Monkey Business Report: NC House GOP caucus edition
Uh, oh. We got mail. (And you know how much fun that can be ’round these parts.)
It’s no secret that the various caucuses on Jones Street enjoy dipping into the personal campaign war chests of their members. Sometimes its for legitimate reasons. Many times its for lining their pockets and the pockets of cronies.
I have it on good authority that House GOP members are not donating to the caucus like they have in prior cycles. It apparently gets real old handing over the fruits of your fundraising labors to the various and sundry “consultants” and hangers-on who leech on to leadership (when you could be using the money to get yourself reelected, like you told the donors you would).
Today’s “victim” is none other than one of those leadership “hangers-on”. You have to loooooooove his technique:
From: Matt Bales <matt@nchouserepublicans.com>
Date: March 14, 2018 at 9:19:43 AM EDT
To: Matt Bales <matt@nchouserepublicans.com>
Subject: Democrats Win SupermajorityLast night, there was a special election in Pennsylvania. President Donald Trump won the district in the 2016 Presidential Election by 20 percentage points. However, as of this morning, the Republican trails by 641 votes with only absentee ballots outstanding.
The outcome is yet another example of the Democratic base being fired up and the Republicans not turning out their voters. The momentum on the Democratic side is real. Our fate will be determined by how hard we work and the effort we put into defending our majority and supermajority in the next six months.
Based on last night’s results, here is the 2019 makeup of the NC General Assembly.
Democrat Seats = 74
Republican Seats = 46
Here is a list of members who have “safer” districts that would have lost last night by on President Trump’s 2016 margin of victory. (19 pts or less)
Rep. Speciale
Rep. L. Johnson
Rep. Szoka
Rep. Hardister
Rep. Faircloth
Rep. Conrad
Rep. Yarborough
Rep. Riddell
Rep. Davis
Rep. Pittman
Rep. Grange
Rep. Clampitt
Rep. Sauls
Rep. Lambeth
Rep. Brisson
Rep. Jordan
Rep. Murphy
Rep. Brawley
Rep. Ross
Rep. Bradford
Rep. Dollar
Rep. Stone
Rep. Dulin
We have time to do the things necessary to help the members listed here win their seats and help us continue the hard work we have done on behalf of North Carolina.
RAISE MONEY. THEN RAISE MORE MONEY.
Do you have an in-district fundraiser scheduled before the primary?
Are you re-soliciting your individual donors?
Contact Harrison and let’s raise money.
Finally, let’s sit down and discuss your campaign plan, how much money you need to raise, campaign timeline, and campaign messaging.
Thanks,
Matt
Matt Bales
Political Director
North Carolina Republican House Caucus
*Subtle, eh?*
First of all, WHAT does a Pennsylvania special election result have to do with the cost of hot dogs at Snoopy’s?
That’s like comparing a race in communist Orange County to one in bright-red Republican Moore County. In 2012, Barack Obama was winning the presidential race. We elected a Republican governor. Donald Trump got elected president in 2016. We got Roy.
Money that goes to these caucuses gets funneled out to various suppliers who are then expected to kick back a piece to the caucus-connected operatives who directed the money to said supplier in the first place. There are an awful lot of people in Raleigh making out like bandits with this collective campaign strategy.
It’s quite a challenge to take your cut when candidates are keeping their money and making the spending decisions in-house.
As far as turning off the GOP base, these idiots need to remind themselves of their own stupid decisions on repealing HB2 and on pandering to the solar goons, both of which turn off the GOP base. How are we going to get Christian conservatives fired up after what Moore and Berger and their ilk did to us on HB2?
Here’s the million dollar question.. Why do Republicans need a House or Senate caucus? Why can’t candidates raise their own money and spend it the way they see fit? If they are in a rural area and they can’t raise a lot of money, wouldn’t their opponents be in the same situation? And if they needed help, members who don’t have tough races can give them money individually.
I would love to see how much of every $1 that goes to the caucus actually goes to a candidate. The email you listed is written by Matt and asks people to call Harrison. Wonder how much they make? Benefits? Then, wonder what the consultants that handle their money make?
I would urge all Republican House members to quit funding the caucus. I bet the only roof to fall in would be the one over the staff and the consultants who would be out of jobs. The candidates would be just fine.
Um, what’s the significance of this question…..”Do you have an in-district fundraiser scheduled before the primary?”
Just mentioning primaries has my antenna up. What’s that about?
I wonder if this will get published of if the Daily Haymaker only post comments that agree with them.
This is an excellent example of why Republicans lose elections. Some people in the party make wild charges with no evidence. Notice article published an email that basically said, Republicans need to work hard because the democrats have a lot of momentum.
Republicans have lost 37 state legislative seats since Trump took office. And if you re more focused on throwing out empty accusations, than beating the liberals backs. You might be part of problem not part of the solution.
What fires up the base to vote are issues and policy. Mant of those legislative seats lost were in Virginia, where a lackluster namby-pamby gubenatorial candidate helped sink the rest of the ticket.
Nstionally, failing to repeal Obamacare and going wobbly on illegal immigration have hurt the enthusiasm of the GOP base. On the state level, it is repeal of HB2, stalling on the gun rights bill, and pandering to the solar goons.
Money often cannot fix policy misfires.
We need leadership both in Washington and Raleigh that is more in tune with the GOP base if we are going to maintain the enthusiasm of the base. Those we have now have been shooting themselves in the foot.
There is not one reason in hell that any Democrat should win any election.
They have nothing to run on but their proven failed policies. And Bales is wrong, it is not about raising money. The GOP and the DC House and Senate Re-elect committees are swimming in money. Literally. The problem is the Republicans are not telling their story of success and how that success impacts voters. They sit around assuming the media will do that. I guess.
They sure are NOT doing that. GOP consultants collectively are a sorry lot.
Go look up the video of the roundtable that Trump had in Missouri yesterday. Every person there had a story to tell. Every person there was positively impacted by the GOP Tax Bill. Make a full blown campaign around that. Start it NOW. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL a month before the election!
My bill is in the mail! 🙂
The answer to James million dollar question is the party caucuses drive down costs through use of the non-profit mail permit and economy of scale
The really cheap mail permit can only be obtained by the state parties, NOT by a legislative caucus. It is much cheaper than a regular bulk mail permit. The party’s permit SHOULD be available to ANY GOP nominee, not just the caucus.
The pricey consultants the caucuses use do not reflect benefits of economies of scale.
Yes Dallas. The one and only reason for the NCGOP to exists. Cheap mail.
Well in that case, the NCGOP just lost its only reason to exist, thanks to House Bill 373 and it’s Party Affiliated Committees,
Esmeralda
Not so sure about that. We did help fill every NCGA seat with a candidate which is more than 30 more than have ever been fielded in the party/state history
Yeah? Like that “married” homosexual who is now a GOP House nominee in Guilford County? How many other duds like that did you field?
That is because the republican party is now the party of the liberals the democratic party is the party of the commies and the conservatives have no place anymore
The republicans preach about working so hard to not reach people outside of the party that they are lowering their values so they can reach out to everyone not taking into account what will happen to the party when you keep watering it down that results in pushing out many good people that made the party strong across the state
Republican meetings should be conservative safe spaces but now they are liberal meetups
The party has done a very poor job in educating people what is actually happening in society
ask other republicans at meetings who Ben Shapiro is ? who Dennis Prager is ? who Jordan Peterson is and 8 times out of 10 they do not know and these people along with others who are the real conservatives out fighting the fight in society for the values that the republican party used to triumph
and too top it off you always hear that we must reach the youth to build a new base and the 3 people in my example are doing this and why are they doing this cause they are standing strong for values that directly counter progressive leftism. Try to get a room of republicans to stand against progressive leftism….. oh they do not want to hurt others feelings people might get offended.
I tried to do something conservative at my county convention and 2 of the people most outspoken against me were current Republican legislators in the NCGA one of then has been against me in the past when ever else I have tried to make the party better for everyone and make the organization better but yet the party wants us to get our and vote for these can I say Fools
Republicans win when Republicans stand strong on the Judeo-Christian ethic of the founding fathers while embracing the fiscal conservative ideas that also come from that same set of values
I would love to know what evidence you have of the state party or caucuses paying “pricey consultants” because I sign the checks and have not signed those
Dallas, one must remember that you are relatively new to any involvement in the GOP as an organization. This is an old and continuing problem. Back when Harold Brubaker was Speaker, a lot of the House caucus’ money was funneled through his consultant, Paul Shumaker, and a lot of that was used for Shyumaker’s pricey polls, that he did himself, so it was a huge profit center for him. They then contributed the polls as an in-kind contribution to candidates.
Shumaker’s poll gambit, however, got the most attention when he was consultant for Richard Petty’s campaign for Secretary of State. That campaign spent a wad of money on constant Shumaker polls but not a dime on advertising on any medium.
I have a friend who has done oppo as a volunteer on past legislative races, and gotten at least as good material as the GOP consultants,, who was flabbergasted at what the consultants were charging. He know from personal experience how much actual time was involved in doing oppo in legislative races.
Mr. Woodhouse,
I submit the now precedent of the North Carolina Republican Party declaring an unaffiliated candidate an official Republican candidate is exceptional, and indeed historic.
The legal questions alone are momentous.
Richard Carter Jr
This is the natural order of things at the Chamber-of-Commerce-re-purposed NCGOP these days. A couple years ago, dirty tricks (i.e. – State Chairman’s races) were the norm but also the boundary within our Party. Once the people’s choice for State Chairman was illegally tried and ousted, the breaking of Party rules became routine whenever it was convenient to ignore them by the usurpers currently occupying the State party headquarters.
The plan of organization allows support of an unaffiliated if there is no Republican
Okay so you managed to beg enough people to filed. Whoop. The thing you will not do is give them a reason they are different than the the Democrats. Mostly because they aren’t.
But like this guy Bales, who is running the House Republican Caucus, you will demand those candidates spend all their time raising money. Money is irrelevant if you don’t have a message to articulate to voters. It is irrelevant if you do not use it to GOTV.
Preach Preach Preach “Money is irrelevant if you don’t have a message to articulate to voters”
Funny part is, they do have a couple of talking points to run on, like improving democracy in NC via getting third parties on the ballot and establishing a bi-partisan board of elections. As usual, ncgop and the House caucus don’t understand the he importance of messaging their accomplishments.