North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson was always a freak. His various statements about women not being allowed to vote and so on made him a drag on the Republican ticket.
Then there was the release yesterday of some...hooboy. As Jon Chait said, The Republican Party could have found a more sober-minded candidate than Robinson even if it had confined its recruitment entirely to the NudeAfrica posting community.
It's unclear how much local dynamics are playing out in the presidential race, but it sure seems to me that two things are happening.
- Purple states with GOP control seem to be trending Blue, a potential fallout from Dobbs. The implications for Dobbs for me in Connecticut are few, but it has been an immediate issue in places like Arizona and Wisconsin. North Carolina seems like a state where median voters might be turned off by GOP extremism...especially since the GOP nominated just about the most extreme candidate they could. A self-proclaimed "black Nazi"?!?!
- Trumpist chaos is contagious. The ascendancy of Trump has been linked in some Republican minds to his steadfast refusal to apologize for anything. This began with the Access Hollywood tape and has continued for 8 years. It's why Vance can't apologize for lying about Haitians in Springfield. The MAGA party never apologizes for anything. As a result, you get nominees like Kari Lake and now Robinson who are just freaking lunatics. Like mentally unwell.
Neither of these are sustainable in the long run. An extremist party is not a viable party in a two party system. It does endanger the entire system, because Republicans are going to win eventually in some places and they have abandoned reason. However, since the GOP is the party of Trump, it's become the party of JD Vance, Mark Robinson and Kari Lake.
If I'm right and the average normie voter is sick and tired of all the drama, the Robinson story is just another example of where the GOP is right now. It draws attention to the mountainous hypocrisy of GOP politicians who try and leverage anti-trans panic while engaging in sexual transgressions that are honestly even shocking to a jaded old fool like me.
North Carolina was very much in play on Wednesday. What's more, recent polling from the Blue Wall has been pretty good for Harris suggesting that where she's actively campaigning, she's able to improve on her national numbers. My guess is that she will throw more resources into NC, because it's a hedge against a bad result in Pennsylvania. The Robinson story is a national story, but it's a huge local story and that could have an impact on November and the future of the country.
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