NEWS & COMMENTARY McCrory steps in it again. Blunder will hurt the GOP's effort to re-take the Senate seat



In what is apparently a signal of desperation within the Thom Tillis campaign, Governor Pat McCrory has endorsed Tillis in his effort to win the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate seat now held by Kay Hagan. McCrory stuck his nose in the partisan primary by backing the U. S. Chamber of Commerce's efforts to get Tillis in the Senate. WTVD reported: Governor Pat McCrory gave his endorsement to Thom Tillis Tuesday in the Republican contest to try and unseat Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan in the U.S. Senate race this fall.



McCrory announced his backing at the same time Tillis picked up the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at a news conference Tuesday.



McCrory called Tillis a natural leader and problem solver.



Early in-person voting for the May 6 primary ends Saturday.



"I'm proud to announce that tomorrow I plan to vote on the ballot for Thom Tillis for the U.S. Senate," McCrory said. "And in November, I plan to vote for Thom Tillis for the U.S. Senate."



Commentary



McCrory has stepped in it again. The unwritten rule is that governors and other such officials don't get involved in primary battles. Primaries are designed to allow members of the particular party, along with unaffiliated voters, to pick who is going to represent the party in the General Election. It is in the General Election that such endorsement have been made.



McCrory's actions here hark back to Tillis' action in sticking his nose into the N. C. House primary in 2012 when Arthur Williams, newly switched from long-time Democrat to Republican, said Tillis encouraged him to run. That did not turn out very well for Mr. Williams or Tillis as Williams was sent packing by the voters in Beaufort County and other counties in the Sixth District.



McCrory's unorthodox meddling in the Senate race will not doubt alienate many within the Republican Party. There is already a major division within the GOP between the Establishment element and the grassroots, more conservative element of the party. We doubt very many voters will cast their vote because of McCrory's endorsement. But what we do not doubt is that his actions are not in the best interest of the North Carolina Republican Party, or his own political future for that matter. In fact, we suspect McCrory has just precipitated a primary challenge of his own if he chooses to run for re-election in 2016.



No doubt McCrory will try to deal the split he has caused in the GOP after the primary is over. But we suspect such efforts will be mostly futile.



Tillis is viewed by many grassroots Republicans as a typical politician who will do or say anything if he thinks it will get him votes. They will not support sending someone such as that to the U. S. Senate from North Carolina. They will not likely vote for Hagan but what they will more than likely do is simply not vote in the Senate race in November. That will probably insure Hagan's re-election.



McCrory should have known better. Once again, we suspect he is getting bad advice from his handlers. That was also obvious when he visited Beaufort County after the recent tornadoes and he extoled Alan Jordan in his photo op at the scene of the tornado aftermath. Jordan is a Democrat. He is not running for re-election but he is supporting one of his staff to succeed him. We have said that the issue in the Beaufort County Sheriff's race will be whether the voters want change in the Sheriff's Department. If they are satisfied with the way Jordan has operated they will likely support either Russell Davenport, who like Jordan is a Democrat or Harry Meredith who is a Republican. Meredith recently retired as Jordan's Chief Deputy. Thus Jordan's specter permeates the May 6 primary. McCrory's meddling in the Beaufort Sheriff's race will now be an issue.



We believe McCrory, as the untitled head of the North Carolina Republican Party, should be about trying to unify the party to affect switching the state's Senate seat from Democrat to Republican. Instead of helping unify he has made the split worse. We believe his support of Tillis will not amount to a hill of beans in getting Tillis nominated or elected. If Tillis were indeed as strong a candidate as McCrory has said then he would not need McCrory's endorsement. The fact that his actions come so late (early voting is nearly half over) indicates to us that the Tillis campaign has internal data that causes them to feel they need McCrory's help, regardless of the long-term impact on the Republican Party and McCrory's political future. If he really wanted Hagan retired he should have stayed out of the primary battle just as Tillis should have stayed out of the 2012 House 6 primary. The fact is the Republican Party cannot elect Tillis without strong grassroots Republican votes and a boatload of unaffiliated votes. Those voters are not likely to be impressed with McCrory's endorsement. So the utility of his endorsement of Tillis is not nearly as great as the negative impact he will impose on the NC GOP. Politically, it simply was not a very smart move. Unless, that is, you favor a third party being the end result.



We think McCrory's handlers have misread how he got elected. McCrory's margin of victory did not come from voters thinking he was the superior candidate as much as they voted against the Democrat regime that had given us the Basnight/Black/Easley/Perdue mess. And that movement came as much from unaffiliated voters as it did from anyone else. And those voters are just as prone reject McCrory if they perceive that he does not produce the change they see needed in North Carolina politics. And this move to endorse Tillis simply smacks of "the more things change the more they stay the same." And the Democrats are likely to be the net beneficiaries of this.



to read another perspective on McCrory's blunder. In what is apparently a signal of desperation within the Thom Tillis campaign, Governor Pat McCrory has endorsed Tillis in his effort to win the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate seat now held by Kay Hagan. McCrory stuck his nose in the partisan primary by backing the U. S. Chamber of Commerce's efforts to get Tillis in the Senate. WTVD reported: Click here to go to the original source to read the rest of the story.McCrory has stepped in it again. The unwritten rule is that governors and other such officials don't get involved in primary battles. Primaries are designed to allow members of the particular party, along with unaffiliated voters, to pick who is going to represent the party in the General Election. It is in the General Election that such endorsement have been made.McCrory's actions here hark back to Tillis' action in sticking his nose into the N. C. House primary in 2012 when Arthur Williams, newly switched from long-time Democrat to Republican, said Tillis encouraged him to run. That did not turn out very well for Mr. Williams or Tillis as Williams was sent packing by the voters in Beaufort County and other counties in the Sixth District.McCrory's unorthodox meddling in the Senate race will not doubt alienate many within the Republican Party. There is already a major division within the GOP between the Establishment element and the grassroots, more conservative element of the party. We doubt very many voters will cast their vote because of McCrory's endorsement. But what we do not doubt is that his actions are not in the best interest of the North Carolina Republican Party, or his own political future for that matter. In fact, we suspect McCrory has just precipitated a primary challenge of his own if he chooses to run for re-election in 2016.No doubt McCrory will try to deal the split he has caused in the GOP after the primary is over. But we suspect such efforts will be mostly futile.Tillis is viewed by many grassroots Republicans as a typical politician who will do or say anything if he thinks it will get him votes. They will not support sending someone such as that to the U. S. Senate from North Carolina. They will not likely vote for Hagan but what they will more than likely do is simply not vote in the Senate race in November. That will probably insure Hagan's re-election.McCrory should have known better. Once again, we suspect he is getting bad advice from his handlers. That was also obvious when he visited Beaufort County after the recent tornadoes and he extoled Alan Jordan in his photo op at the scene of the tornado aftermath. Jordan is a Democrat. He is not running for re-election but he is supporting one of his staff to succeed him. We have said that the issue in the Beaufort County Sheriff's race will be whether the voters want change in the Sheriff's Department. If they are satisfied with the way Jordan has operated they will likely support either Russell Davenport, who like Jordan is a Democrat or Harry Meredith who is a Republican. Meredith recently retired as Jordan's Chief Deputy. Thus Jordan's specter permeates the May 6 primary. McCrory's meddling in the Beaufort Sheriff's race will now be an issue.We believe McCrory, as the untitled head of the North Carolina Republican Party, should be about trying to unify the party to affect switching the state's Senate seat from Democrat to Republican. Instead of helping unify he has made the split worse. We believe his support of Tillis will not amount to a hill of beans in getting Tillis nominated or elected. If Tillis were indeed as strong a candidate as McCrory has said then he would not need McCrory's endorsement. The fact that his actions come so late (early voting is nearly half over) indicates to us that the Tillis campaign has internal data that causes them to feel they need McCrory's help, regardless of the long-term impact on the Republican Party and McCrory's political future. If he really wanted Hagan retired he should have stayed out of the primary battle just as Tillis should have stayed out of the 2012 House 6 primary. The fact is the Republican Party cannot elect Tillis without strong grassroots Republican votes and a boatload of unaffiliated votes. Those voters are not likely to be impressed with McCrory's endorsement. So the utility of his endorsement of Tillis is not nearly as great as the negative impact he will impose on the NC GOP. Politically, it simply was not a very smart move. Unless, that is, you favor a third party being the end result.We think McCrory's handlers have misread how he got elected. McCrory's margin of victory did not come from voters thinking he was the superior candidate as much as they votedthe Democrat regime that had given us the Basnight/Black/Easley/Perdue mess. And that movement came as much from unaffiliated voters as it did from anyone else. And those voters are just as prone reject McCrory if they perceive that he does not produce the change they see needed in North Carolina politics. And this move to endorse Tillis simply smacks of "the more things change the more they stay the same." And the Democrats are likely to be the net beneficiaries of this. Click here to read another perspective on McCrory's blunder.

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