGHT, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9.

  6. Tim

    Tillis got beat up by a girl last night.

  7. Jake Blakwelder

    I thought it was just the opposite.

  8. Mary

    It is so sad that the republicans, and Tillis is a perfect example, have to resort to fearmongering (Ebola, ISIS, even foreign CHILDREN!) to try to win votes. Where are the solutions to all the problems we face? It is never found in running away. We really need all the constructive solutions we can find, no matter who offers them up. I hope these guys wise up!

  9. John Black

    His answer to everything seem to be “You voted with President Obama 97% of the time” Guess he failed to realize the President is not on the ballot and the people who he is aligned with.

  10. ncmathsadist

    This will only be of any avail if the lazy citizens of this state go to the polls and vote their interests. Last time around, they showed they did not want to be bothered.

  11. steve_b

    tillis took away my “inclusive health” care plan, a somewhat affordable healthcare plan that was available here in nc.

    so now i am working hard and spending money to take away his gov sponsored health care

    if i have anything to say about it tillis will be looking for a new health care provider soon

  12. Adrian Lapas

    Let’s hope the finish comes in November.

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