Thom Tillis should just go away
Published April 30, 2015
[caption id="attachment_3197" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Thom Tillis[/caption]
by Thomas Mills, Politics North Carolina, April 30, 2015.
Thom Tillis really just needs to go away. Six months after being elected to the Senate, his approval ratings are in the tank. As long as he stays in the public eye, they aren’t going to get much better.
But Tillis can’t help himself. He’s drawn to cable news shows like a tornado to a trailer park. He’s sure that he looks good and has smart things to say. In reality, he just reminds North Carolinians that they just elected a camera-happy blowhard who they don’t like very much.
The 2014 US Senate race in North Carolina was a brutal, year-long affair. Both sides drove the other’s negatives sky high in an attempt to get voters to reject somebody instead of elect somebody. Both Tillis and Hagan came out of the fight damaged goods. Only time can heal those wounds. Voters need enough distance to forget.
Tillis would be wise to follow the example of Al Franken and Hillary Clinton. Both entered the Senate as stars. Instead of trading on their celebrity, though, they shunned the national media and focused on learning the ropes of their new jobs. They gained the respect of their colleagues on both sides of the aisle and proved to be effective Senators.
Tillis, though, seems to be focused on making himself a celebrity and leveraging that notoriety into his next gig. He’s entered Washington at a time when first term Senators become presidential contenders. The lesson he’s learned is that the more attention you receive from the media, the further your political career goes. That may be true in narrow circumstances, but I’m betting first term Senators who are publicity hounds earn the resentment of their more serious and more senior colleagues.
One beneficiary of the Tillis’ self-promotion could be Kay Hagan. The more he’s in the public eye, the more embarrassing mistakes he’s going to make. Voters will eventually, if they haven’t already, have buyer’s remorse. They elected a guy with more style than substance and even his style’s not quite up to par. While that bruising 2014 battle might keep Hagan from being viable in 2016, voters might want to correct their mistake in 2020.
April 30, 2015 at 11:49 am
Richard L Bunce says:
Another partisan who cannot accept election results... the voters of NC had there say... and he cannot even blame redistricting for the result... perhaps the folks who back in the day drew the State boundaries were really pro Republican. It appears a century of State Legislative majorities is just not enough for some.
April 30, 2015 at 11:50 am
Richard L Bunce says:
or "their" say... cannot blame spell check this time.
April 30, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Vince Winegardner says:
I live in NC Dist 98. Thom Tillis was our representative in the State House where he became Speaker. You would think that might protect our region from any injustices or damaging legislation. Just the opposite! Thom volunteered our one and only interstate to be the first privatized toll lane corridor in the State! Why would he do that? Because he can count votes! He took the "savings" and distributed it around the region to fund other road projects nine other projects in nine different areas. He threw his own constituents under the bus in order to win votes and political support for his US Senate campaign. Very sad. Who does he really represent? Himself, the Republican Party and ...
April 30, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Norm Kelly says:
What's the chances Politics NC is a lib organization? Just from the title of this post it seems pretty obvious.
When Tom's predecessor occupied that seat, and she was a waste of space, refusing to support NC residents who voted for her, or to support the nation at large, did Politics NC tell us that she should go? When Tom's predecessor occupied that seat and voted FOR socialized medicine, and even called for a name change so that part would at least be more honest with citizens, did Politics NC tell us what a problem she was? Did Politics NC EVER say anything negative about Ms. Hagan?
I guess the old adage is true. Tell the same lie often enough, in enough places and people start to believe it. Like telling us that K was a good senator. Like constantly whining at us about how bad Tom is. Of course, when you are predisposed to hate everything Republican, you automatically hated Tom before he even sat in the seat. Which describes too many media types, every lib pol, almost every Demoncrat. Can Politics NC tell us ANYTHING redeeming about Tom? Anything at all?
I shant bother reading the rest of this post cuz it's obviously biased from the beginning. Can't expect too much honesty within based on the title.
