#NCSEN WRAL’s Binky cribs from his Mother

WRAL owner and Democrat super-donor Jim Goodmon appears to be trying to replicate the mess the Daniels family made at The N&O.  Screw reporting the facts.  Twist those facts to make socialism look good and capitalism look bad.  Goodmon’s majordomo in this effort is Mark “Binky” Binker — a mediocre scribe at the Greensboro N&R who is clearly grateful to his new master for helping him escape that paper and that town. 

Goodmon  and the rest of the state’s lefty cabal are clearly concerned about Brannon, his oratorical skills,  and his swelling populist following.  Check out this commentary from a writer at the leftist  Winston-Salem based Camel City Dispatch:

Giving the edge on the night and on the primary campaign thus far to Dr. Greg Brannon. State-wide he’s managed to get some name recognition generated with headlines that are mostly positive for Brannon and negative for Tillis including verbal assaults on Speaker Tillis from Red State’s Erick Erickson and Anne Coulter. Brannon stirred some negative soup on the day of this forum when the story started to filter out that he had compared SNAP benefits for the poor to slavery. The full impact of that slip is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that the man has come to the game prepared and, most importantly, motivated. Brannon has some serious political craft and an intensity that simply thrust him head and shoulders above the pack on Tuesday night. While the other candidates seemed like intellectual lightweights at worst, and simply not very thoughtful at best, Brannon clearly knows exactly where he’s coming from and can back it up with depth and facts. He may very well be misreading the US Constitution and the intentions of the “Founders,” but the man is on point, thinking, smart, and 100% a true believer in what he is saying. That integrity and passion remained under disciplined control and no matter what you might think of his ideology- it is intellectually consistent across the board and focused on the rights of the individual over the masses. His verbal attacks on collectivism are sharp, sourced, and thought out. Thom Tillis should have shown up because allowing Brannon to stand next to this much weaker field makes him look even better.

Brannon’s weakness on the stump at this point is, at times, coming across as too driven and focused. He needs to loosen up. We all know you’re smarter than everyone on the stage, bubba… just don’t let your face let the rest of us in on the fact that you realize that too.

Again, that’s a leftist talking.  Not a Tea Partier. 

The media narrative has suggested that the GOP race is all about Mark Harris and Thom Tillis.  A Charlottean will be the GOP nominee, they tell us — just like in the governor’s race.  Greg Brannon’s performance at these forums and in the polls is shredding that spin.  The consensus is that there will be a runoff in the race featuring establishment candidate Thom Tillis and A CANDIDATE TO BE NAMED LATER.  Harris strategist Tom Perdue has admitted that his team’s strategy is to get into the runoff.  The problem: there appears to be only one vacant slot there.

Harris and Brannon are both apparently trying to woo Tea Party conservatives.  Harris needs to get Brannon out of the way, in order to make it to the promised land of the runoff.  That likely explains why his supporters are spending so much time trashing Brannon (whispers of alleged pro-gay and pro-abortion sentiments) and pretty much ignoring Tillis.

If the polls are any indication, Brannon is spoiling what had been widely perceived as a Tillis victory lap.  In frustration, Tillis insiders have launched a furious assault on the Cary OB-GYN.  State senator Jeff Tarte of Mecklenburg spent weeks shopping the sordid, sensational details of a business dispute between Brannon and some former friends to anyone who would listen.  He FINALLY got Binky and his partner-in-crime at McClatchy, John “The Shih-Tzu” Frank,  to bite.  Binky and the shih-tzu led the furious PR assault on Brannon.  When they were done, polling showed that Tillis’ lead had vanished and he was now in a tie with Brannon.  There was surely much frustration-based gnashing of teeth in multiple campaign offices and newsrooms once those results went public.  *What do we have to do to get this guy ????*

Binky told us that Brannon was late on his property tax payment.  (I’m *sure* he  wasn’t handed the info by a helpful opposition researcher.  I am *sure* he checked the records of ALL fifteen-or-so candidates in the race.) Binky also let us know that Brannon has not apparently not filed ethics forms with the secretary of the Senate.  Goodmon’s cracker-jack reporter neglected to mention that HALF the GOP field — at the time of the story — had not filed those forms.  The ethics forms make you detail every bit of your financial business, in order to ensure that you won’t be in a conflict-of-interest during your time in the Senate.  The primary vote hasn’t happened yet.  What’s the point — other than giving reporters and opposition research types a chance to gander at your business — of filing those papers until you’ve made it past the primary, entered the general election field, and look more certain of heading for a six year (or more) stay in DC? 

Binky’s latest “scoop” comes as a result of cribbing from an online report from Mother Jones — widely regarded as the “bible” for the birkenstock and granola, Phish concert-attending Carrboro-Chapel Hill types.  It’s *good* to know that a publication that has been revered by the American Left for decades drives the news coverage at our state’s flagship TV news operation.  

The Mother Jones article twists out of context some comments Brannon made upon receiving an award for his service as medical director at a Wake County crisis pregnancy center.  Mother Jones sure is devoting an inordinate amount of coverage to a supposedly fringe candidate who the establishment GOP and Democrats tell us has no chance of getting into the runoff or getting elected.

What’s really funny about Binky’s regurgitation of the Mother Jones article is — he was AT the event the Mother Jones article is based on.   And — for some reason — he didn’t even mention in his ensuing post-event article the stuff Mother Jones keyed on.  Nope.  He and his little shih-tzu buddy filed some copy about Brannon digging the whole slavery thing.  If what Mother Jones says was accurate AND newsworthy, WHY didn’t Binky mention it in his NOVEMBER story about the event?

Of course, Binky being in the room with a camera and note pad is no indication that we’re going to get all the news that’s fit to print.  Check out another mess he created by “reporting” on another event he attended with a camera. 

Don’t take my word, Binky’s word, or Mother Jones’ word on this whole episode.  Watch the video of the speech at the crisis pregnancy center for yourself. You’ll get a good, personal look at the candidate and his wife Jody.  You’ll also see an excellent example of how journalistic incompetence, media bias, and political agendas can skew what we see in print each morning and on the TV news each night.