Revving up the spin machine to practice explaining away Mike Whatley’s impending defeat
I’ve watched a lot of elections over the last four decades. I’ve seen what has worked, and what hasn’t. What I’m seeing this year looks a lot like what hasn’t worked in the past.
It seems some of the NCGOPe cheerleaders are coming around. It’s as though they’re finally recognizing the possibility that their boy just isn’t cutting it.
Don’t get me wrong. I am the last person who wants to see Roy Cooper succeed at anything. But I am a realist. GOP establishment types have strong-armed Michael Whatley on us. They’ve stifled dissent and – for the second consecutive election cycle – shut down any attempt to have an honest primary. It’s kind of like what happens when you try to feed your baby – or your dog – something they just don’t want to eat. There’s going to be a lot of resistance and noise. And it will likely get spit right back into your face.
I’ve had face-to-face and behind-the-scenes DM conversations with some passengers on the Whatley bandwagon. And their spin appears to follow these two points:
(1) Roy Cooper is just unbeatable. Mike Whatley is a “world-class fundraiser.” If he can’t get Cooper, no one can.
(2) None of “your guys” could do better than what Whatley has done.
Okay. let’s start with Point (1). The Republican National Committee has been propping up the North Carolina GOP with tons of pass-through funds for what seems like an eternity. Money comes in from the RNC’s DC operations, and then goes right back out from Raleigh to some other GOP operation in another state. Since 2015, the respective legislative caucus operations have co-mingled their shake-down proceeds and expenses through the state party. Whatley may have had some success. But it’s not world-class. And it looks a lot better than it really is thanks to all the help from Jones Street and the RNC.
Cooper, unbeatable? He got elected in 2016 thanks to some late-night antics that enabled him to barely creep past Pat McCrory. (McCrory’s 2016 campaign team was run by the same folks who are now giving President Trump a lot of bad advice on primary meddling and candidate endorsements.) McCrory’s 2016 team neglected to hit Cooper where he was most vulnerable: his failed management of the state crime lab. Local governments were having to hire their own labs so that evidence could be processed for trial and victims could get some justice.
Cooper got reelected in 2020 thanks to Dan Forest‘s decision to basically stop campaigning.
In Cooper’s earlier runs for attorney general, the state GOP never saw to it that Cooper got a quality general election opponent. No recruitment, no serious fundraising. It was though they were throwing the races. It was the same treatment they give Elaine Marshall. Too bad for Democrats that Marshall was never able to take advantage of the NCGOP’s hands-off patty-cake treatment like Cooper did.
It’s easy to look invincible when your opponent doesn’t want to fight, or only wants to play patty-cake.
Okay, now for Point (2). What is this “your guys” stuff? Aren’t we all Republicans ???? As in many states, I’m sure, the state GOP here sure doesn’t mind mouthing solidarity with conservative planks in the party platform. But after that pays off with an election victory, that stuff is forgotten and the wants and needs of the highest-paying lobbyists become the guiding light.
IF ONLY the party establishment practiced the same level of hostility and aggression against the big government crowd on the other side that they do against conservatives in their own party.
For two consecutive election cycles, a heavy hand from above has squashed any and all ideas of holding a serious primary for Governor (2024) and US Senator (2026). Folks above our pay grade picked candidates for us. There was no vetting or internal debate. We were told Trump had picked our champion FOR US. We were told to eat our spinach and like it.
We saw what a disaster this tactic turned out to be in 2024, and we’re about to see the sequel in 2026. This year’s race is so very winnable. It’s a shame we weren’t allowed to find and put forth our best possible candidate.
Mike Whatley is a creation of the Shumaker-Tillis machine. That crew has never embraced conservatism. They’ve ridden a wave produced by a Charlotte money machine. They’ve heavy-handed conservatives, and told us we could back their team or kiss off. Tillis barely won two Senate races with that game plan. That will likely be two more than Whatley will ever get.
There has never been an effort to consolidate the party base. In South Carolina right now, we’re watching defeated primary candidates line up behind either Darline Graham or Ralph Norman in the runoff. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, we’re watching Whatley rebuff consolidation / teamwork efforts from former primary opponents Don Brown and Andy Nilsson.
I know Brown and Nilsson are not exactly household names. But just imagine what the field could have looked like if the RNC, The White House, and the NCGOP had not stomped on and silenced any and all attempts to challenge Whatley in a primary. Consultants and fundraisers were told they should not help any potential Whatley opponent, if they wanted to have a future in the GOP.
All kinds of polling shows inflation and affordability are the big issues. Cooper has figured that out. Whatley wants to talk about crime in Charlotte. Whatley has been on the campaign trail for a year. He still has a monstrous name-ID problem. Cooper has been on our TVs every day for eight years as governor. We’re less than two months before voting. Whatley’s lack of name ID or traction in the polls is not my – or my fellow conservatives’ – problem.
The fact that internal party politics is being whittled down to “our guy” versus “your guy” speaks volumes about how damaged the Republican operation is in this state. It’s clear that voters appreciate conservatism. A lot of elections have been won using those ideas. Right now, we’re a party offering up a mishmash of stuff that is about 75-80 percent of what Cooper or Josh Stein was wanting.
