The practical personal side of politics

The 2026 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina shaping up to be between Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley looks like it is going to test the judgment of North Carolinian voters over the old notion of voting for someone you may like personally versus someone who may be able to get more things done for the state of North Carolina.

Whatley certainly has a close personal relationship with President Donald Trump and many of the current elected Republican majority members in Congress due to his days as counsel and chairman of the RNC. Cooper has been elected in North Carolina for close to half of his adult life, all as a Democrat, many times fighting against policies put forth by the Republican majorities now running the Congress he is seeking to join and the president in the White House.

Oftentimes decisions made in the politics of the day are driven more by personal relationships than by the merits of the issue one way or another.  I remember one lobbyist who worked in previous Democratic White Houses who seemed to want to make it their duty to let every Republican senator and staffer know how much they hated Republican policy and how stupid every GOP member and staffer really was. It really was not a good way to win friends and influence people ― or get things done in Washington for their client.

When it was said in general, that was one thing. When it became specific to certain members or about me, then that became hard to swallow. The last thing I heard was this lobbyist’s next job was working for the Sustainable Energy Derived From Periodic Seismic Activity Association of Western Manitoba in Canada or something like that.

Cooper may not have been a prominent anti-Trump advocate alongside people such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of The Trump Derangement Caucus, but such things come into play when legislation, grants or regulations are considered in Washington. Such things are not usually taken into deep consideration by voters during the heat of a political campaign, but they should.

Politics has long been interjected with bourbon and endless games of gin rummy in someone’s den or parlor after work. Long personal friendships drive politics as much as policy does. Had the Research Triangle Park not been established in the 1950s, after a group of longtime Democratic friends and public leaders not gotten together outside the public limelight to hammer out the details of getting the project done ― imagine where North Carolina would be today. Try to imagine where North Carolina can and should be in 20 to 30 years with the advent of AI and all the medical advances on the horizon.

Electing our next U.S. senator will have a direct bearing on whether North Carolina can meet that challenge or not. The Good Ole Boys Network might not exist as solidly as it did 50-100 years ago, but those networks helped transform North Carolina from primarily an agriculture-based economy into a thriving high-tech, educational and manufacturing state.

People often make voting decisions based on whether they like someone personally or if they will vote for or against a single hot-button issue. But the real question in the 2026 U.S. Senate campaign will be who is going to be able to work with the Trump administration for the remainder of his term and Congress to get the necessary funding or support for any of the major projects the NCGA and Gov. Josh Stein need to prepare North Carolina for the future.

It sounds purely utilitarian, but in many ways, elective politics is just that: Who can get the majority of senators, members of Congress and the sitting president to support their efforts to get the most done for the voters in their state or district. No one selects a repairman to come to their house just because they are friendly and they like to chat with them. If they can’t fix the leak in the basement, then that is a decision wasted.

Voting for a candidate as a protest or act of rebellion against the policies of the other party is a normal act of life in American politics, and it’s everyone’s constitutional right to do so. Sometimes over a long arc of time, it brings change. However, North Carolina has pressing needs in workforce development, child care and public education that need near-term attention, or we won’t remain at the top of the best states for businesses. The main people who will be adversely affected by that will be the people who will not be able to work at new innovative places such as JetZero in the Triad or Amazon or Google across the state.

Nothing says Cooper can’t have a cordial relationship with Trump, that is unless he joins or has already joined the rabid Trump Derangement Caucus. Then the odds will be against a cordial relationship going forward.