It looked for awhile like Fred Smith was doing some adroit foot work in the Republican primary, moving to Pat McCrory’s right. (Or, conversely, and more lethally, moving Mayor McCrory to the left).

But, now, McCrory is doing some footwork of his own – moving just where Smith doesn’t want him on an issue Smith probably felt might be his ace in the hole.

There’s probably no bigger litmus test in a Republican primary than how a candidate votes on tax increases. Republicans hate tax increases. And, the scuttlebutt floating around the right-wing of the Republican Party has been that Mayor McCrory’s suspect. That down there in Charlotte he’s been voting to raise taxes. Which, in a Republican primary, is worse than being suspected of knowing Eliot Spitzer’s mistress.

But McCrory’s plugging the hole – if there is one – with a new TV ad. McCrory’s now the only candidate running for governor saying, loud and clear, taxes are too high and he wants to cut them. And, he adds, he vetoed taxes in Charlotte and he’ll do it again as governor. This is meat and potatoes in a Republican primary. The ad is believable. And it’s the first thing many Republicans have learned about McCrory’s record.

McCrory may have stumbled a couple of times coming out of the blocks. But he’s not stumbling now.

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