First things first: I was wrong. I said last week that Gloria Whisenhunt would come in second place in the 31st Senate GOP primary. She came in third, after Pete Brunstetter and Nathan Tabor.
The lesson from this race, to my way of thinking, is the clout of the immigration issue. Tabor rode it hard and, at least at the outset, established himself as THE candidate who would fight hardest on this. His campaigning pushed Brunstetter to the right as well, but with no general election, Brunstetter won’t get punished or reminded of those positions much anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Nathan Tabor eventually ends up in the seat now held by Larry Brown in the state house, but that’s another story for another day.
Election nights are crazy in a newsroom. A lot of pizza. A lot of waiting. Then cramming it all in as quickly as possible.
Newspapers such as the Journal spend a lot of time and resources covering politics and candidates. Does it make a difference? Yes. Some quick examples. John Garwood lost a GOP primary in the 45th Senate District. We’ve extensively covered his nonvote that allowed the lottery legislation to pass. The Turpin brothers in Stokes County lost in the GOP primary for county commissioner seats. Growth and school funding issues have been at the center of our coverage there. Allen Whitaker lost the GOP sheriff’s primary in Davie County. We’ve detailed problems in his department for the past several years.
This isn’t to say we have reporting agendas to get rid of candidates. But issues matter. Even—or especially—when there are low voter turnouts.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
I am on the DO NOT CALL telephone list, and I am taking names. I know. I know. Political candidates are exempt from that list. But I am taking names. Anyone who thinks an interrupt-your-dinner recording will get my vote for him/her as fourth-street-judge or some other unheard of office better take note: I’m keeping a list and will vote against all candidates who think they can eat in peace (AKA get a computer to call), and I should do politics during dinner!
(Dinner varies from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. Just so you know!)
Talk about a good Special to the Journal. How about bonehead and ineffective ways to campaign? (Ken, you can claim the idea. Just hit DELETE for this commnet and go for it.)
Good points.
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