Lackluster Republican Field in NC-11

Originally posted at Scrutiny Hooligans, this post touches on each of the three candidates in the race for NC-11's Republican Congressional candidate nomination.

Remember that really corrupt, lame Congressman named Charles Taylor who ran a failed race against Heath Shuler? Taylor used conjoined rhetorical twins - Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco area code and her "liberal" values - to lamely attack Shuler by association.

Republican Congressional candidate John Armor thinks that sounding like Charles Taylor is going to get him somewhere it didn't get Taylor. For a man who can't order a sandwich without quoting an author and drawing a historical parallel, it seems that Armor would have figured out that this isn't an effective line of attack. Armor, however, seems prepared to repeat the word Pelosi until people are well and truly reminded of Ol' Lumpy.

He's also prepared to go around saying things like this:

Blue Ridge Now: "I hope we don't have them [in Iraq] as long as we had in Korea," Armor said. "We are talking about a tripwire. They are there to die. They are not talking about holding ground, if you want to be brutal about it. That is what it means."

Spence Campbell is a Party Man, and he's stroking the feet of John McCain while talking up the myriad successes of George W. Bush. He may not have noticed that a lot of Republicans around here think Bush really blew it and that McCain is an immigration traitor who could learn something from Heath Shuler. Then there's the other problem, of course. Campbell is hard to pin down on any issue.

Check this Campbell quote from Blue Ridge Now regarding Shuler's claim that John McCain called Republican in the House to get them to oppose Shuler's SAVE Act:

"Who is he kidding? His motivation in saying this is purely political and designed to try to attack the Republican presidential nominee," Campbell said in a released statement. "He does not want what is best for America or this district. He wants what is best for the liberal Democrats in Washington."

No one will let Shuler get his SAVE Act to the floor. The 'liberal Democrats' don't want it to get there, nor does the McCain faction of the Republican Party. Both realize that a win for hardliners on this issue will make them look like losers. Campbell puts Party first and principle second by rushing to John McCain's defense while ignoring his base and their hardline views of immigration. He's going to attack Democrats, and he's not going to admit that McCain might be against SAVE.

And then there's Carl "Army of" Mumpower. He's pissed off the Republicans and left the liberals conflicted by coming out against Telecom immunity and in favor of the 4th amendment. Heath Shuler, Spence Campbell, and John Armor all reckon we ought to jettison the Constitution in favor of domestic spying. Carl sees it for what it is, and Hooligans congratulate him for that. On the issue of FISA and telecom immunity, only Carl Mumpower is getting it right. At his campaign blog, Mumpower says, "The Democrats - with the exception of Heath and a few others - are right on this one, plain and simple".

Carl is the hardest working among the three, but it's unlikely his enthusiasm will overcome the resistance he's creating among Republican voters.

So Republicans have the Intellectual, the Party Man, and Hot Carl. Choices, choices.

None of these candidates are infusing hope or excitement in 11th District Republicans. I expect we'll see the weakest Republican turnout in years at the primary on May 6th as they look over this moribund field. Shuler's going to win this race in a walk no matter which Republican goes up against him. The freshman Congressman has taken conservative populist positions on immigration and social issues, mainstream Democratic positions on health, labor, and energy, while bringing home over 26 million excellent non-partisan earmark dollars.