Campaign 2024: The Autopsy
I don’t know about you. But — once you look past Trump’s win nationally and in North Carolina – there is not a whole hell of a lot for conservative and Republican voters to celebrate.
Democrats had a net gain of ONE seat on the ten-member Council of State. State Republican $$$ got wasted on things like the Rockingham County board of commissioners race while Republicans in two winnable Council of State races (DPI, AG) got pounded with dishonest attack ad after attack ad. (If you’re going to be little more than a glorified money-laundering operation, cycle that money through to everybody.)
Republicans lost their veto-proof majority in the state House. So, there will be a lot of groveling before Governor Josh. Republican elected officials – i.e., Catherine Truitt and Thom Tillis — publicly bad-mouthed GOP candidates they didn’t like who were locked in general election battles with Democrats.
In DC, a lot of the same senators and congressmen who were in place for Trump and Biden will be back. (I’m old enough to remember Thom Tillis telling Fox’s Tucker Carlson that we don’t need Trump’s border wall.)
About 1/4 of Republicans in each body have quite dependably voted with Democrats on many issues. It looks like there will be a 52-seat GOP majority in the 100 member Senate. Things are still too close to call in the House. Lots of room for double-crossing Trump there.
Our state’s congressional delegation has been overrun with un-principled weaklings who recite portions of the GOP platform during campaign time, but forget about all that after the election when they return to Washington. (All of our House Republicans – except one – vote to the left of other House Republicans.).
Our only conservative congressman got tricked into leaving DC and running for statewide office. Despite promises he would be “take care of” by the Raleigh leadership, he got left hanging out there.
Raleigh Republicans will attempt to claim credit for Trump’s win in North Carolina. All of the calls I got — all of the mailers I got — for Donald Trump came from out-of-state. There was much more significant, hard work done for Trump outside the Raleigh beltline.
Communication breakdown. Republican forces could not hold a candle to the communications operation run by the lefties. Far too many candidates were left hanging out there while lefty attack ads produced by lefty dark money beat them senseless. Meanwhile, countless *consultants* were bagging six figure fees while their candidates got pulverized on-air. On most nights, Dan Bishop got pounded on Fox News during every commercial break.
Democrats marketed a *ticket.* Republicans got attacked as *violent* and *extreme.* Never mind that the Democrat Labor commissioner nominee was an actual, literal rioter. We heard next to nothing about it, and he ran a surprisingly respectable race. But the stupid news media bent over backwards crowing about *violent* suburban soccer mom Michele Morrow. (Neither the Secret Service nor the FBI showed any concern over Morrow’s years-old comments. If they’re not worried, I’m not worried.)
Mark Robinson, however, was a scandal with arms and legs. We tried to warn everyone before the primary got started. Balanced Nutrition could quite possibly turn into a criminal situation. (There are similar situations all over the country that have led to prosecutions.) Mishandling federal tax dollars is so much more serious than anything you could type into a stupid website.
Robinson clammed up on the matter for way too long. WRAL and The N&O sat on Balanced Nutrition in favor of all of the goodies they found on Robinson on social media. Again, screenshotting social media posts is sooooooooo much easier than having to interpret and understand financial documents. (I hear it can hurt *some* heads. At least *sources* tell me so.)
We weren’t the only people in the state who knew about the problems with Balanced Nutrition. Didn’t Raleigh leaders have some responsibility to demand some answers from him – at least in exchange for their public support?
If Robinson had somehow been elected, the investigation into Balanced Nutrition would have been really embarrassing for the NCGOP and the state of North Carolina.
The lieutenant governor’s post is useless and of little to no importance. The attorney general post was crucial. We had a good candidate who got – at best – mismanaged. Winning that race could have evened the playing field in Raleigh over the next four years.
Our stupid, useless drive-by media: School violence. Poor academic performance. DEI and CRT. Outrageous gas and grocery prices. Those are just some of the things nagging at voters’ everyday lives.
Reporters love to paint themselves as objective observers of the days events. Then, they run to #ncpol on X and post nonsense like this:
These two geniuses fled the N&O newsroom to continue their mischief in the WRAL newsroom, in the tradition of *GIANTS* like Travis Fain and Laura Leslie. These two guys have led the transformation of the age-old practice of reporting into screenshotting Facebook and X-feeds. *Pure freaking laziness.* We can all troll Facebook and X on our own. Why in the hell do we need these two clowns?
Randy Andy is a special kind of weenie. (He loves to hop on Twitter / X and gloat over any and all misfortune besetting the GOP and / or its elected officials.) Though, he has a gift for photography that has clearly elevated him to the esteemed post of The Capitol Press Corps’ selfie-queen.
Specht’s ‘fact-checks’ almost exclusively smack Republicans. And they use leftist sources to *disprove* GOP talking points. Many a GOP candidate got targeted with his scam.
The road ahead for the NCGOP. Once again, the NCGOP election team underperforms and certain operatives receive a fiscal windfall. We’ve had party bigwigs publicly bad-mouthing (and privately working against) certain Republican candidates they don’t like. Senator Phil Berger endorsed a Democrat judge running against a Republican lawyer. We’ve also seen the state party doing a solid for Berger’s son and cronies in a local Rockingham County race.
All of the same people keep their state posts and keep reaping the rewards. How much longer will grassroots folks outside the Raleigh beltline continue to tolerate this stuff? How much longer will folks continue to allow the GOP to be used as a certain clique’s private sandbox?
There’s no evidence of there being any interest in promoting principles or any kind of agenda. It’s apparently all about preserving power for certain people and keeping the $$$ *gravy train* rolling for those same people.
With the loss of the veto-proof majority, there’s a ready-made and easily-available excuse for backing off of conservatism. (*Gotta get something past Josh. Get stuff done.*) The honorables on Jones Street have demonstrated time and again they have no problem with doing just that.
Many other places across the country are celebrating great GOP electoral success. For us, the much smaller Raleigh-based celebration is all about big paydays for certain people who have purposely screwed up great electoral opportunities.
At what point will enough be enough?
First, we must remember our neighbors in WNC who all of the aforementioned just truly F$CKED, ushering in a radical governor who has not even set foot in the mountains and will be perfectly content to let them all perish. It is up to us now.
Second, there must be a purge. I really do not know, nor do I care, about how the NCGOP party apparatus works but every single one of these people including and especially Simmons and his shadow “power brokers” of Tillis, Berger and Moore have to be stripped of their power. We need folks like Mashburn, Kane and Woodhouse to rise.
Third, we must look inward. Our best candidates (Folwell and Bishop) ran horrible campaigns. I honestly do not know how or why but nothing they said resonated anywhere. The irony is that our truly grassroots candidate Morrow ran the BEST campaign. Seriously, look at what that fierce mama accomplished in the face of the most damning headwinds.
Fourth, while this platform is the best, keyboard warriors will get us squat. Either you get off your big fat ass and get engaged or you can say adios to your state.
Especially you weak as F men. You, my
good men, have let this state go to sh$t.
NCGOP CANNOT WIN elections.
Trump didn’t PULL any candidate to victory.
Robinson TROUNCED down balloting.
HOWEVER, as I posted yesterday and you’ve outlined here. EVERY RACE TIED the R to Robinson, abortion and IT WORKED!. Dems KNOW HOW. GOP KNOWS HOW TO HELP THEMSELVES, period.
Establishment WANTED Folwell OUT. They TRASHED him. They ALSO want Causey out, but he somehow scraped by.
Jefferson may, just may survive Court race….
NOTHING in the state WORKS, republican-wise. And IF you dare be a conservative, YOU ARE WORSE than any far left, demonic, extremist, militant, liberal democrat!!!
Stein, like Coop, WILL RUN this state and berger, moore and their pals will give him any votes needed. For the next 4Y, NC is AGAIN hand-tied to liberal rule. And yet we voted overwhelming for a republican president.
Many gop county parties are divided and WILL NEVER come together. The factions are a 180 from each other, hate each other and will never work together. Therefore, we have divided candidates each on their own.
The state party has destroyed this state. Goes back to McCrory, Tillis, Burr, Murphy, McHenry, Foxx…NONE are worth one dam***.
The state GOP convention sees lies, deceit and cheating take place. WHO wants to be part ?
Moore Co doesn’t have the hold on disenfranchisement. It’s EVERYWHERE.
SOS Elaine Marshall is 70? 80? and WE CAN’T defeat her?
Coop and party will CONTINUE to run this state with Stein, Hunt, Jackson, et als.
DISGUSTED. Your sentence nails it. We can CELEBRATE Trump; that’s about it. I do find favor in Causey winning and hopefully Jefferson defeating extremist Riggs…. otherwise, how was the opera, Mr Lincoln? We should all be in mourning and wearing black for our state.
When I SAY DONE, I’m DONE. Run all the robinson’s, tillises, et als the party desires. WE WILL LOSE anyway; so I won’t be wasting my vote… 3rd party in NC does nothing and has nothing to offer. Can’t win any race. Actually, may have pulled out a race or two if those candidates not on the ballot. Oh, well, We have really smarts at the gop to figure that out and they’ve done so. well. Trump was wise to stay arm’s length away from the NCGOP.
NC GOP – doing more harm than good.
AMEN! By the way — how many bets that Thom Tillis will suddenly veer to the right for the next few months? He’s up for reelection the next time around (2026).
Take advantage of that duplicitous fraud’s political instincts and CALL his and junior loser Budd’s offices today to get them to vote for Scott and NOT Thune for Majority Leader. The vote takes place in less than a week!
We must protect Trump.
Very concerning reading posts that Mark has a future in NC?
Have we learned nothing?
It’s OVER for him. WHY would any think he has a path forward?
Certainly, we WON’T have THIS fight among conservatives, grassroots?
Folwell-2028!!!
Folwell should run for Congress in 2026. If he survives that high pressure, high budget race THEN he can run for governor, but I have serious questions about the political aptitude of a conservative who abandons his seat to Brad Briner
Nearly a decade ago (December 2014), Brant wrote:
“Are you frustrated with the current state of the NCGOP? Start organizing your like-minded friends to take over — or at least build a sizeable contingent within — your precinct and your county party organization. The county party organization makes the decisions about who goes to the state convention. That’s where the platform AND the party chairman are decided on. He who shows up, wins. That’s how it works.”
https://dailyhaymaker.com/want-change-in-2016-start-now/
The most concerning loss was Bishop. The AG slot has a better track record of leading to the Governor’s office than the lieutenant Governor’s office. Jackson is a young face that will be around for a while. Robinson is done in North Carolina. This loss and his personal history will keep him from any meaningful comeback. He should have run for re-election and not governor.
The NCGOP was missing in action. In the past, we have had state party chairmen who would hold press conferences to blast Democrat misrepresentations like Frank Rouse, Dave Flaherty, and Jack Hawke. We never heard a peep out of Simmons.
The NCGOP has a Judicial Campaign Fund. Where in the heck were they when all that out of state money came in to pound Jefferson Griffin? We almost lost that critical race to a radical leftist due to our own party failing to engage.
Our state party operation was not up to speed this election. We need new leadership going forward.
The most important race in 2026 is replacing “Undocumented Democrat” Thom Tillis with a genuine Republican. We need to start working on a primary opponent now. Dan Bishop or Dale Folwell would be my choices. But first, we need a total housecleaning in party leadership in 2025.
A concerted effort needs to be made now and clear WHO is the candidate and begin the work, county by county.
Last thing needed is a divided faction/region.
We need to recognize not only the long term impact of a Stein/Jackson reign. We need to recognize the long term impact of losing the veto-proof super majority in the NC House.
On the ground, we need to take a page out of the Dems playbook. Election Day and 19 days of early voting poised the same issues across counties. Dems had 1000’s of volunteers and we have to beg people to take a 2 hour shift. They are a well oiled machine. The Meck County Democrat Party raised $2m and has 5 paid staffers!! And our losing statewide candidates lost there 2:1.
NC11 turned out over 236k Trump voters and delivered for all statewide candidates less than 6 weeks after Hurricane Helene.
How many of the Democrat “volunteers” are actually working for free? The Dems were so loaded with Soros money this time that Kamala was even spending to advertise on conservative talk radio! I have repeatedly told the county chair in Rockingham that Mr. Berger needs to take some bucks from that gigantic pile of moolah from all over the state and country that he spends for his son’s reelections to county commissioner, and dedicate it to hiring people to do the vital door-to-door work, Never hear a word. Said chair and Berger look after their own backsides, but not the party’s.
The NCGOP is a Pay to Play Club! Period!
They don’t give a damn about your conservative values or what you bring to the table, unless it’s cash. I refuse to volunteer or give a contribution to the state. I would rather throw my money out of the window than to give it to them.
Moore and Berger are bullies. If they don’t like a bill that you wrote or an idea that you have, you are put on the sideline. Time Out. Or…Or..OR, You can sell your soul and be the favored Moore/Berger puppet. ( it happened to Mark)
Needless to say, Folwell and Causey has not and will not bow to the dictates of Moore and Berger. This is why the General Assembly attacked them. Took away some of their duties and commitments as punishments. Hats off to these two men, they did not break. Causey just won his reelection, Praise God. Folwell wasn’t as fortunate. I pray that we see Folwell on the Ballot in 4 years. A great loss to NC.
So here we are….ONCE AGAIN in a damned hot mess for 4 years. 4 years! Lay this garbage at the feet of Moore and Berger. Moore doesn’t care. He will be laughing all the way to DC. He and RINO SELLOUT Tillis will be wreaking havoc for us on the Federal Level. Yay. #NotWinning
I am sick. Angry. Why didn”t the NCGOP have the backs of Morrow and Bishop? Could it be because they were TRUE CONSERVATIVES? NC desperately needed their Leadership! I pray to see these 2 on the Ballot again.
Side note: The local GOP parties have in- fighting. This bickering is very concerning and unattractive to potential new members and often leaves a sour taste in their mouths. Not very encouraging. I have found that the old guard doesn’t exactly embrace new ideas. I have also found that the GOP party, at least the ones that I know, about are getting up in age. We are in desperate need of new blood. Youth!
That’s my two cents.
The local GOP parties have in- fighting. This bickering is very concerning and unattractive to potential new members and often leaves a sour taste in their mouths. Not very encouraging.
Bev, the above statement is accurate, beyond means. It will NOT improve nor fix itself. The identical issues you name as for berger, moore are just as indoctrinated by some at the county level. I see no resolve and I won’t join the ones I know and see.
Bishop and Morrow WERE DROPPED, purposely, by berger/moore. And yet Robinson was elevated and now the posts are going out yesterday and today that he WILL BE BACK?
Learn from Trump. BUILD own network, grassroots and funding. By-pass the NCGOP. IF you are conservative, they aren’t going to help and will DESTROY you. Get and build grassroots regionally and state-wide.
How the Gov, LG, Ag and DOI candidates were pushed aside, not funded and UNSUPPORTED, knowing Trump was going to carry state is a show of how unconcerned, greedy, deliberate and evil these party officials are. You will see MORE OF THE SAME at the next state convention.
President Trump winning in convincing fashion is pure JOY. My biggest disappointment was Attorney General.
Getting Allison Riggs off NC Supreme Court was satisfying as well. Control of 2 of the 3 branches of Govt in North Carolina is a good thing. And the 2 most important. The dems “ sue til blue “ strategy isnt an option in North Carolina. And anyone who knows NC politics knows the power in this state is over on Jones Street…. always has been.
You realize Stein will appoint Riggs to Jefferson’s vacated seat!!!!!!!
YET, another REASON why losing Gov mansion and position is vital and important. Yet, we’ve now pi***ed it away for 12Y.
A local DA in eastern NC just elected to a judgeship. Conservative as all get out. His county DA vacancy gets APPOINTED BY WHOM? Yep, another Stein appt….and best believe it WON’T be a CONSERVATIVE. LIBERAL as Stein or worse..
Again, consequences for we, not thee. Berger/moore don’t give a rat’s A**…
A party has to arise out and from these ashes and ruins,,,,,
WE should require special elections to fill judgeships. The current system is corrupt. Incumbents time their retirements so a governor of their party will appoint their replacement and are even known to scheme with the governor on who that replacement will be. The replacement can then run in the next electoin as an “incumbent”. Governors should only be able to appoint a temporaray Emergency Judge, who would be ineligible to run for the seat, as a filler.
Times a Lt. Gov. ran for governor and lost
2000: Lt. Gov. Weaver
2012: Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton
2020: Lt. Gov. Dan Forest
2024: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
The only one to buck the trend was Bev Perdue in 2008. I think this trend happens because Lt. Gov is a low budget, low visibility seat that does not prepare you for a large budget, high visibility gubernatorial race.
Dallas here. I have to send you a new photo. I am older now. More gray hair.
I understand your frustrations. I have some thoughts that will agree and some thoughts that will disagree with your positions.
1. This website, which has never been a fan or mine, deserves tremendous credit for pointing out some of the uncovered flaws of our candidate for Governor. We all know exactly why the NC press had an amazing lack of curiosity on Robinson until after he was the GOP Nominee.
Now this race was hard no matter what. Notwithstanding the flaws of this particular candidate:
Now something to keep in mind, historically
Beginning in 1992 until yesterday (32 years) 6 consecutive NC Lt. Governors have run for Governor
92 (R) Jim Gardner
2000 (D) Dennis Wicker
2008 (D) Bev Perdue
2012 (D) Walter Dalton
2020 (R) Dan Forrest
2024 (R) Mark Robinson
5 of the 6 were their party’s nominee. Only one of 6 (Perdue) became Governor.
If you are elected Lt. Governor,
I think this issue with Lt. Governors is a serious point worth looking at. It doesn’t seem to be the right oven in which to cook a gubernatorial candidate. A position that is high budget and high visibility would probably be better. Congress is the spot that comes to mind but only two members of our delegation received higher than a 67 from Heritage Action (Ted Budd and Dan Bishop)
ANY candidate that could be tied to and with MR, LOST.
Ads pummeled the state 24/7 tying Morrow, Bishop, Weatherman to MR. $million’s in ads…..And Causey, in his own way, was targeted, just not tied to MR.
Notice, conveniently, NO ads against Troxler, Farley, Brown, Briner…WHY is that? They are NOT conservatives, and the state party gave them a pass and so did the dems. They DON’T care those offices/positions are held. They have NO impact on the state.
MR was targeted early-on and the ads being drawn. The dems, outside $$ KNEW PRECISELY what his past was, his woes, his worst nightmares, his demons and it was only to wait out the primary.
The state party gives one DA*** about this state.
WHO is the primary against Tillis? Needs to be selected and a statewide campaign begun with plenty of grassroots.
Trump shows how to win the state. Dems also show how to win a state. Jesse Helms knew how to win a state. He took down Blue, Hunt in fine fashion. We need the Helms’ fire in the belly back.
I’m tired of losing NC, 4Y at a clip. The NEXT 4Y will be miserable. dems gonna do what dems do and the ncgop and general assembly gonna do what they do: NOTHING that doesn’t fill their coffers and pockets with the almighty $$$.
Jim Hunt went from lt governor to governor
He had the most powerful political machine in a very blue state. Until he locked horns with MR CONSERVATIVE. JESSE HELMS.
P.S. The LTG office was eviscerated when Hunt left it.
The NC GOP should count its lucky stars that Mark Robinson didn’t sink our entire ticket. But for him, we would probably have elected Hal Weatherman and Dan Bishop. Robinson put his own pride and selfishness above the part.y. Good riddance to him. May he never return.
Trump won in spite of our NC GOP. Same goes for the Council of State Republicans that did win. Same goes for the conservative Republicans that won in my locale.
It is pathetic, isn’t it?
dems KNEW who to target. MR was top of ticket and they made dang sure to get Bishop, Morrow & Weather tied to him and ABORTIONS. Same for Laurie Buckhout. That race was about nothing BUT ABORTION. Ads ran showing potential Gov, Lt Gov & AG verbally supporting MR (at some point in time) or discussing abortions, then tied to MR.
And ncgop KNEW day 1 MR was flawed, had issues, was dynamite waiting to explode and let it ride, to pave the path for Stein, just as they had done for Coop.
Line drawn, swords drawn for me. NEVER again…It’s time….
The out of state Democrat dark money groups put out a blizzard of postcards tying Robinson to Michele Morrow in spite of Robinson supporting her primary opponent and regularly dissing her in the general election. That was just plain dishonest.
Yes. It is. I see you won your race in spite of the MC GOP. Congratulations.
The Pennsylvania GOP turned the entire state with people like Scott Pressler helping. NC bc of the lame self indulgent leadership of rinos Moore and Berger, along with a Robinson base too mired in identity politics and wishful thinking to vote in an actual competence candidate in the primary cost races that could have been won. Jeff Jackson is an antifa loving radical who will do great harm and whose endless commercials stink of Soros/dark money. A feckless nc gop will turn this state to California. Whatley, a product of nc gop incompetence was watched closely and kept in line by Lara Trump. I agree to celebrating the federal result, but wake up North Carolinians—our state is in deep trouble. Get Lara and Presler down here asap!
On your point, our state in deep trouble, I don’t think we even realized THE trouble we are headed.
We do not have the gov, lt gov NOR the AG, ALL like-minded, left-driven, powerful zealots that WILL destroy this state relative to how the dems have destroyed this country. It’s coming.
Where will MR and all those supporters be? No where to be found. He posted last night, he will be back Where? Not in NC politics? He hoodwinked many rural conservatives. I had invite after invite to attend events for him. Some, I know have been awakened and were distraught after the onslaught of damning ads (most true), but way too late.
We can type until our fingers fall off. We need a major, defined and well-thought out primary plan to take out 1st-Tillis and secondly, to be primary-ready for 2028. dems will be ready and their $$$ as well.
Hunt went from Lt. Gov to Gov when Governors were limited to 1 term and Lt Governors were very powerful and actually ran the Senate
Robinson did not lose from the fact that he held the office of Lt.. Governor.. That is a silly excuse. He lost because he ran a very poor campaign and because he had more baggage than the lost luggage office at RDU. Republicans should have figured both and nominated someone else. Not hiring competent people was blatantly obvious from the incompetent staff he hired in the Lt. Governor’s office. His baggage with Balanced Nutrition was already known.
A competent campaign that has baggage it thinks it can overcome tries to “innoculate” on it early, trying to put its own spin on the issue. Robinson’s failure to do that indicated either that he thought he could not spin the issue, in which case he should never have run, or that his campaign staff was totally incompetent.
A Lietentant Governor who can connect with key issues can get the visibility out of the office to make it a plus running for governor. Robinson started to do that with school curriculum using his position on the state school board, but then he stopped and became missing in action on every major real issue that came up in the legislature, school board, or Council of State.. I am told by legislators that Robinson going silent on real issues was due to Berger’s influence. I think he would have been a different candidate who might have survived his baggage if he had come out swinging on things like casinos, Obamacare Medicaid expansion, Constitutional Carry, and the NC Green New Deal. On the last one, I am aware that a group of conservative experts had a meeting with him to encourage him to take a stand but he refused to get involved. Robinson became all talk and no “do”.
Robinson dragged down other statewide Republican candidates. He should forever be a pariah in the party for what he did to us.
Republicans should be concerned about 2026 because we have another real dud who could be the head of the ticket then – Traitor Thom Tillis, a total scalawag whose lousy record would lead to GOP voters staying home election day.
Lt. Gov is the wrong seat to expose weaknesses in a candidate. It’s those weaknesses that cost Forest, Robinson, Dalton and Wicker their races. Get a candidate from seat that puts occupants under more pressure
and now we have da daughter…..
The enemy is within. It really is as simple as that.
But the blame also lies with us, the so-called conservative base. How many of us really get down and dirty in the field? How many of us donated money to Morrow? Or Folwell? How many of us volunteered to be poll watchers? Do you watch your politicians like a hawk and blast them when they digress from their promises? How many of us go to school board meetings? Run for local offices? How many of you are volunteering to help with the provisional ballots? Seriously, we must look inward.
We need to regroup. Look at the successes Team Woodhouse had in the west despite unspeakable horrors (which continue BTW). Go back to Brant’s warning from five years ago. Coalesce behind some great people like Kane, Woodhouse, Tew, Albright. Look to the future like the unbelievably fearless kids running the Free Speech movement at UNC, recent alumni like Harrington Shaw. Figure out how to implement Pressler’s strategy and put together a fund to support someone to do that.
We are the only ones who can save ourselves, our state. It has been done in state after state except here. Why? And why do all of those folks, who rise up attempting to change the corrupt as F NCGOP apparatus, just disappear? Republicans — with the most obvious exception being Trump — always give up, never regroup, never seem to have the will to persevere. And here we are.
Again, the enemy truly is within. And it is NOT an impressive group. I get that and loathe these people w every fiber of my being. But North Carolina is my home; more importantly it is my children’s home. We owe it to them to fight. The time is now to stop bitching. Start doing. Two years is a very short amount of time to start righting this sinking ship.
One thing that is telling is that the NCGOP went through this election without a Politicial Director on staff. The old Political Director was promoted to Executive Director and his old spot was not filled, so there was one person doing two jobs at HQ. This was apparently done to find money to pay a salary to Jason Simmons as state GOP chairman. The party budget did not provide for a paid chairman, so that is how they got around it.
Past paid chairmen like Jack Lee, Dave Flahtery, and Jack Hawke, also served as Executive Director of the party, and they were paid as ED, not as chairman. If we are going to have both a paid chairman AND a paid ED at the same time, one would think that SHOULD have to get ExCom approval.
What about Ed Andrade? His title is Political Director.
If Jason is getting a salary, the Executive Committee needs to know about it and approve it. If not, why not? I don’t know if you’re on the Executive Committee, but if you are, you should raise the topic. If you’re not, I’m sure you know someone who will. Just for clarity, is compensation for the Chairman the domain of the Executive Committee or the Central Committee?
He is not listed on the party website as such, and I am aware that the ED was still performing many of the functions that the political director did in the last campaign.
The loosey-goosey way the budget has been handled for a number of years is a joke. The ExCom has had its power of the purse taken away and needs to have the backbone to take it back.
Agree to your point, feet, $$, energy & time.
KNOW, the chasm b/w the county factions are HUGE, each running candidates & trashing the others!
BUT, an eastern county got behind a judgeship candidate. We spent/raised $$$, gave energy, time & feet, to include poll watching & poll site volunteering (both all early voting sites & Election day precincts). It CAN be done with STRONG candidate, being key. And yes this was a 4-county race. State-wide requires massive network, cooperation & a team/leadership. And RIGHT/STRONG candidate is key.
Our candidate won 64% of vote, but it took a massive network, $$, feet & energy!
I’m willing, ready!!!
And, as to her ‘cleaning’ ad, SAME can be said for her daddy’s office, Stein’s and Marc Basnight’s ….
When Robinson won the nomination(Thanks to Trump’s endorsement) Democrats & their friends in the Media screamed with glee. They knew about all the baggage that MR had & could bring it out to effect the Guv’s race. Their bonus was to be able to tie Weatherman, Bishop & Morrow to him in their own words. I’m a conservative GOPer, but NC Dems held a masterclass in how to connect candidates together with their own voices. I’m relieved that the results were not worse for our side. Simmons must be defeated next year by a conservative for party chair. Jim Womack is my choice to get RHINOs out of the equation in our state.
Who has confidence in state party? Leadership? NEED a well-defined & organized , grassroots plan. Has to be grassroots. Few in the party will help & most will divide, deceive & destroy any grassroots rising up!
Looking back at what worked and what didn’t in the 2024 campaign, I am still mystified over the failure to use or use effectively the gender ideology issue over boys in girls sports, and boys in girls locker rooms and bathrooms. Ted Cruz played that issue late in the campaign and turned a one point nail biter into a 10 point blowout.
Liberal pundit Bill Meher on his “Real Time” TV show, pointed out that “this election was very much about voter rejection of the anti-common sense woke bullsh*t”.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/11/09/maher-2024-very-much-about-rejection-of-anti-common-sense-woke-bullsht/
The UK’s largest circulation daily newspaper, the “Daily Mail” of London ran an article saying two words destroyed the Harris campaign and the words are “they/them” which were representative of the woke gender ideology. They pointed to a particularly effective Trump ad that resonated strongly which used the punch line “Kamala Harris is for they/them, Donald Trump is for you”.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14026903/Kamala-Harris-Trump-transgender-ad-sports-election.html
In North Carolina, the fact that our AG, Josh Stein was the only AG in the southeast to fail to sue to get an injunction to block the Biden-Harris Title IX rewrite which had been done by rulemaking and tried to change protection of women and girls to protection of gender identity and sexual orientation made this a compelling issue in two races, for governor and for attorney general. If it was used in either race at all, it was not used effectively. That is nothing but political malpractice to fail to use such a powerful issue..
With Robinson’s campaign, it was clear from the beginning that his campaign staff were simply not competent. I am aware that this issue was passed up the pipeline to them but it fell on deaf ears.
It was mystifying why Dan Bishop did not hammer this as a reason why NC needed a conservative like him as AG instead of another leftwing Democrat who does not care about our girls. Not knowing who ran his campaign, I looked up his campaign expenditures and found that a Charles Martin of Strategic Media Delivery did his TV ads and a PR consultant named Pat Ryan was also hired. Ryan used to work on the staff of – wait for it – “Phony Phil” Berger.
What we need are candidates and campaign staff who understand issues and messaging.
According to The Carolina Journal (November 6, 2024) “Top Republicans point to Mark Robinson race for down-ballot losses”. Of course they do. They don’t want to take any responsibility for the disaster it appears the Uniparty planned and successfully engineered.
Does anyone actually believe Mark Robinson ran his own campaign or decided on his own to run for Lt. Governor or Governor? Does anyone believe he put together the organization and financing that enabled him to win two major statewide campaigns? Anyone capable of winning those campaigns had more sense than to take on a candidate with Mr. Robinson’s baggage if the goal was the Governor’s mansion. Who really cut Trump’s coattails in North Carolina?
The Carolina Journal even quoted Jason Simmons, the recently elected Michael Whatley replacement as NC Republican Party Chairman, saying that Republican Party “bylaws are prohibitive in allowing us to engage in primary activity, so the party has to maintain a position of neutrality.” Really?
If that statement didn’t make you laugh, you haven’t been keeping up with the fact that competent, honest candidates are seldom supported by, as Bev puts it, the “Pay to Play Club.” They support members of their Club, as amply documented in The Daily Haymaker. “Republican leaders” (or should I say Uniparty leaders?) have been interfering in Republican primaries for years, weeding out honest conservatives.
In fact, among the delegates selected to attend the most recent Republican National Convention were both the NCGOP Vice Chairman who I accused of Party Disloyalty for interfering in a Republican primary when Robin Hayes was Chairman and Chairman Whatley’s associate who worked to get Mr. Whatley elected as Chairman and helped provide the software that blew up so spectacularly at the 2023 convention when Mr. Whatley was running for re-election, helping him retain his position as Chairman. Why was bad behavior rewarded?
I agree with many of the comments made in this thread, but the problem in implementing needed changes was also clearly stated: “. . . there must be a purge. I really do not know, nor do I care, about how the NCGOP party apparatus works but every single one of these people . . . have to be stripped of their power.”
How do you plan to win if you don’t know the rules of the game or how it is even played? The majority of the people at the 2023 GOP convention clearly wanted change, but they lacked the organization or institutional knowledge of those who profit from the status quo.
If you want change, start working now to get the kind of change you want. Start informing yourself by checking voting records so you can identify those who talk a great game and vote against the public on a regular basis. Join ranks with those who have been working for needed changes because voting is a numbers game. Realize that the corruption Trump has revealed at the National and International level is right here in NC at the State and Local level.
Don’t expect those who profit from Uniparty leadership to help you. Follow the money and keep track of the lies you have been told, so you can tell your friends from your enemies. Change will require work.
Trump lost in 2020 because he started his first term with more unidentified enemies than he could have possibly predicted. Trump won in 2024 because he and his supporters kept working despite a 2020 vote that saw more votes counted in some areas than there were registered voters. Trump is naming appointees who want to make a positive difference. Help them.
If you want things to change in the NCGOP, now is the time to get to work.