Tillis vs. Media
2012-01-09 - by
Speaker Thom Tillis has enjoyed pretty good press over the past year. Then he has one bad day – or, more accurately, late night/early morning – and he gets touchy:
“Tomorrow will be the last day I receive the Charlotte Observer at home after nearly 14 years. I decided if the Charlotte Observer is going to reduce itself to being a liberal blog, I’ll just read it online like I do ProgressNC, BlueNC, and the like. They are all kind of like road kill–you try not to look at, you do anyway, then you regret it.”
Tillis was overreacting to media coverage of his post-midnight raid on the NCAE. Mark Binker with the Greensboro News & Record had a good account on his blog, which concluded:
“Tillis played hard ball and his team won. Good on him. But if he’s going to play rough and tumble, shouldn’t expect a bit of push back? The game was played in the middle of the night and sausage making doesn’t look all that nice when people lay it out in the sunshine. To use a management aphorism that Tillis might appreciate, if you think the news output stinks, consider the input with which we were working.”
Then Rob Christensen in his N&O column called Tillis’ and the Republicans’ tactic “Chicago-style politics” aimed at “those who dare sass them.”
Christensen went on to raise the specter of pay-to-play politics:
“GOP leaders have also been quietly putting out the word on Jones Street to corporations, trade associations and other interest groups that if they want to get any legislation moved, they need to hire Republican lobbyists – not Democrats. And of course, the GOP lobbyists can be expected to help raise money for the lawmakers at election time.”
Even John Hood called the early-morning session “bad form.”
Tillis needs to realize how this game works. The media rewards two things: success and openness. Conversely, two things get punished: failure and a lack of openness.
Mike Easley learned that the hard way. One of his big problems was that the media resented the distant way he had with them. Like Inspector Javert, the N&O is still pursuing him today.
Tillis got good press for the success he had pushing through the GOP agenda in his first session. Then he went on a statewide “listening” tour that won him good coverage and editorial praise.
Now he has squandered a lot of that good will. And he’ll find himself and his caucus under more scrutiny, especially when it comes to any whiff of pay-for-play.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Republicans
Tillis vs. Media
2012-01-09/
Speaker Thom Tillis has enjoyed pretty good press over the past year. Then he has one bad day – or, more accurately, late night/early morning – and he gets touchy:
“Tomorrow will be the last day I receive the Charlotte Observer at home after nearly 14 years. I decided if the Charlotte Observer is going to reduce itself to being a liberal blog, I’ll just read it online like I do ProgressNC, BlueNC, and the like. They are all kind of like road kill–you try not to look at, you do anyway, then you regret it.”
Tillis was overreacting to media coverage of his post-midnight raid on the NCAE. Mark Binker with the Greensboro News & Record had a good account on his blog, which concluded:
“Tillis played hard ball and his team won. Good on him. But if he’s going to play rough and tumble, shouldn’t expect a bit of push back? The game was played in the middle of the night and sausage making doesn’t look all that nice when people lay it out in the sunshine. To use a management aphorism that Tillis might appreciate, if you think the news output stinks, consider the input with which we were working.”
Then Rob Christensen in his N&O column called Tillis’ and the Republicans’ tactic “Chicago-style politics” aimed at “those who dare sass them.”
Christensen went on to raise the specter of pay-to-play politics:
“GOP leaders have also been quietly putting out the word on Jones Street to corporations, trade associations and other interest groups that if they want to get any legislation moved, they need to hire Republican lobbyists – not Democrats. And of course, the GOP lobbyists can be expected to help raise money for the lawmakers at election time.”
Even John Hood called the early-morning session “bad form.”
Tillis needs to realize how this game works. The media rewards two things: success and openness. Conversely, two things get punished: failure and a lack of openness.
Mike Easley learned that the hard way. One of his big problems was that the media resented the distant way he had with them. Like Inspector Javert, the N&O is still pursuing him today.
Tillis got good press for the success he had pushing through the GOP agenda in his first session. Then he went on a statewide “listening” tour that won him good coverage and editorial praise.
Now he has squandered a lot of that good will. And he’ll find himself and his caucus under more scrutiny, especially when it comes to any whiff of pay-for-play.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Republicans