#NCSEN: Told Ya So.
We reported a little while back on the possibility that Charlotte pastor Mark Harris was at risk for being cut out of the televised debates for the 2014 GOP US Senate primary. Now, we’re hearing reports confirming that WRAL will not be including Harris in its April 23 debate broadcast. WRAL’s news director says that, to make the cut, candidates need to have polled at 10 percent or more in at least one poll the station considers reliable.
So, unless something changes, viewers of the WRAL event will be treated to sound bites from Thom Tillis, Greg Brannon and Heather Grant — three of the eight candidates in the field.
Here at Haymaker HQ, we have a problem with BIG MEDIA telling us who IS or IS NOT a viable candidate. The drive-by media SHOULD be presenting us with all of the details and letting us make up our minds.
Barring Harris from the WRAL debate also presents a real problem for the drive-by media’s narrative on the Senate race. For months, they’ve been telling us that Mark Harris is a ‘big dog’ – a major player, a game changer — in the GOP field. Now, they’re barring him from the debate because they don’t consider him significant?
I remember when Robin Hayes tried to force the NC delegation to adopt rules that would disqualify candidates from ballot access / speaking time at the RNC in 2012. That he is on the other side of the issue this time, while ironic, still doesn’t make it right for folks holding the forum to choose who is eligible based on criteria that disqualifies candidates who could be perfectly capable of garnering more support if the people were allowed to hear from them. Sad!
It seems to me that what we are seeing is media arrogance in trying to dictate which candidates we should consider. I would like to hear all of them. I have heard good things about Snyder and Alexander and would actually like to see them on camera.
Maybe we need to amend the state GOP Plan of Organization to say that they state GOP would not sanction any media debate unless all candidates were included, and perhaps we can think up some ways to create some pain for the media when they pull stunts like this or even for candidates who participate in it.
Why does the #NCGOP allow the liberal MSM make the rules for our candidates? Or, are they ok with this??? It will be interesting to see if there is any real outrage from the Harris camp.
That is an issue that the party needs to deal with at both state and national level. It was absurd in the 2012 presidential debates that we tolerated one moderator who had had Obama as a guest at her wedding, and another who had called the Romney Ryan ticket ”a death wish”. People like that are supposed to be fair and objective? Horsehockey!
My larger concern is why on earth would any of our candidates submit to a debate run by WRAL, part of the Blueprint Conspiracy against the NC GOP?
Good question.
What is a WRAL?
I think the media has already decided it will be Hagan vs Tillis. The Democrats are already running negative ads about our beloved Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis.
And let’s be honest, you don’t need 8 people in a short debate. Hardly time for one question each. Of course the preacher would add a lot of flavor to the debate. An elected official, a woman, a doctor and a preacher would seem to me to be about right. But then again it is their station and their rules.
I doubt any of the candidates who are invited will back out. WRAL gets pretty good coverage. Getting invited is like “pay to play.” You got to spend some big money on early advertising to get your numbers up in the polls. So if a candidate had already spent a bunch of advertising money with WRAL they would have the positive numbers in order to get invited to the dance.
Money sure does play a big part in elections. What is the initiation fee into that fancy golf course in Raleigh these days? I heard it was pretty steep but then again you don’t want to let everybody in.
Tillis is the most electable because he has raised the most money. A candidate who beats him will have done a good days work. It could certainly happen but it might be considered to be a long shot.
The national GOP is belatedly trying to get more of a handle on the presidential debates. The state GOP should do so as well. We do not need to be dictated to by the liberal media (or in the case of WRAL the liberal Blueprint media). That should include a fair format and fair moderators, not liberal hacks.
Having the most money at this point does not make a candidate more electable if they are poorly positioned on the issues. Tili$ is the worst positioned on the main issues we have against Hagan and on the main issue the Democrats will use against Republicans. Tilli$ is the one candidate in the primary who due to his own record will not be able to unify or motivate the base, and the candidate least likely to pull ticket splitter votes, and no amount of money will cure that.
Never underestimate the power of money. Add that to the fact that Tillis is positioned correctly on all the conservative issues and you have the winning combination of statesmanship and credibility. As the primary heats up I think the voters will realize that Thom Tillis is a credible candidate who thinks and talk rationally. The voters are less and less enthused with the whacko candidates who espouse conspiracy theories and talk of treason.
How many people do you know of who have been convicted of treason recently? How many politicians have been convicted of treason? Talking a good game is not the same thing as leading a legislature.
Talk of treason and tyranny may cause a few people to start dancing around like a whirling dervish but when it come time to voter Aunt Ag wants a candidate who talks common sense.
Got to go now, the black helicopter just landed and they are trying to put a TSA electronic ankle bracelet on me before carting me off to the local FEMA camp. I don’t know if the local camp offers wifi or not.
Correctly positioned on the issues? The biggest issue out there is Obamacare, and Tilli$ has called that ”a good idea” and even rammed a bill through the NC House to set up a state Obamacare exchange in North Carolina. Hagan would make a laughingstock out of him if he tried to claim he is against Obamacare. His own record puts Tilli$ in the same position as Romney, unable to use that issue.
Then there is illegal immigration, where the recent Washington Post poll shows that independents and moderates are much more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes a ”pathway to citizenship” for illegal aliens than one who supports that pathway. Overall those who oppose the pathway have a 12 point advantage over those who support it. Where is Tilli$ positioned? Supporting the pathway!
A good kitchen table issue is affordable energy. Where is Tilli$ positioned on that? Tilli$ favors Obama-style green energy boondoggles and crony capitalism that will greatly raise the cost of electricity. In fact, North Carolina’s electric rates have increased 65% more than the national average since Tilli$ voted for Senate Bill 3 that created the renewable energy mandate boondoggle.
Will be interesting to see where Harris lands in the PPP polling done this weekend. That may remedy the situation. However, if it doesn’t…
Brannon and Grant should back out and let Thom Tillis stand up there alone if Harris is excluded. The Speaker has refused to attend most/all(?) forums with the other candidates. Why should they attend one rigged in a way that bennefits the Speaker?
I’m not saying this as a Harris supporter brcause I am not one. But, excluding the other candidate from Mecklenburg County which has the 2nd largest number of Republicans in the state does a disservice to the voters.
Better yet, Thom Tillis himself should demand that Harris be included. After the recent MeckGOP convention fiasco where there were moves made to silence descent, a move like that could go some way towards mending fences. Aquiesing to WRAL goes the opposite direction.
“Brannon and Grant should back out and let Thom Tillis stand up there alone if Harris is excluded.”
That is the sensible thing to do. Let Thom Tillis stand there and address the citizens of North Carolina in a “fireside chat.” It would give the voters a better chance to hear and see the Speaker.
Brannon and Grant would score big points for not showing up.
LOL, a “fireside chat” — kinda like the “fire sale” that Thom Toll-Us put on, where he sold his so-called “principles” to the highest bidder… namely, Karl Rove and his RINO cronies.
I’ll be so glad when we get rid of the fake “conservative” Speaker entirely, and elect a true conservative to replace Hagan (which sure won’t be Toll-Us — I said *conservative*).
A ”Fireside Chat”. How appropriate. Thom ”Amnesty Amigo” Tilli$ and Fraudulent Deficit Russiavelt (FDR) are not that different ideologically.
Do you folks like anyone at all?
From what I understand FDR is one of the most revered Presidents of all time. I read where Brannon said a vote for Romeny would advance tyranny. Was FDR tyrannical? More so than Hitler?
I think the far, far right needs to read the book about winning friends and influencing people. Put down the book about how the TSA is going to put electronic bracelets on us. I have sent in a request for a TSA copper bracelet because I have friends who say wearing a copper bracelet helps with arthritis but I do not know how the TSA electronic tracking signals will interfere.
Prior to Obama, FDR was the president who pulled the country farthest left. The fact that you seem to like him speaks volumes about your own ideology which is clearly not conservative in the slightest.
Do we now have establishment Republicans trumpeting the virtues of the New Deal? God Almighty!
I was at the gym this morning and I saw the new Tillis ad on several TV screens at once. He sure did look conservative to me. That nice short hair, the dark suit with the red power tie. The seemed relaxed and his head never did spin around. No smoke came from his ears and he did not duck once for the black helicopters. He spoke calmly and never mentioned tyranny and treason and other nasty things. There were people walking around in the background and not once did I see a firing squad.
I thought it was an ad that would appeal to many people.
The reality is cooper did not see the ad. He’s a paid troll for the Tillis campaign and has no credibility here. His comments reflect the dishonesty and weirdness of his candidate. His comments reflect that of an online huckster and a perv.