#NCSEN: Civitas FLUNKED Thom Tillis in 2010
The details have been scrubbed from The Internet, but — thanks to resources like The Wayback Machine — nothing is ever truly GONE from cyberspace. The NCGOP took the majority in the General Assembly in 2010. Thom Tillis got elected speaker as the session opened in early 2011.
But — in Civitas’s 2010 conservatism rankings of legislators — Tillis got a Big Fat F. Really? The guy running as the GOP nominee for US Senate, the purported leader of Raleigh’s conservative revolution, got flunked by one of the state’s leading conservative organizations? Let’s look at some of the votes Civitas shellacked Tillis on:
- HB 589 expanded the state health plan to include coverage for hearing aids and autism.
- SB1114 allowed Asheville, Carrboro and Chapel Hill to forego things like competitive bidding and public notice in starting up their alternative energy operations.
- SB1216 increased regulations on banks and other mortgage lenders to stall foreclosures and lender efforts to recover the debts owed them.
- SB1171 tinkered with state economic incentives to allow data centers — like the one set up by Google in western NC — to receive goodies from the taxpayers.
- SB1210 increases licensure fees in the state for athletic trainers.
- HB1973 approved incentives for film production companies, and struck down rules that disqualified people who had run-ins with DENR from obtaining economic incentives.
Civitas gave Tillis a D in 2009, and a C+ in 2008. Since 2011, when Tillis was elected speaker, Civitas has not been scoring or ranking him. As speaker, he doesn’t vote enough to compute a score.
It is appalling that Civitas scrubbed these ratings, but then again Tillis has been failing conservatives more recently on issues of much higher importance than those mentioned.
Maybe Tillis can still recapture some of the conservative vote if he can meaningfully address some keys issues he seems to be ducking, but he is already not trusted, and the longer he waits to do that, the less impact it will have. Tillis really seems to have some dumbos as advisors. Hey, did he hire the Etch-a-Sketch guy from the Romney campaign?
Raphael, too late for this – Maybe Tillis can still recapture some of the conservative vote if he can meaningfully address some keys issues he seems to be ducking, but he is already not trusted, and the longer he waits to do that, the less impact it will have.
Oops, too late for that in any meaning believable credible fashion. The legislative meth lab in Raleigh run by the Obama/Tillis Republicans is closed on Jones Street and the electeds have all gone home. It would be difficult for Tillis to cook up any more of his crazy dope to distribute to the masses and attempt a hail Mary pass to woo over conservatives at this late date. With some of the zany things Tillis says it appears he’s been sampling too much of the recipe. He’s already adopted Nixon’s unhealthy paranoia. Must be from sampling too much of the recipe.
The conservative voters will fail him in November. Or will he fail the conservative voters?
Tillis seems to be a demonrat. Why didn’t he run in their primary? I would compare him to Lamar Alexander of TN.
He used to be a Democrat!
Tillis stood up and openly said in the House that his version of the state budget was one that looked like a Democrat budget. I guess that is why the Republican Senate had such a problem with it. Is this someone we can count on when it comes to critical budget votes in the US Senate?
The Senate race is all about issues, and Tillis does not seem to get it.
He was also the main driving force behind HB786 which would have allowed drivers licenses for illegal aliens in NC! Thank goodness the Gov. had enough sense to veto it. I realize it was overridden however, that provision was removed (as well as any enforcement of NC’s immigration laws)
Okay, I get it. We don’t like Tillis. But unfortunately, the Conservative candidate didn’t win. We can beat up on Tillis all we want, but what’s the answer to this conundrum? Not voting at all? That’s what the dems want. Voting for Hagan? Not an option for me. Someone please give me some solutions instead of this continued criticism, which does no on any good.
Join the club of frustrated conservative voters. We really have no good options. None of the candidates on the ballot, Hagan, TIllis, and Haugh, are worth a crap on the issues. unless one does a major reinvention of themselves that is accepted as credible. Writing in a candidate or skipping the Senate race sends a message but does not accomplish anything beyond that. The worst option is staying home, which deprives good candidates in other races of our votes. Each of us may puzzle this problem out differently, but for me, it will probably be election day when I make my Senate choice (definitely NOT Hagan). Otherwise my votes will be solid GOP as in the other races in my county and the districts it falls in, the GOP candidates are all solid on the issues.
As a conservative I heartily concur that Brannon should have won. He was sabotaged by putting a candidate on the ballot that was being financed and instructed by the Tillis group. That split the vote. The biggest problem we have in DC is the Senate controlled by Harry Reid. Over 300 bills from the house have been sent over and totally ignored. No one should have that much power. We need to remove Reid who seems to be suffering with early signs of dementia.
Brant, this is getting tiresome: blah, blah, we don’t like Tillis ad nauseam. He won the primary. Get over it and focus on firing Harry Reid! Focus on beating the sock puppet for Obama! You are helping the Democrats, Brant. Encouraging a write-in will ensure Hagan wins. Howsabout you constantly harp on Hagan and how she ALWAYS voted for whatever Obama and the Demo-rats wanted, that she took part in the destruction of our America because of this? Tillis needs to win so we can FIRE HARRY REID!
Mariann —
Get over what? Being frustrated about the two major parties practically merging into one? What makes you think I am helping Kay Hagan? Do a search for Hagan on this site, or click on the menu button above which has her name on it. I think I have scathed her big time, as well. We’re about laying out the cold hard facts here — those that the drive-by media will not. If the truth hurts, so be it. Is it the job of conservatives to roll over and accept leftist Republicanism, or to pressure country-clubbers to see things our way?
On the firing Harry Reid thing — there are many analyses out there showing it can be done whether or not Tillis wins in November. Thom is not essential to that endeavor. Even so, I don’t see trading Harry Reid for Mitch McConnell as all that great of a deal. We’ve seen this show before, from 2000-2006.
Amen, Brant. Stick by your guns…you are not alone. If you start agreeing with the Marianns of the world there would be absolutely no reason to visit this site. Might as well tune into the Huff Po.
Where was the GOP Establishment when we had the chance to “Fire Harry Reid” in 2010?
They were too busy complaining about Sharron Angle.
Why should we fall in line supporting a group of people that think we’re a bunch of fringe whacko-bird racists?
Worse than that. The establishment ran a vicious scorched earth negative primary campaign in Colorado which cost the eventual conservative nominee a very narrow loss of that Senate seat in November. The candidate that the establishment was pushing had been an AARP lobbyist during the Hillarycare campaign, which was just what we needed when Obamacare was the huge issue!
Remember Einstein say –
E=MC2
He also say
RNC + DNC = PRC (political ruling class) therefore rendering the larger majority masses SOL (s*it out of luck) however, if the elements of the RNC and DNC are rendered neutral by denying them the rotating electron$$$ spinning around the nucleus of each equally offending element, the power and energy will flow from the two equally offending elements back into the originally inteded element WTP.
I hear a different version of my country right or wrong…now it’s my party right or wrong.
The establishment uses the voters every election cycle by telling us who will run in the primaries (and manipulating them if necessary), and using money and influence (or whatever shenanigans needed) to make sure their “chosen” candidates win. Then like good lemmings after the dust settles, we argue if we should vote for the “chosen” one.
When will we stop being manipulated by the political elites? And when will we learn that doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is insanity?
Many posters here profess to being conservatives, but they are really just puppets of the Republican party. They act as if this mess in DC and Raleigh had been created by the Democrat party alone. The truth is that a number of Republicans have been playing footsie with the Democrats for so long they have compromised every ethic they may have once possessed.
Voting for Tillis just because he barely won a screwed up primary is giving up and giving in. We don’t need another Richard Burr in DC. The damage they do to the GOP brand is overwhelming.
After what the establishment did to cheat and lie and steal and buy votes in Mississippi to steal the nomination from the conservative, they have blown up party unity and party loyalty for this election. Voting for the lesser of two evils is now a non-starter. If Tillis cannot find a way to convincingly reinvent himself in a way that is acceptable to conservatives before November, he will forfeit a lot of conservative votes. Right now, Tillis is too much like Hagan when it comes to issues. Issues are what it takes to get conservative votes.
As far as being interested in dumping Harry Reid, that would be a much bigger factor, and one that might inspire holding ones nose for Tillis if the alternative, Mitch ”Kentucky Kickback” McConnell was not almost as bad. McConnell is a longtime surrender monkey to Democrat policy and fights even less than Boehner, and discussing this year’s Senate races, he vowed to the New York TImes to ”crush them everywhere” talking not about Democrats but about conservatives in his own party. McConnell also helped bankroll some of the worst frauds in Mississippi:
http://www.senateconservatives.com/site/post/2713/the-shameful-seven
I like all of my GOP choices at every other level on the ballot in my county, but I am very conflicted about what to do on the Senate race. There is really no good choice for a conservative voter, so we have to pick one of the bad choices. I will probably not finally make up my mind until election day. I keep hoping that something will change but I haven’t seen it yet.
The GOP controlled the federal government from 2000-2006. So what happened? The deficit and spending exploded, the border was not secured, third-world immigration was not stopped even after 9-11, welfare increased, the Dept. of Education was doubled in size, and we senselessly invaded Iraq. No wonder Republican voters are fed-up with the GOP Establishment. Why bother to elect Republicans when this is the sorry record of Republican control?
Once again, I return to my original comment. What is the alternative? Beating up on Tillis doesn’t do anything more than put Kay Hagan back in office! Greg Brannon didn’t win so that leaves us with Tillis. Voting for him does not mean we stop pushing our agenda forward, nor does it mean we stop pressuring the establishment. It just means we put another Republican in office and then we have a real chance of getting rid of Harry Reid. We haven’t been able to do it so far, but if we get the majority in the Senate, we can.
I am looking for someone who has an R in their heart on policy, not just an R by their name on paper. Tillis has the latter but is a long way from convincing me that he qualifies on the former.
After the Mississippi Mugging, I am NOT going to play the lesser of the evils game again. We seem to always lose on that one. Tillis is going to have to convince me on policy and issues that he is deserving of my vote, something he has not done to this point.
If we end up with a pack of Milquetoast Republicans running DC it is going to badly tarnish our brand. McConnell is worse than Milquetoast. He is aggressively anti-conservative. That’s why firing Harry Reid does not resonate so much as an issue, since if we do, we might be out of the frying pan into the fire. McConnell leading on bad policy is going to hurt the party worse than Reid leading on bad policy.
Mary Ann—Harry Reid was not in control of the Senate from 2000-2006; it was Mitch McConnell and the Republicans. Do you get my point.
I agree with Mariann Benway. We can’t beat back this administration by putting more Democrats in office. Yes, Tillis is not as far to the right as many of us would like, but the fact of the matter is, while we are fighting among ourselves, we still have a dictator in the White House and as long as he has no impediment from a Democrat-controlled Senate, he will continue to do exactly what he wants.
And yes, Tim, I get your point. However, it appears you want to blame everything on George Bush. Might I remind you that we have thousands of illegal immigrants sitting on our Southern borders who were not here between 2000 and 2006. We don’t have any foreign policy to speak of and we have alienated our allies in deference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was not the case between 2000 and 2006. Our President is the laughingstock of the world leaders but during 2000-2006, we had a leader who enjoyed the respect of other world leaders. This administration is slowly dismantling our military, has corrupted the integrity of the press and has decimated the economy. At least by returning the Senate to Republican control, there is some chance that Obama and his minions will be challenged and reigned in. So far, anything the House Republicans have tried to do has been vetoed in the Senate — maybe that will change if we get both houses. I cannot understand the wisdom of putting a write-in candidate on the ballot at this late date. That will only serve to fracture the vote and put Kay Hagan back in. Thom Tillis isn’t ideal by a long shot, but voting against him just to make a point to the GOP establishment isn’t ideal either. If you want to get back at the GOP, then push back where it counts. Join your local GOP groups and push Conservatives into the leadership positions. Start loading the precinct offices with Conservatives and continue up the chain until the Conservatives take over at the conventions. Cut off the money at the top by withholding donations to the GOP. And continue to hold the feet of the Republicans who are in office to the fire, demanding that they tow the line. Taking your toys and going home doesn’t solve the problem. It just gives the advantage to the other side.
Mary Ann, I will vote for Tillis. However, I know nothing will change in DC if he wins and the GOP takes control of the Senate. I have seen this play out before. The establishment will change nothing. We have two parties, but one agenda. The two Bush presidencies were disasters for conservatism and the GOP. Bush I gave us Clinton. Bush II gave us Obama. When the GOP could have done something about the illegal invasion of America, they did nothing. Now some 30% of America is comprised of third-world aliens. Everybody but the brain-dead knows that the GOP will never again have a President. In no more than two election cycles, there will be no GOP majority in the Congress. It’s over. I don’t really blame TIllis for this, but he is just caught up in the corrupt GOP Establishment that has destroyed conservatism in America–and sadly, the country we once loved and admired.
To quote the esteemed Hillary Rodham Clinton, “What difference does it make? ” RINO’s in charge of the Senate won’t change a thing in the continual usurping of our liberties in Mordor on the Potomac. Write in John Rhodes and sleep with a clear conscience.
Precisely right. And I’m just grateful that a few folks qualified as write-ins so that I could feel good about voting for someone like John Rhodes.
Until we clean house, we can’t deal with Raleigh OR Washington.
To do that, we need to nominate a real conservative for NCGOP Chair and Vice Chair next year, turn the tables on the Governor and our wayward Senate and (especially) House, and hold them accountable to the Party.
It works this way. The choice we have is Tillis or Hagan. Tillis will not help much in the changes we need, but Hagan will work with the extream left to destroy this country. If some of you are saying “I am going to take the high ground and vote 3rd party”, the reality is that you will just be helping to re-elect Hagan.
Thomas in Jacksonville, you are exactly right.
Tillis has actually HURT on many issues, although one can argue he may not have hurt as much as Hagan. If he wants our votes, he does need to show he is going to help, which he seems reluctant to do.
Before Mississippi, I might have considered the lesser of two evils argument, but not AFTER the Mississippi Mugging. The Big Government Republicans showed their true colors there, and they seem to be more allies of liberal Democrats than of conservatives in their own party.
This problem extends beyond NC, it’s a national problem. Continuing to vote for the RINO is NEVER going to accomplish anything conservative.
I am a write in candidate for US Senate NC and I believe that if myself or the other write ins get enough votes it WILL send a message at which time the republican party will HAVE TO return to it’s base if it wants to get elected. At the end of the day, they just like the dems want to be in power and losing will help them understand the lesson. Speaking for myself, I used to be a republican and now I am Unaffiliated. I see the two parties and the system as a toxic and caustic substance that needs to be scrubbed from OUR COUNTRY. We owe our allegiance only to the Constitution and the Flag. No surrender! The time to make a stand is now. If anyone thinks the same old… same old is going to get better on it’s own, you are badly mistaken.
http://www.writeinussenate2014.info
Barry Gurney
I was a “Reagan Revolutionary” in 1976 (not a lot of us left). I was in Kansas City as an at large delegate. I was considered a right wing nut in North Carolina by the GOP establishment. I was also a realist. I supported Gerald Ford after we lost in the last true nominating convention by Republicans. I was again on scene in 1980 when we won. I KNEW President Reagan…he was real. He was a Patriot.
I can tell all of you that are considering not voting for Thom Tillis that President Reagan would consider you weaklings for the cause of Liberty.
I was a Brannon supporter as Reagan would have been. We lost.
I have no question that President Reagan would ask those of you that are vowing to be “no shows” if you are truly Patriots.
“There you go again”, invoking Reagan – different era, different time in history, does not apply. Reagan did not have the same political landscape as is present now. The countries sovereignty was not under attack by illegal invaders and their Republican and Democrat friends promoting Agenda 21. Consider the further melting of the borders and sovereignty of the United States through the votes from Nifty, NAFTA, CAFTA Rockin’ Robin Hayes and Tricky Dick Burr. Ole Rockin Robin and Tricky Dick Burr believes America should melt its borders and stretch from the shores of Cape Horn in South America to the Queen Elizabeth Islands, thats North Canada. Reagan would have supported Americans raising hell and going after the Republicans and Democrats for what they are doing through leftist Agenda 21 plants like Thom Tillis. Reagan would have exposed and laid a bead down on these scoundrel SOBs. If you care about the future of your country you’ll do everything you can to make sure these people are not elected. I’ll be doing my part, will you? Reagan is counting on you.
I was also a Reagan supporter, and a local Youth for Reagan chairman back in ’76. The party was more united in those days. We did not have the establishment waging all out war on conservatives then as we do now. McConnell for example vowed to the NY TImes to ”crush them everywhere” speaking not of Democrats but of conservatives in his own party. What was done in Mississippi was despicable. The establishment has blown up party unity, so we do not have any reason to listen to their siren song. We do need to consider those establishment oriented nominees who can credibly advance the conservative agenda on issues. Just having an R by their name does not do it if they do not also have an R in their hearts.
None of this is new, kids. It is only your first time to experience it. The party was very far from united in 1976. Remember Nelson Rockefeller? Remember Jesse Helms?
Go ahead and throw away your vote. If you’re not at the table, you have no voice.
NO ONE in those days pulled the types of frauds withing the party that the establishment did in Mississippi this year. That is why ”Remember Mississippi” has become a conservative battle cry. The establishment opposes us more than they oppose the Democrats. They have blown up party unity and party loyalty.
I have held my nose quite a few times to vote for some Republicans I was not thrilled with for US Senate. I have always voted Republican. But if Tillis cannot convincingly get right on key issues, then he will be a bridge too far. The ball is in his court.
Mississippi has made the lesser of the evils theory totally inoperative this year.
Chris, all I have to say to you is that President Reagan was not a Bircher, in spite of their attempts to claim him.
All of this is very sad…hard to believe it has come to this. What happened in Mississippi has indeed changed everything about the Republican Party. The GOP may survive this election, but Mississippi has put the nails in the coffin. Just waiting for the burial. Probably a good riddance.
I just do not understand where all this fervor was during the primary. With all this sentiment how did Brannon ever lose? Reading these comments I wonder if the votes were miscounted. I am amazed that Brannon did not garner 90% of the primary votes.
But I do believe the NC Tea Party can regain the spotlight if they can reelect Kay Hagan. The new motto might be: “We cannot elect a Republican but we can elect a Democrat!”
P.S. You can use the motto free of charge. Of course if you want you can send me a coupon for a Bojangles Chicken Dinner, three-piece with all white meat. Thanks.
The motto for Establishment Republicans could be, ‘elect big government at all costs.’
“I just do not understand where all this fervor was during the primary. With all this sentiment how did Brannon ever lose? Reading these comments I wonder if the votes were miscounted. I am amazed that Brannon did not garner 90% of the primary votes.”
I’m assuming this was a serious comment? It’s called an echo chamber – “a situation in which information, ideas, or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission and repetition inside an ‘enclosed’ system, often drowning out different or competing views.” The views of a few passionate commenters at a single blog do not necessarily represent the views of Republican voters statewide. TDH is a great resource, but I’d defer to PPP/Elon/etc. for reliable polling data.
Well, you know what happens when one assumes.
For many of us, it was never about Brannon in the primaries. It was about NOT TILLIS due to his miserable anti-conservative record. As I said at the time, I could have supported ANY of the primary candidates EXCEPT Tillis. Now Tillis won’t even take any meaningful issues stands to try to get us comfortable enough to hold our nose to vote for him. Granted that after the Mississippi Mugging, it will take a whole lot more than it would have before those despicable frauds were committed by the establishment against conservatives.
If Civitas flunked Thillis does that mean that Civitas has also gone over to Kay? Does Thom have any support left at all? Is Kay the new Jesse Helms?
You are clearly clueless about how ratings work. Tillis actually flunked himself due to his miserable progressive voting record. Although Civitas only rates state lawmakers, Hagan also flunks on the national conservative ratings.
Rating groups ascertain the key issues that have been voted on that seperate conservatives and liberals, then tally how each legislator voted on each issue, and then do the math, letting the chips fall where they may.
The problem for conservative voters is that we are presented with a pair of progressives, one a Big Government Democrat and the other a Big Government Republican. Tillis has done nothing to show that he might change to a more conservative stance if he gets to Washington, and that is his only shot at getting more of the conservative vote. He seems to be very stupidly following the Rove playbook of running to the left.