There are a lot of whack jobs running for the Senate this year. Chris McDaniel, Milton Wolf, Lee Bright, Paul Broun, Joni Ernst and then there's this guy:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
A North Carolina Republican Senate candidate who has been endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) refused to say whether the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center were an inside job and instead said only that "things like this have to be asked."
The candidate is Dr. Greg Brannon, one of a handful of Republicans in the primary to defeat Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC). Brannon made the comments when he was a guest on a local radio talk show hosted by Bill LuMaye. The exchange, between Brannon and a caller, was highlighted by Mother Jones on Monday. - TPM, 4/21/14
Here's the conversation:
http://www.motherjones.com/...
John, caller: I'm a 9/11 truther. And I had a friend of mine…tell me, look on the internet, Google "the Pentagon" and show me where the plane hit the Pentagon. Where is the plane? There's all kinds of pictures of that building smoldering, and fire trucks everywhere. There's no plane. So I did research on the size of planes, of the engines that ran this plane. These things are 12,000 pounds, these engines that would have flown off—that's six tons—and put a hole in something. There's nothing there.
Bill LuMaye: Well, without getting into—
John: There's a hole in the building and there's no broken glass.
LuMaye: Well, I'd rather not get into a discussion on whether 9/11 was an inside job or not. I really, I mean, we can save that for another day, I have no problem with that, it's just—
Greg Brannon: These questions, again, actually, that's what [9/11 commission vice-chair] Lee Hamilton said. And he just said, there's other questions that need answering. The guy who got all the information…a Democrat and a Republican, were the co-chairmen of the 9/11 commission, and when they got done, they did not put their stamp of approval on the commission. They said, 'There's data that we did not put in there.' So things like this have to be asked. - Mother Jones, 4/21/14
Here's more info:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Mother Jones notes that the 9/11 Commission co-chairs’ complaints were about government agencies stonewalling on access to information and not about questions on whether the U.S. government was involved in the attack.
But later in the same program, a caller asked Brannon if he, himself, was a 9/11 Truther because his tea party website links to the conspiracy theory laden website Infowars, led by Alex Jones. “I just think it’s very important we study things thoroughly,” Brannon said.
Brannon — whose views on other issues are just as troubling — is battling Republican establishment candidate Thom Tillis for the chance to take on Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) this fall. But dabbling in 9/11 trutherism isn’t the only questionable national security position for the tea party candidate. On his campaign website, Brannon, citing the founding fathers, says that international alliances, such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, “undermine our country’s independence.” - Think Progress, 4/21/14
More below the fold.
Yep, and that's not the only crazy thing to come out about Brannon:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
Dr. Greg Brannon, a Republican running for Senate in North Carolina, said the democratic debate taking place after the Sandy Hook school shooting was an example of “socialism.” Brannon was speaking in a radio interview a week after the shooting.
“Senator Hagan says we got to have a nice debate and discussion (about gun control) about what to do. See that’s called a democracy which is actually socialism which is called majority rule.” - BuzzFeed, 4/21/14
You'd think that would earn Brannon the NRA's endorsement but it didn't:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
The National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund has endorsed Republican Thom Tillis in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate primary.
Victory Fund chairman Chris Cox called Tillis “a champion on Second Amendment issues.”
As speaker, Tillis supported measures that, among other things, make it easier to carry concealed weapons in bars, restaurants, parks and school grounds. The NRA statement said Tillis also opposes universal background checks on gun purchases. - Charlotte Observer, 4/15/14
Then there's this:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
Dr. Greg Brannon, a Republican who is vying for the party’s Senate nomination in North Carolina appears to have plagiarized several of his campaign “on the issues” pages from Republican Michigan Rep. Justin Amash. A Facebook post of Brannon’s also seems to be a near-direct copy of an article by a Cato Institute scholar. Another issues post appears to be copied from the Coalition for Jobs.
On abortion:
Here’s Brannon on abortion:
Government is responsible for protecting our individual rights to life, liberty, and property. I believe that life begins at conception, and it is unconscionable that government sanctions the taking of the lives of the helpless and innocent.
As a Senator, I will always vote against government funding of abortion and will fight to protect life at all stages. I will always vote for any and all legislation that would end abortion or lead us in the direction of ending abortion.
And here’s Justin Amash:
The proper function of government is to protect individual rights—life, liberty, and property. I believe that life begins at conception, and it is unconscionable that government would sanction the taking of the helpless and innocent. I always will vote against government funding of abortion and will fight to protect life at all stages. - BuzzFeed, 4/21/14
And there's this:
http://www.rawstory.com/...
On Facebook, he plagiarized from an article written by the Cato Institute’s Doug Bandow, who wrote:
Naturally, chief executives offer creative reasons to short-circuit the Constitution’s clear requirement. One claim is that the president has some unspecified, ill-defined “foreign affairs power” that reduces the explicit war powers clause to a nullity. However, the framers consciously circumscribed the president’s foreign policy authority by vesting countervailing power in Congress, including the responsibility to declare war.
Brannon broke the paragraph up, omitted the word “short-circuit,” and placed it on his Facebook wall:
Naturally, chief executives offer creative reasons to bypass the Constitution’s clear requirement. One claim is that the president has some unspecified, ill-defined “foreign affairs power” that reduces the explicit war powers clause to a nullity.
However, the framers consciously circumscribed the president’s foreign policy authority by vesting countervailing power in Congress, including the responsibility to declare war. - Raw Story, 4/21/14
Yep, he's a real psycho. But the GOP frontrunner really sucks too:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The top super PAC for Senate Democrats is up with a new ad in North Carolina attacking Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis, and it holds little back.
The Senate Majority PAC ad, which was shared early with The Washington Post, hits Tillis by highlighting two former staff members who were were engaged in inappropriate relationships with lobbyists, including one — his chief of staff — who shared an apartment with Tillis.
Tillis has said he wasn't aware of his chief of staff's affair, despite the two of them living together. The affairs were revealed in 2012, and Tillis was criticized for giving the staffers severance pay when they were forced to resign.
The ad buy is $973,000. - Washington Post, 4/15/14
Of course Tillis is fighting back:
http://www.newsobserver.com/...
Tillis’ campaign debuted a new TV ad Thursday that pushed back against a Democratic super PACs commercial that highlighted the severance package he gave two staffers who departed after admitting in romantic relationships with lobbyists.
The Tillis campaign’s quick response, coming a day after the Senate Majority PAC launched its ad, speaks to the severity of the charges and the potential political harm to the Republican frontrunner’s campaign. The ad will run in place of another positive ad promoting Tillis’ background and accomplishments and run through the primary.
In the new 30-second spot, the Tillis claims he “fired the staffers” – a point contradicted by his own language at the time of the controversy in 2012, when Tillis allowed them to resign and receive the pay outs. He also blames Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada for the attacks. The super PAC is run by former Reid aides.
“Seen those ads attacking Thom Tillis?” a narrator says in Tillis’ ad. “They’re false. Tillis fired the staffers. Know who’s paying for the sleazy ads? It’s Harry Reid.
“Reid’s trying to fool Republican voters, meddling in our primary to get a weak opponent for Kay Hagan.” - News Observer, 4/17/14
But here's the thing:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Tillis' former chief of staff and roommate, Charles Thomas, as well as the speaker's former policy adviser, Amy Hobbs, resigned in 2012 after their relationships with lobbyists were revealed.
At the time, Democrats attacked Tillis as offering a taxpayer-funded "golden parachute" to the staffers in the form of $19,000 in severance pay, and Tillis defended his actions.
“I recognized that their jobs and careers were forever affected by their choices and that serious family obligations still existed for each of them," Tillis told The News & Observer in 2012. "I stand by my decision to accept their resignation while recognizing the difficult transition period they are now entering.”
Yet Tillis' campaign proposes a different narrative in an ad released Thursday.
"Seen those ads attacking Thom Tillis?" a narrator says. "They're false. Tillis fired the staffers. Know who's paying for those sleazy ads? It's Harry Reid."
North Carolina Democrats called foul, saying Tillis was obscuring the details of the scandal.
"Speaker Tillis is entitled to his own opinions, but he isn't entitled to his own facts," Forward NC spokesman Ben Ray said in a statement from the state Democrats' coordinated campaign. "The truth is, he gave two staffers nearly $20,000 in taxpayer money after they were caught having affairs with lobbyists and asked North Carolina to consider the 'human side' of their resignation when asked to explain why." - Huffington Post, 4/17/14
Hagan's also been hitting Tillis on the ACA:
http://thehill.com/...
Sen. Kay Hagan's (D-N.C.) first ad attacks potential GOP opponent Thom Tillis for comments appearing to support ObamaCare and for his former staffers’ affairs with lobbyists.
The radio spot released Thursday uses a clip from an interview Tillis gave in February saying ObamaCare “is a great idea.” It cuts out the rest of his sentence, which in full was, “It’s a great idea that can’t be paid for.”
“So Thom Tillis thinks he can attack Kay Hagan over something he calls ‘a great idea’? Watch close,” the ad says. “Seems Thom Tillis wants it both ways.”
Outside groups have attacked Hagan for voting for ObamaCare, and Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, calls for repealing it.
“After more than $10 million has been spent by outside groups looking to defeat Kay, it’s time that Tillis’ record is set straight,” the Hagan campaign said in a press release. - The Hill, 4/17/14
If you in North Carolina, get ready for even more of this because this is one of the most watched races this year. Of course this will depend on Tillis winning the nominee and the runoff. I'm still keeping my eye on the third place contender, Rev. Mark Harris:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
What some may consider a step down, Harris sees as another way of living his faith, and giving his flock a voice in public policy.
That’s been his hallmark as pastor of Charlotte’s First Baptist Church and as president of North Carolina’s Baptist State Convention. Now he’s brought that blend of missionary zeal and conservative politics to his first campaign.
Harris, who turns 48 next week, is one of eight Republicans vying in the May 6 primary for the right to oppose Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan. Though generally considered a top candidate, he’s struggled for traction. He barely cracked double digits in a recent poll.
But Harris is upbeat.
He began running his first TV ads last week. And his campaign is mobilizing a grassroots effort centered around Baptist churches throughout the state.
Last week more than 200 supporters, many in red and blue Harris T-shirts, packed a college auditorium in Winston-Salem. The energetic Harris, his voice rising and falling in the rhythmic cadences of a preacher, brought the crowd to cheers. - Charlotte Observer, 4/16/14
And here's Harris' greatest achievement:
http://www.newsobserver.com/...
Harris extended his reach through the Baptist State Convention, an organization with 4,300 churches and a $30 million budget. He was elected president in 2011.
During his tenure the convention continued a broad restructuring, even eliminating traditional campus ministers. But its most far-reaching effort came on the heels of a resolution passed the day Harris was elected: one endorsing a state constitutional amendment to reinforce the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Over the next few months, Harris helped lead the fight for the controversial amendment, raising money and speaking around the state.
When rhetoric on both sides grew heated, two ministers who opposed the amendment started a dialogue with Harris. They met twice but got no further. Harris said time ran out.
“He was gracious and we had open dialogue,” said Russ Dean, co-pastor of Park Road Baptist. “I was disappointed that we were unable to agree on a way to bring clergy together on an issue that was so divisive to our state and nation.”
The amendment passed in May 2012 with more than 60 percent of the vote.
“His leadership in the marriage amendment was the crowning jewel,” says Whitson, pastor of Indian Trail’s First Baptist church.
It wasn’t the first time Harris has waded into politics.
He invited former Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum to speak at his church and even hosted GOP precinct meetings. He endorsed Supreme Court Justice candidate Paul Newby from the pulpit. - News Observer, 4/16/14
As you can see, this race will highlights the GOP's civil war:
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Even with a formidable fundraising advantage though, Hagan remains vulnerable, in part because Americans for Prosperity -- a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors and is spearheaded by Charles and David Koch -- has spent more than $8 million on ads attacking her. A PPP poll published in February pitted Hagan against each of her seven challengers; she trailed every one, which could explain why so many opponents remain in the primary race.
AFP's spending hasn't shown up in FEC filings because the ads are so-called "issue ads." But outside spending that has been reported -- by super PACs, politically active nonprofits and party committees -- comes to more than $5.5 million, with about $4 million of that aimed at the primary. And not all conservative outside spending groups are thinking alike.
For example, Tillis has received a $1,100,733 boost from American Crossroads, the super PAC steered by Karl Rove.
Other groups, meanwhile, have backed the tea party stalwarts.
"The Big Government establishment knows I'm not 'one of their guys.' And they want nothing more than to see the Tea Party candidate go down in flames this election," wrote Brannon in a fundraising email.
FreedomWorks has dedicated almost $55,000 to Brannon, a physician, who has earned the endorsements of Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), and has become a favorite of conservative pundit Glenn Beck.
"I could tongue kiss you right now," Beck told Brannon on his talk radio show.
Among Brannon's liabilities: he's been ordered to pay a $250,000 penalty for misleading investors about his now-defunct mobile tech startup. Brannon said he will appeal the February jury decision.
If Tillis fails to pick up at least 40 percent of the vote, he'll have to spend still more in the weeks leading up to a runoff on July 15th. - Open Secrets, 4/21/14
While all that is going on, Hagan's getting her base together to come out:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
The good news for Hagan, Democrats in the state say, is that the sustained efforts of the Moral Monday movement will be a key factor in her race.
Primarily organized by the North Carolina NAACP, the Moral Monday movement now includes a broad array of progressive, liberal, and activist groups who have shown up to the statehouse week after week when the legislature is in session. The Monday protests grew out of the NAACP’s annual “Historic Thousands on Jones Street” march, or HKonJ.
Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP and widely viewed as the leader of the movement, said that the Moral Monday movement stage was not for politicians and called the senate race “critical.” They’ve organized 117 Moral Monday rallies around the state since the legislative session ended.
Now, however, the NAACP is working to building out the movement, creating coalitions with other groups, and sending organizers to parts of the state dominated by Republicans. While maintaining that the movement is “nonpartisan” — they do not officially endorse candidates — Barber said that it was still deeply political.
Some of the groups involved in those coalitions, like Planned Parenthood, are enthusiastically behind Hagan and have vowed to work for her. Planned Parenthood’s action fund and their North Carolina affiliate have pledged a $3 million get-out-the-vote effort in targeted districts.
And talking to activists, that same thing comes up again and again: voter turnout. In addition to the Planned Parenthood efforts, the NAACP is engaged in an extensive voter registration operation in counties across the state. “The Senate race is critical and certainly we are going to mobilize to get out the vote, we’re going to be mobilizing people to examine the candidates, and examine where they have stood on these issues of economic stability, education, and health care,” Barber said. “Those are critical moral questions.”
For their part, Hagan’s campaign plans to build off of Organizing for Action’s considerable data and voter identification work in the state. Morgan Jackson, a Democratic strategist in Raleigh, said that Hagan’s campaign would have to, and is, appealing to a largely urban voter base and must “do her best to limit losses in rural areas.”
“There is not one issue right now — an anti-war or something like that — that motivates everyone to turn out and vote in a low turnout election,” Jackson said. He noted that Hagan has talked up issues that play to certain parts of the base, a clear nod to the Moral Monday movement. “Frankly, I’m one of those people who said 18 months ago, ‘This is great but we are a long time from an election and can we sustain this?’ What we’ve seen over the last 12 to 16 months is that it is being sustained, but it’s not one issue.” - BuzzFeed, 4/17/14
If you would like to get involved with Hagan's campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.kayhagan.com/