A reality check for Daddy Berger?
Senator Phil Berger had such promise at the time of the GOP takeover in Raleigh. There were flashes of him being the conservative strong man in our capital city. On several occasions, he was the voice of common sense against then-speaker Tillis and then-Gov. McCrory.
But, like anyone in political power for a long time, Berger began to get way too comfy. His agenda began to deviate from conservative transformation to building and securing a personal power base. “Trouble-makers” got leaned on in a rather heavy-handed manner. Pork got freely bandied about. Berger began fundraising from some sketchy characters. It was like he and lil’ Timmy were locked in some kind of macabre downhill competition.
Just before the general election, we brought you a story about Berger proudly and openly endorsing a Democrat judge who had GOP opposition. This was not a matter of a “conservative” Democrat battling a sketchy Republican. The Democrat had, um, sterling liberal credentials and the Republican’s CV looked quite conservative. The Republican had been serving as Rockingham County attorney. Berger’s son is chairman of the Rockingham County board of commissioners. So, this had all the markings of Daddy Berger intervening in one of his boys’ political scuffles.
We get lectures from Raleigh all the time about party loyalty. Holding your nose and voting for even the most foul-smelling RINOs. Yet, here we had a party leader backing a Democrat against a Republican in good standing.
Well, justice prevailed. The Republican candidate opposed by Berger won convincingly over the senator’s Democrat candidate.
There was another interesting note to Tuesday’s action in Rockingham County. A total of 9,442 write-in votes were cast against senator Berger. “Write-in” got nearly 15 percent of the vote against Berger (who got 85 percent).
One of the big things that holds the GOP back is being afflicting with opportunist self-serving “leaders” in both the General Assembly and the Congress. That badly needs to change.
It looks like there is a, long overdue, campaign to oust the disgusting traitor “China Mitch” McConnell from his Senate Republican leadership perch, led by Senators Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley. They have not put out a rival candidate yet, and it still seems to be in an “anybody-but-McConnell” mode, but one name of someone possibly interested that has been floated elsewhere is Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). How Ted Budd votes on that will be a bellweather of whether he is going to be another hero like Helms or another huge disappointment like Tillis.
We need a total “fruit basker turnover” of our weak and vacillating “leadership” in the General Assembly. Berger and Moore are such prostitutes to the special interests that they ought to install red lights above their office doors.
I’m sorry I don’t live in Berger’s district. If I did, I would have written in Alvin Robinson as well.
Endorsing a liberal Democrat for judge over a conservative Republican is beyond belief. Still can’t believe Berger did this. He betrayed every argument our party has been making for years to elect conservative judges.
Berger needs to be removed from the Republican Party offices he holds by virtue of his Senate position. Does anyone have the guts to do that?
Term limits for politicians and bureaucrats. Budd refuses to criticize McConnell. I smell another Tillis.
I can see Budd keeping his powder dry. Quite a number of GOP Senate candidates this time took a “no comment” approach to the leadership issue, to keep their options open.
The key will be stopping McConnell from ramming through a quick vote for leadership positions, something a diverse group of GOP Senators, led improbably by Marco Rubio is trying to accomplish. There are two votes that will tell the tale on which way Budd is going. The first will be supporting delay of the leadership vote until after the Georgia runoff. The second will be how he votes for Senate leader, for McConnell, or, hopefully, for a challenger. If Budd screws us on those, I am through with him.
I stopped voting after the stolen 2020 election. Until we get real co set active leadership and secure elections I really don’t want to help these GOP elites rake in millions while us working stiffs are just getting by. Remember the GOP’s promises to repeal Obamacare? Or balance the budget? Or repeal the so-called education lottery they deemed unconstitutional when it was passed by the NCGA? Or defending Amendment One defining marriage? No backbone. No male genitals.
15% is nothing.
Had there been a place to write in a name in the Moss general race, Boles might have won…lol