Governor-elect Pat McCrory

From www.wral.com minutes ago:

Gov.-elect Pat McCrory on Thursday named his chief of staff and two cabinet secretaries as he prepares to take office next month.

Former Durham City Council member Thomas Stith, who heads McCrory's transition team, will serve as chief of staff for the new governor. Dr. Aldona Wos of Greensboro, a former U.S. ambassador to Estonia, will head the Department of Health and Human Services, and Raleigh businessman John Skvarla will oversee the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

In his appointment for NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, McCrory picked Aldona Wos, MD, of Greensboro citing her lack of ties to NC interest groups.

But first, a dose of reality:

Interestingly, a number of the team members (including Stith) happen to be connected to another teammate, Art Pope, the businessman and former legislator who’s funded several conservative organizations and been a mentor of sorts for elected officials from the Wake County school board to the General Assembly to now a governor.

If they were realists, the editorial board would have ended it there. Art Pope has positioned his pieces all across the state government gameboard, and there will be no movement from one square to another without his approval. Which makes this observation: