Down the river we go
When Carter and I speak to groups, we often compare politicians to ants on a log floating down a river. The ant thinks: “I’ve got this log going good!”
But the river is running things.
So it is this election.
A year ago, everybody thought it would Jeb Bush vs. Hillary. In North Carolina, we thought Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper would be battling over the “Carolina Comeback” and education funding.
Instead, we get Donald Trump and HB2. Potty mouth and a potty law.
And nobody knows where this river is taking us.
Consider two views I heard within just a few hours yesterday.
A Democrat called, worried about the U.S. Justice Department suing North Carolina over discrimination:
“We had this thing going good. It was business fighting with McCrory and the legislature. Now it’s North Carolina against Obama, Washington and the federal government. That worries me.”
Sure enough, the front page this morning was McCrory (white) versus Loretta Lynch (black).
Then a Republican TAPster emailed:
“Gary, you and I don’t see eye to eye on much, but Ole Pat has gone off the deep end on this one. Instead of focusing on the ‘Carolina Comeback’ and bringing jobs to NC, he’s waded off into the quicksand of social issues. And this one is a loser and a ‘no way out.’ Now they’re standing on principle and the entire state is suffering for it. And for what? Why did he go there? It makes me wonder who is advising him? He could have taken the high road and stayed above the fray and let the mean-spirited General Assembly be the bad guys. But no, he jumped right in with them. Problem he’s got on his hands now, is he has to run statewide in a 50/50 state and there are a lot of people, middle of the road people that could go either way , and they wonder, why? Why are you doing this Pat? We always assumed he was a middle of the road conservative, pro-business Republican. This kind of extreme action and thinking is exactly what is propelling Trump. People are sick and tired of extreme positions, from both sides. I think Pat has gotten himself in a heap of trouble. It may very well cost him the election.”
If you’re not confused enough, now try to figure in the impact of Donald Trump on down-ballot elections. Will he revitalize Republican chances, or sell them down the river?
Only the river knows.
Down the river we go
When Carter and I speak to groups, we often compare politicians to ants on a log floating down a river. The ant thinks: “I’ve got this log going good!”
But the river is running things.
So it is this election.
A year ago, everybody thought it would Jeb Bush vs. Hillary. In North Carolina, we thought Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper would be battling over the “Carolina Comeback” and education funding.
Instead, we get Donald Trump and HB2. Potty mouth and a potty law.
And nobody knows where this river is taking us.
Consider two views I heard within just a few hours yesterday.
A Democrat called, worried about the U.S. Justice Department suing North Carolina over discrimination:
“We had this thing going good. It was business fighting with McCrory and the legislature. Now it’s North Carolina against Obama, Washington and the federal government. That worries me.”
Sure enough, the front page this morning was McCrory (white) versus Loretta Lynch (black).
Then a Republican TAPster emailed:
“Gary, you and I don’t see eye to eye on much, but Ole Pat has gone off the deep end on this one. Instead of focusing on the ‘Carolina Comeback’ and bringing jobs to NC, he’s waded off into the quicksand of social issues. And this one is a loser and a ‘no way out.’ Now they’re standing on principle and the entire state is suffering for it. And for what? Why did he go there? It makes me wonder who is advising him? He could have taken the high road and stayed above the fray and let the mean-spirited General Assembly be the bad guys. But no, he jumped right in with them. Problem he’s got on his hands now, is he has to run statewide in a 50/50 state and there are a lot of people, middle of the road people that could go either way , and they wonder, why? Why are you doing this Pat? We always assumed he was a middle of the road conservative, pro-business Republican. This kind of extreme action and thinking is exactly what is propelling Trump. People are sick and tired of extreme positions, from both sides. I think Pat has gotten himself in a heap of trouble. It may very well cost him the election.”
If you’re not confused enough, now try to figure in the impact of Donald Trump on down-ballot elections. Will he revitalize Republican chances, or sell them down the river?
Only the river knows.