McCrory vs. McCrory
Heading into a gubernatorial race against an opponent tied to the hip of an incredibly unpopular lame duck governor and a state Democrat Party that has become a local and national laughingstock for ridicule, you’d think it would be an easy ride to victory for Republican Pat McCrory.
You’d be wrong. The latest polling from Civitas shows McCrory up 10 points over Walter Dalton (48% to 38%), but with Dalton having gained 8 percentage points in a head-to-head match-up since a pre-primary February poll. Part of Dalton’s surge, as noted by Civitas President Francis De Luca, can be attributed the “party faithful [tending] to rally behind a candidate, as we see in Dalton after the May primary election.”
At the same time, McCrory isn’t doing himself any favors, and in the end may prove to be his own worst enemy. McCrory’s recent misstep, which got off on the wrong foot earlier this month when he threw a hissy-fit and threatened to file lawsuits against TV stations that refused to pull an ad being run by Democrats, could come back to bite him with renewed vigor and some very sharp teeth.
Seems McCrory’s legal posturing didn’t work quite as planned and his campaign never got around to actually filing any lawsuits, just an “intent to sue” form, but the damage might already have been done. This from Carter Wrenn over at Talking About Politics:
What happened next was the political equivalent of the earth shaking under Pat McCrory’s feet. The Democrats called his bluff. And sued him. And mouse trapped him. Because now that lawsuit is going to count and those Democratic lawyers are making no bones about what they mean to do next: “We look forward,” attorney Michael Wiesel told the press, “To taking his (McCrory’s) deposition before November 2012, to answer questions about his tax returns, his clients and who is paying him to do what.”
Worse still, if you’re Pat McCrory, is who you just landed in a lawsuit with – not with Dalton but with two polecat Democratic groups and McCrory and those polecats are going to have a knife fight while Walter Dalton sits back enjoying himself.
In politics, like lighting out of a clear blue sky, the unexpected strikes. And it just struck Pat McCrory. And Walter Dalton must be counting his lucky stars.
Ahhh, yes, the old political campaign ploy of opening yourself up to hostile interrogation, under oath, where you’ll be compelled to give potentially awkward and damaging answers about your past, providing your opponent with plenty of campaign cannon fodder.
Well played, Pat; well played.
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