Monkey Business Report: NCGOP mailer touts Berger cronies, disses rest of GOP ticket
If things fail into place as expected, Raleigh politics will be tightly controlled and governed by state senator Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and his political machine. The governor’s office has been so neutered that the winner — regardless of party — will be hard-pressed to resist, slow, or kill what comes out of the puzzle palace on Jones Street. Much of the power will be in the hands of the legislative chamber leaders. If the veto-proof GOP majority holds, the highly-experienced, well-entrenched Berger will likely have his way with the governor and the yet-to-be-named new House Speaker.
Lots of mailers are going out in this election season. One, in particular, has raised a few eyebrows on the GOP side:
There are two things to focus on here: (1) the “Paid for by the North Carolina Republican Party” disclaimer and (2) a “conservative voter guide” limited to Donald Trump and Phil Berger‘s home-county political cronies.
Is the NCGOP telling the folks in Rockingham County that is the all-inclusive list of conservatives on the November 5th ballot? There are no others? (What about all of those Council of State candidates?)
State party sources defend this flier by saying that — since they get a much better postage rate — they regularly produce and mail out stuff for local parties. Other sources tell me the flier wiggles around election rules by calling the guide “conservative” instead of “Republican.”
One big problem sources have IDed for us is the disclaimer on this mailer: “Paid for by The North Carolina Republican Party.” That does not suggest this is merely a pass-through expense for the local GOP in Rockingham County.
Here is an example we were presented with of what a proper disclaimer – for a pass-through expense — should look like:
Might the Rockingham County mailer have been more kosher if it had included “and Authorized by the Rockingham County Republican Party” language in the disclaimer?
This should give NCGOP donors some food for thought. These donors come from all over the state. How many of them have a vested interest in — or even care about –Rockingham County commissioner races?
There are a number of close, competitive Council of State races going on. Wouldn’t state party money have been put to better use if the entire GOP ticket – that would appear on Rockingham County ballots — appeared on this mailer?
Maybe. If the motive was more about promoting the whole GOP ticket and less about licking senator Phil Berger’s boots. But bootlicking appears to be a signal of the approaching new reality in political Raleigh.
Calling Phil sleaze-Berger a “conservative” is like calling his good buddy Roy Cooper a “conservative” Berger has pushed all of Cooper’s major liberal agenda items through the General Assembly. Berger is aactually an Undocumented Democrat given what his legislative agenda has been – Obamacare Medicaid expansion, join Obamacare state markeplace, Green New Deal, repeal bathroom privacy laws, casinos, etc.
Sending out a postcard pushing candidates for safe seats but ignoring those in highly competitve races like Council of State and judicial also has a very bad stench to it. It imples those candidtates are not conservative and that this listing are the only conservatives on the ballot. So this postcard helps those who are already guaranteed to win but actually hurts the competitive races which actually need the help. Adding Trump but leaving out the other races is misleading and harmful to the most important races in the state.
This postcard likely originated with the Berger machine there in Rockingham County, and that is just another reason the real Republicans there need to dethrone the Berger machine. Berger hates some of our Council of State candidates, and that likely figures in to how this was designed.
While Senator Berger has not gone so far as to become a Democrat in disguise (he still has the endorsement of NRA, voted for expanding school choice, etc.), he has wandered pretty far from the reservation. Worse is the simple bullying for which his machine, which includes the local county leadership has become increasingly notorious. It may cost him his seat, because a good number of independents as well as some Republicans have deserted him and have opened the door to a possible win by his Democrat rival, Lukings (that would be pretty horrifying!). It is a hell of a mess that the Rockingham “machine” has created and it is very sad to behold.
NRA endorsements have been suspect for a long time.
Phil sleaze-Berger was the scoundrel responsible for killing Constitutional Carry in the legislature this session. That was the major legislative issue of all the gun rights groups except NRA this session.
That outrageous mailer could not have been formulated without the urging of the local GOP leadership, who, in their October general meeting, urged those present to vote for only TWO of the THREE Republican candidates who had won nominations for THREE commissioners’ seats in the spring primary. Absent is the name of Jeff Kallam, who ran on a “No Casino” platform. Local handouts being distributed at the polls now reflect the same as the state one — Kallam’s name is missing. In other words, the officials of the county GOP are acting in direct conflict with party loyalty rules. In fact two years ago, when a precinct chairman announced he would not distribute materials or work at the polls for some Republican candidates (Senator Berger at the lead) who had violated party loyalty rules and had publicly endorsed a Democrat for a judicial post, said precinct chairman was cashiered for “dereliction of duty” at the insistence of the county party chair. Now this same chairwoman is using official resources of the county as well as the state party to undermine and refuse support for Mr. Kallam. Does it get any more hypocritical than this?