The Daily Haymaker

Dust in the wind? (Ooof. And you wonder why you’re struggling to consolidate the party base.)

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Brant Clifton

It seems failure is a career-builder for GOP campaign consultants in North Carolina. At least it has been for one particular handle-bar mustachioed Mitt Romney fanboy™. Since coming off his

Turning Point: BUDD as big a DUD as Tillis

Posted on March 15, 2026 by Brant Clifton

THAT is muy disappointing. You might remember Turning Point as the organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk. It’s done amazing work bringing young people into the MAGA / conservative

Six Degrees of Separation: Phil Berger edition

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Brant Clifton

Okay. It’s been done for Kevin Bacon. Why NOT senator Phil Berger? “The don” is still locked in a close electoral competition with Rockingham County sheriff Sam Page. Page has

Shining some sunlight on all that dark $$$ in the Page-Berger clash

Posted on March 10, 2026March 10, 2026 by Brant Clifton

This “Committee,” and THAT “Committee.” “Citizens for” THIS and “Citizens for” THAT. Voters in the recently completed GOP primary for state senate district 26 likely got buried in more mailings

Report offers peek at NC Senate GOP’s lobbyist / Berger -flavored fundraising scheme

Posted on March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Brant Clifton

There was a lotta special interest cash floating around the recently-completed party primaries. A lot of it had connections to Phil Berger as well as interests with business before Berger’s

Whatley, Tillis, and Trump.

Posted on March 8, 2026 by Brant Clifton

Okay, let’s review. Unquestioning devotion to Donald Trump is the be-all, end-all for Republicans. (At least, that’s what we’ve been told.). Meanwhile, Trump-endorsed (2020) Thom Tillis has been raging against

Welcome to Whatley World: (Deja vu ALL OVER AGAIN?)

Posted on March 7, 2026March 10, 2026 by Brant Clifton

Well, the coronation of Michael Whatley is complete. There is still a long way to go for the unaccomplished schlub. (*Just ask Governor Mark Robinson about that.*) As a degreed

State election board’s bull-in-a-china-shop exits stage right

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Brant Clifton

Before the nation was captivated by Donald Trump’s blunt talk, North Carolina had state senator Bob Rucho. Rucho wasn’t exactly a doctrinaire conservative. He left us scratching our collective heads

Sam Page widens lead over Phil Berger. (Panic / reality set in for Raleigh swamp-dwellers. )

Posted on March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 by Brant Clifton

They threw everything but the kitchen sink at sheriff Sam Page. They outspent him 100-to-1. But when the smoke cleared, the grassroots-powered Page campaign came out on top of incumbent

The body count from Tuesday? At least EIGHT NCGA incumbents

Posted on March 5, 2026March 5, 2026 by Brant Clifton

I can’t recall the last time we had this much of this kind of action in General Assembly primaries. Assembly seats are not exactly in high demand. Usually, if you