This post is a very interesting analysis of how the newly elected Democratic Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, can use his bully pulpit to pound the legislature, which has passed dreadful laws in the past five years.
Why did McCrory lose? The author credits Reverend William Barber’s Moral Monday for standing strong, pushing hard, and never giving up.
He quotes Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling with a lesson for all of us:
“(T)he seeds of McCrory’s defeat really were planted by the Moral Monday movement in the summer of 2013, just months after McCrory took office….
“He allowed himself to be associated with a bunch of unpopular legislation, and progressives hit back HARD, in a way that really caught voters’ attention and resonated with them….
“(T)he Moral Monday movement pushed back hard. Its constant visibility forced all of these issues to stay in the headlines. Its efforts ensured that voters in the state were educated about what was going on in Raleigh, and as voters became aware of what was going on, they got mad. All those people who had seen McCrory as a moderate, as a different kind of Republican, had those views quickly changed. By July McCrory had a negative approval rating- 40% of voters approving of him to 49% who disapproved. By September it was all the way down to 35/53, and he never did fully recover from the damage the rest of his term….
“And it’s a lesson for progressives in dealing with Trump. Push back hard from day one. Be visible. Capture the public’s attention, no matter what you have to do to do it. Don’t count on the media to do it itself because the media will let you down. The protesters in North Carolina, by making news in their own right week after week after week, forced sustained coverage of what was going on in Raleigh. And even though it was certainly a long game, with plenty more frustration in between, those efforts led to change at the polls 42 months after they really started.
“Keep Pounding.”
The most important lesson on how to survive the next four years: KEEP POUNDING. NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I predict Cooper will spend the next four years hitting his head on a brick wall of resistance. There will be lots of stand-offs, and stone walls as there has been in Pennsylvania under democratic Governor Wolf. The Tea Party is not big on compromise, and they will probably use the state budget as a weapon against Cooper. In the interim all states should continue to fight gerrymandering in the courts. Our current districts make it almost impossible for democrats to ever regain the House.
Democrats need to learn how to stand up to bullies. They need more people like Sanders and Warren that will push back. It is unfortunate the democrats lost Anthony Weiner as he was a scrappy little attack dog. They could use him for his attention getting skills; he was a good press magnet, although some of it was for the wrong reasons.
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” It is unfortunate the democrats lost Anthony Weiner as he was a scrappy little attack dog. They could use him for his attention getting skills; he was a good press magnet, although some of it was for the wrong reasons.”
We are in serious trouble here in North Carolina but nothing compared to what we would be in if AW were involved in any way.
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Diane: that’s the answer to your “how to” question in an earlier note?
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I think keep pounding is a great slogan. Here is my New Years resolution…. “Less brain, more Irish” Come from a line of fighters. Grandfathers cousin was Gentleman Jim Corbett Need to find my roots 🙂
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I hope NC keeps up with the Moral Monday demonstrations. They need to make it very clear that they want change, and the governor is going to need lots of help. Every state could use a Moral Monday crew, especially since the media seems to ignore everything that is not blatant and/or titillating.
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The Show Me State had a Dem governor who did his best to keep the Repub controlled legislature in check. He used the veto to do so. A couple of times they forced his hand with an override but couldn’t always muster that. Now we’re stuck with all of the government being in the rethugs hands.
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