#FAIL: Renee’s day in Pinehurst

 

 

 

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-Dunn) had her debut before The Moore Republican Men’s Club at lunch today.  Moore County was just added to her district, and Ellmers is pretty much of an unknown to the overwhelmingly Republican electorate in the county.  The Men’s Club is one of the oldest and largest such clubs in North Carolina.  This opportunity presented itself to Ellmers as a great way to introduce herself in Moore.

How did it go?  One source, in attendance at the luncheon told me later:

“It was worse than that  Bob Etheridge ‘who are you?’ video.  It was awful.  It was a nightmare.” 

This piqued my curiosity, so I contacted another source of mine — a seasoned veteran of the GOP political battles within Moore County — who regularly attends the club’s lunch meetings:

“Her speech was all over the place.  It kind of reminded me of watching a ball bounce around inside a pinball machine.  She was all over the place.  She had index cards with her, but she must have gotten them out of order or something.”

My source said the audience — approximately 175 people — had a rather subdued reaction to Ellmers:

 “When Howard Coble used to speak to the group, he’d get rousing standing ovations.  She got some polite applause.  I think two or three people stood up.  It was a stark contrast.”

My source told me about one man who sat directly in front of Ellmers, while she spoke,  and gave her the ‘thumbs down’ signal — like a Roman emperor condemning a gladiator to death. 

The source said Ellmers spent a lot of time talking about ObamaCare and Nancy Pelosi:

“She didn’t really hit on the economy or gas prices.  Those are the subjects that are on everybody’s minds.  We didn’t get much on national security or the military, either.  A good chunk of that room was retired military.  A good chunk of her new district includes active duty and retired military.   It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you need to speak up on those two things.  She didn’t know her audience.  She didn’t seem to have a clue.”

This source  told me about a number of — ahem — surprising statements she made during her presentation:

“On ObamaCare.  She was asked what would happen if ObamaCare was found to be unconstitutional.  She told us that it would have to be taken down and replaced with ‘something of our own.’  How about just trashing it?  Who says we need the government getting deeper into health care?  Yikes.  No thanks. ”

Ellmers was asked about her vote to increase the debt ceiling — a sore subject among Tea Party activists:

“She said she voted for increasing the debt ceiling because some poll said 68 percent of voters approved of it if there were substantial cuts.  SHE cast her vote based on polling?  What kind of leadership is that?”

My source told me she also utilized a bizarre analogy when talking about fixing the mess in Washington:

“She said it was a lot like cancer — the treatment is going to be a lot worse than the actual  affliction.  Personally, I think the deficit and the rest of the economic mess they’ve made in Washington is PRETTY BAD.  How could the fix for it be WORSE?”

An audience member asked her about Attorney General Eric Holder and the “fast and furious’ scandal:

 “She said they are on top of it — whatever that means.   The man in the audience asked her when the special prosecutor was going to be requested.  She told the audience member she didn’t have any idea about special prosecutors or how they work.  That’s comforting.”