A born showman running for Lt. Governor Mark Robinson boasted, ‘I am North Carolina…’

After he got elected, rolling on, he slammed foes, got cheers, but also stepped on land mines.

Robinson started running for governor, changing directions posted bromides on Facebook: ‘I love the police…I love our veterans…My mother’s my hero…’. The showman vanished. Robinson sounded like a politician.

The showman was abrasive. But real. It was who he is. It suited him. But he faced an uphill climb – as a showman – to get elected governor. So he changed.

But it’s also risky when a candidate tries to turn himself into something he’s not. People see through that. It’s phony. And there’s one more problem: Mark Robinson traded bad for worse – these days about the only thing that’s more unpopular than a showman is a politician.