A time for choosing: Whatley, Mills announce reelection bid

It was an interesting night to make an announcement — amid the State of the Union and some (albeit terrible) UNC basketball.  And they had help from the extra-horrible Thom Tillis. You want to continue running the miserably under-performing NC GOP and you bring arguably the most hated person in the Tar Heel State to help you announce this to the public. 

(I don’t know what was going on with Tommy’s face. Either he was munching on something containing a lot of powdered sugar, or he had recently face-planted into one of Hunter Biden’s kilos. )

Whatley just crammed drastic rules changes down the rank-and-file’s throats.

The indefinite postponement of district elections significantly helps the incumbent leadership by keeping its lapdog district chairs in power and the current Executive Committee at bay.

Now, he and his moll Susie have announced their intention to hang around and make mischief for two more years.

Those two are likely helping a lot of sketchy folks stay on — and feast upon – the ‘gravy train.’  $$$$$$$

Apparently, the Trump campaign can’t find a role for Whatley, so he  is relying on the establishment wing of the party to anoint him for two more years of losing pivotal elections.  Sadly, this does not bode well for Mark Robinson or Dale Folwell (whomever gets the GOP nod for Governor); nor does it engender confidence in winning more seats across new Congressional districts in 2024.
Whatley also announced the NCGOP General Counsel has resigned and moved back into the private sector.  (One has to wonder if perhaps Philip Thomas recognized the folly of continually breaking party rules, witnessing the erosion of support from the party’s base.)
Mega-donors are abandoning the party.  some are claiming they will never again contribute. (Folks, we love money TOO.  And we’ll make GREAT use of it.)
Worse still, there is a fleeting “small donor” base supporting the clown show on Hillsborough Street.
Without the RNC propping up the NCGOP, it is destined to fall apart, financially and operationally.  County GOP leaders are rapidly losing interest in anything that district and state leaders are promoting.  (More than 35 county leaders didn’t even bother to call in to Tuesday night’s clarion call.)
On the bright side,  there are a number of prospective candidates warming up for a run at party leadership.  Michele Woodhouse and John Kane are making serious noise about running as grassroots challengers.  Several more are rumored to be in ‘dogsniffing’ mode.  
Will rank and file Republicans mobilize in June and vote out the current incumbent pretenders?  Or, will the Central Committee set convention fees so high that – as in years past – they scare away grassroots convention-goers?
One can only wonder what other trickery Thom TIllis’s boy has up his sleeve to extend his tenure working for Art Pope’s political machine in Raleigh.  (Perhaps a newly proposed organizational construct for the NCGOP that firmly cements it as an exclusive country club?)
You can hang around here and keep moaning in our comment section. We love having commenters, fwiw.  But that will not change things in Raleigh.  Plans to change things need to start at the most local level possible.  Then, you work your way up to Raleigh.
 As Hasan Harnett found out, winning the chairmanship does not guarantee a thing. You need help on the governing committees.  You give help to a newly-arrived reformer by throwing out a lot of the current deadweight from the local level. If you think the NCGOP is worth saving,  work at the local level needed to start YESTERDAY.
Corruption and sketchy pay-to-play cash OR principled, conservative reform of government.  You make the call.