Governor ‘Thin-Skin’

This little gem popped up on Twitter today.

 

It’s interesting that it is just now going public today — FRIDAY.  I first heard about it at the beginning of the week from one of my Raleigh moles.  One thing I remember from my days as a driveby?  Bad news, things you want to bury,  always gets disseminated publicly on Friday.  That’s the start of the weekend.  People aren’t paying as close attention to the news then as they are Monday through Thursday. 

So, why try to bury Mr. Tronovich’s departure?  Methinks it has something to do with playing down the rapidly-revolving door to the governor’s press office.  That door was creating quite a breeze during the first four months of the McCrory era in Raleigh.

What’s the back story on this departure — and the prior ones — from the press office?  One of our well-placed Raleigh moles filled us in with some of the details:

”Some of the most successful politicians out there typically had someone close to them telling them what is and is not all that smart to say and do publicly.  LIke how bad it looks to tell people you’re too busy to meet, and then get photographed playing catch with a trooper.  Or how childish it looks to take cookies out to a handful of leftist kooks protesting in front of your house.

Jack Hawke was the last person I know of who Pat McCrory would take that kind of advice from.  McCrory cannot stay on message.  He will get out there and just say stuff off the top of his head.  It won’t come out that well, or the press will run off with it in a crazy direction.  How does our governor react?  He comes back to the office all red in the face and reams his press people a new one. Those are tough conditions to work under.”

Granted, these press people are not consultants.  But — they DO know the media and how they work.  They know how things can be perceived, and likely have some decent ideas about how to get the biggest bang for your buck out of press coverage.  I can see getting mad at them if you act on advice they gave you beforehand.  But how fair — or reasonable is it — to scream holy hell at them to put the horse back in the barn after you’ve thrown the door open?”

My sources tell me that there have been full-blown screaming matches within the governor’s offices involving McCrory and members of his press team.  Another Raleigh source told me:

“In all of my years in this game, I have never seen a politician — especially a Republican — get so sensitive and angry over what gets said about him on TV or in the paper.  Pat is way too preoccupied with that.  There are a lot more important things he could be focused on.  Let your media team handle the media.  In this day and age, there are a lot more options to work with besides WRAL, The N&O and the Charlotte paper.”

I also talked with another mole on Jones Street who is very familiar with the governor and his operation: 

”Pat needs to understand that he is in the big leagues now, and that this is full-fledged combat up here.  He needs to find some grown-ups he respects to surround himself with.  He needs to listen to those people, and do a little thinking, before he starts talking.  In this day and age, it is hard to walk words and actions back.  Everybody, it seems, has a blog and a video camera.  It’s not shameful to listen to, and take advice from, other people when you have a powerful job.  Going out and about, making impromptu, off the cuff, freelance statements without giving your press team fair warning — and then expecting them to handle the ensuing media swarm — is really unfair.”