If you hated this session....

Published August 30, 2013

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, August 29, 2013.

A long-time Raleigh veteran warns that next year's short legislative session could bring a “hopeless muddle” in the office of speaker Thom Tillis. I quote:

“Tillis is forsaking the best political job in the state to run for the US Senate. If he remains speaker for the short session, the possibilities are endless for conflicts of interest, ethical dilemmas and back-room shakedowns

“We can't recall a sitting speaker running for another office (we would check this, but the Republicans cut funding to our research department). If he wins the primary, it will be impossible for him to separate his legislative agenda from his campaign agenda (i.e. fundraising) no matter how hard he tries. It's simply not humanly possible for him to listen to a plea from a desperate lobbyist during the legislative session without an implied or overt link to his campaign.

“If he loses the primary and his political career is ending, it would be natural to remember who helped his Senate campaign and get even with those who didn't.

“Tillis emasculated himself in the legislature by announcing his Senate plans, creating a leadership void and chaos among his already unruly followers. If he remains speaker while he's a candidate for Senate, the short session will be even worse than the long session, which is simply unimaginable.”