#NCSEN: An Orwellian endorsement

selloutNational Right to Life has left quite a few people scratching their heads over its endorsement of Thom Tillis in North Carolina’s GOP US Senate primary.  “Tillis is ‘the best candidate to defeat pro-abortion Kay Hagan’ in November” screams the headline from NRL’s web site.

That’s basically the same language Gov. Pat used in his endorsement of Tillis last week. (It’s interesting timing that this endorsement comes just after Gov, Pat returns from his junket to The Nation’s Capital.)

It’s the same spin that so many establishment types are using to push people into Tillis’ corner.  The problem?  Polling does not support that spin.   If you go by the average results each candidate in the primary has earned in the polls, Ted Alexander is best positioned to beat Hagan, followed by Greg Brannon and then Mark Harris.  Heather Grant and Thom Tillis are — according to the polls — the worst positioned to beat Hagan in November.

It’s interesting that Right to Life passed over a Baptist preacher (Harris) and an OB-GYN who also serves as the medical director for a crisis pregnancy center (Brannon) to pick Tillis.  It’s interesting to note that Brannon had siginificant input in crafting each of the bills NRL mentioned in their endorsement. ( Brannon has been a regular resource for legislators seeking to craft legislation relating to abortion and women’s health.) It’s also interesting to note that Tillis helped water down several abortion-related provisions in proposed legislation, and even struggled to move some abortion-related legislation through the House. 

 

The NRA has taken some heat from The Right by endorsing some candidates with less-than-stellar records on The Second Amendment.  It’s been said the organization is trying to make nice with the DC establishment — get back on the invite list for those Georgetown cocktail parties. Perhaps National Right to Life is merely operating off of what Gov. McCrory, the NRSC and the RNC have been telling them.  Perhaps they’re wanting to be liked, too — just like the NRA.