#ncpol : Tucker for Senate off to rocky start

 

Garland Tucker is a lucky man.  He’s going up against arguably one of the most despised human beings on the planet Earth.  Otherwise, the early missteps of his campaign staff might have placed him in an inescapable hole before the 2020 US Senate fight even begins.

 

We’ve known Tucker was coming since January.  Yet, his social media isn’t ready.  His website still has info from the Francis DeLuca congressional campaign on it.  For instance, the slogan “Francis DeLuca for Congress.”

 

(Screenshots are circulating around the Internet.  Apparently, somebody thought it would be groovy to recycle DeLuca’s website.  Too bad that idea didn’t include careful proof-reading.)

 

 

The grand unveiling was supposed to be Wednesday on Sean Hannity’s show.  EVERYBODY in the media business knows you make big news announcements on  Mondays.  Those are typically slow news days and your story is likely to get maximum play.

 

But the story leaked early to McClatchy — clearly no friend to Republicans, much less conservatives.  And it was quite interesting how much the leaked story played up the presence (and political bio) of Charles Hellwig on the campaign team.  Good campaign managers stay out of the papers.  Their candidates’s successes speak for them.

 

 

Hellwig presided over the spectacular collapse of the Wake County Republican Party in 2018.  He also chairs the GOP organization for the 4th congressional district — which is, and has been, completely OWNED by Democrats.   Why on Earth would you think this guy was a brilliant choice to manage your US Senate campaign?

 

The early leak of the primary challenge story also provided the Tillis campaign a few free days to beat up on Tucker before his Hannity appearance.

 

Also, this column has been around for a while.  Tucker wrote, during the 2016 primary, about his skepticism regarding Donald Trump.  During the primaries, a lot of good people who now LOVE Donald Trump were looking hard at other people.  Tillis was with Marco Rubio.  Renee Ellmers was with John Kasich.

 

Tucker confessed to having reservations about Trump’s character, but said he would vote for him.   Of course,  Team Tillis came out with an excerpt from the 2016 column.  The Tucker campaign should have had a response standing by.  (They’ve had three years to think about it.)

 

There aren’t many of us who, back then,  could have imagined a President Donald Trump and our current levels of success.

 

One of the biggest head-scratchers, yet — Hellwig is running around promoting Thom Tillis’s hand-picked candidate for NCGOP chairman.   All while running a primary challenge to Tillis.  Hellwig is carrying water for Tillis in the NCGOP chairman’s race.  How can you be confident he’s not doing it in the Senate race?

 

I don’t know Garland Tucker.  He seems like an outstanding individual and a solid candidate.  I’d hate to see him bushwhacked by people he thinks are helping him.

 

I’ve watched Carter Wrenn work for a long time.  He’s better than this.  He really needs to find some steadier hands to man the wheel and captain the SS Tucker.  Stormy waters are approaching.