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Re: McHenry mulling higher office?

nc4me — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:54:09 -0500

I appreciate your response but I can't help but dispute a few points you made.

In your first post you were talking about a redrawn 10th but in your response you are comparing the present day 10th to the 8th and the 11th. I think we all know the 8th district has always been "Leaning D" seat. Hayes was the GOP's only hope for that seat. Your argument has more merit in the 11th but the growth in the Asheville area has attracted more democrat leaning voters.

Would you please explain why you believe McHenry is an easy opponent? From what I have seen he has proven to run very competitive campaigns. He won the Republican nomination in 2004 over the 20+ year republican sheriff of the largest county in the district AND two self funded candidates. As for the general election he handily defeated Johnson this year who was a great candidate and well funded. You say he only won by 50,000 votes but I think that it quite a substantial margin given the political climate of the last election. Maybe your aware of a weakness that folks in my area aren't aware of but when I look at his past wins I don't see it.

Re: McHenry mulling higher office?

CitizenOpinionated — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:08:10 -0500

NC4ME:

Well let's think about some things...Heath Shuler took over the seat Charles Taylor that according to Cook Report was +7 R. Just south of the 10th District was the seat of Hayes, which was solid Republican until this year. McHenry only won by 50,000 votes. But perhaps you an expert and are good friends with Basnight and them and they have already shared their plans to redraw the districts. As far as the campaign in which I was involved with against McHenry...that is irrelevant. But as a political junkie, it is easy for me to conclude that McHenry is fairly easy to beat, but I will let you do some research and figure that out for yourself.

I am glad that you found humor in my post, but I think the post was fairly point on.

Re: McHenry mulling higher office?

nc4me — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:30:09 -0500

@ CitizenO:

I'm always amused by people who say:

"if such and such happens I'm moving to..."

It is usually a harbinger for another ridiculous comment. In this case, it is your assertion that McHenry will be vulnerable after redistricting.

Would you further amuse me by answering three questions??

First, what makes you think that the legislature will go out of their way to weaken the 10th? If anything, they will make it a stronger Republican seat. With the 11th held by a democrat they will look to push more republicans to the east.

Second, would you please describe the geographical makeup of the 10th under your theory? I don't believe there are enough democrats in that area to make it a competitive district.

Finally, you say that you worked on a campaign against him and claim he is easy to beat. What campaign did you work on that was successful? I must have missed that race.

Thanks for the laughs!

Re: McHenry mulling higher office?

cornbread — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:26:33 -0500

W. O. W.

First, Fred Smith's name dropped for party chair. Now, McHenry's name dropped for Governor or US Senate

Is the GOP trying to get the Democrats salivating for the next cycle before finding real candidates?

The brain trust must be mighty thin in GOP land. At least leak something better than this.

Re: McHenry mulling higher office?

CitizenOpinionated — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:55:17 -0500

If McHenry is the face of the future for the GOP...well I will move to South Carolina. Wait until after 2010 when the Democrats have the freedom of gerrymandering. Every district in North Carolina, especially if we pick up one given our population trends, will be re-drawn by the controlling party in the General Assembly. I am fairly sure Marc-E-Marc and EZ Tony Rand will not let the 10th district remain so favorable. If he can win that election, then by geroge he might be ready for a real campaign, but being someone that has worked on a campaign against him...not so hard to beat.