Roy Cooper makes it official

Zoo_View said:
Expend some political capital that has zero to do in the short-term with electing or promoting Jim Hunt or Roy Cooper.
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Expend it how? In service of what? What was within Roy Cooper's power as governor (operating in the context of majorities and supermajorities in the NC legislature that constantly sought to strip his power) that he failed to expend the political capital to do?
 
Zoo, I have to say, this is a really weird rant you're on. I respect you as a poster. I get your frustration. But all I see on this thread is a bunch of woe are we, and nothing concrete about what could be done differently. If you think Jackson or Stein should be the candidate rather than Cooper, say that. If you think there's someone else who would be an even better candidate, say that. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you think you're adding here.
 
lawtig02 said:
Zoo, I have to say, this is a really weird rant you're on. I respect you as a poster. I get your frustration. But all I see on this thread is a bunch of woe are we, and nothing concrete about what could be done differently. If you think Jackson or Stein should be the candidate rather than Cooper, say that. If you think there's someone else who would be an even better candidate, say that. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you think you're adding here.
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I’m saying that if our hope for a statewide race is a former governor, arguably, the weakest Governorship in the USA, we, as the Democrats, are fucked.

Neither Josh Stein nor Roy Cooper has any amount of charisma.

Would I vote for Cooper or Stein in any race against any Republican? Yes.

Am I thrilled with Cooper being the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in 2026? No. He’s a mediocre candidate (Robert Morgan in 1980; Terry Sanford in 1986; Harvey Gantt……)

We punted Jeff Jackson TWICE…..for two weak politicians - Cal Cunningham and Cherie Beasley…..now we have Jeff Jackson in an 8-year holding pattern.
 
Zoo_View said:
I’m saying that if our hope for a statewide race is a former governor, arguably, the weakest Governorship in the USA, we, as the Democrats, are fucked.

Neither Josh Stein nor Roy Cooper has any amount of charisma.

Would I vote for Cooper or Stein in any race against any Republican? Yes.

Am I thrilled with Cooper being the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in 2026? No. He’s a mediocre candidate (Robert Morgan in 1980; Terry Sanford in 1986; Harvey Gantt……)

We punted Jeff Jackson TWICE…..for two weak politicians - Cal Cunningham and Cherie Beasley…..now we have Jeff Jackson in an 8-year holding pattern.
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Wow
I had forgotten Robert Morgan--easy to do I guess
 
Zoo_View said:
I’m saying that if our hope for a statewide race is a former governor, arguably, the weakest Governorship in the USA, we, as the Democrats, are fucked.

Neither Josh Stein nor Roy Cooper has any amount of charisma.

Would I vote for Cooper or Stein in any race against any Republican? Yes.

Am I thrilled with Cooper being the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in 2026? No. He’s a mediocre candidate (Robert Morgan in 1980; Terry Sanford in 1986; Harvey Gantt……)

We punted Jeff Jackson TWICE…..for two weak politicians - Cal Cunningham and Cherie Beasley…..now we have Jeff Jackson in an 8-year holding pattern.
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Ok, thanks. That helps. If I'm understanding, you think Jackson should be the nominee in 2026. You may be right. I'm a HUGE Jackson fan.

The reality, though, is he's only held a statewide office for six months right now. In 2020, he hadn't even sniffed one.

And more importantly, we have another Senate seat coming up in 2028. I don't think Jackson is in any way locked down as AG for eight years. I think he's a GREAT, and extremely viable, candidate to take on Budd or another Pub in 2028.

If Cooper can't win the job over Whatley, and if Jackson can't win the job over Budd/Nameless Pub, then I agree we're fucked. But there's a legitimately non-trivial chance that as of January 2029, NC's senators could be Roy Cooper and Jeff Jackson. With Stein starting his second term as governor, and Berger and Moore hopefully playing backgammon in the retirement home.

I spend a LOT of time thinking about this and I can't think of a combination that would have a better chance of flipping even one of those seats, much less both of them.
 
Zoo_View said:
In 1981, Three Dollar Dewey’s and most ANY PLACE near or on Commercial Street would have been tough bars.

Portland started gentrifying long before Portsmouth. Lots of “The Peninsula” started gentrifying long before “3 Dollar Dewey’s” did.

In 1981, Portland and Portsmouth were NOT cool waterfront places……they were working waterfront towns struggling from decades of hardcore over-fishing……alongside inland mill towns disintegrating.
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I think 3$Dewey’s was on Front. Girlfriend worked at Auntie Leoni’s and lived on Hampshire. We had good friends in Gray - an appropriately named place.
 
Zoo_View said:
I’m saying that if our hope for a statewide race is a former governor, arguably, the weakest Governorship in the USA, we, as the Democrats, are fucked.

Neither Josh Stein nor Roy Cooper has any amount of charisma.

Would I vote for Cooper or Stein in any race against any Republican? Yes.

Am I thrilled with Cooper being the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in 2026? No. He’s a mediocre candidate (Robert Morgan in 1980; Terry Sanford in 1986; Harvey Gantt……)

We punted Jeff Jackson TWICE…..for two weak politicians - Cal Cunningham and Cherie Beasley…..now we have Jeff Jackson in an 8-year holding pattern.
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So all this really is, is that you love Jeff Jackson and think he should be the nominee over Cooper?

I love Jeff Jackson too. I think he's excellent and has a bright future in the party. I don't really get the contrast between your love of him versus your barely disguised contempt for Cooper, who I think was a very good governor who actually has plenty of charisma. And I really don't get the idea that Cooper is a mediocre candidate for that Senate seat, when I think it's fairly obvious he's the best possible candidate Dems could run.
 
rodoheel said:
So all this really is, is that you love Jeff Jackson and think he should be the nominee over Cooper?

I love Jeff Jackson too. I think he's excellent and has a bright future in the party. I don't really get the contrast between your love of him versus your barely disguised contempt for Cooper, who I think was a very good governor who actually has plenty of charisma. And I really don't get the idea that Cooper is a mediocre candidate for that Senate seat, when I think it's fairly obvious he's the best possible candidate Dems could run.
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No.

I’m saying we have jackshit for candidates……whether it is statewide in North Carolina or nationwide.

In North Carolina we’re dependent on two guys for 3-5 offices over the next 3-6 years. One guy, Jackson, has charisma. One guy is 68, today - Cooper. One guy, fakes a Southern country accent, our highly educated and competent Governor, Josh Stein.

It’s like the Spanish Olympic basketball coach in 1984 looking down his bench for someone to challenge Michael Jordan - he knew he had no one.

We might luck into an upset in 2026 or 2028.
 
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Zoo_View said:
No.

I’m saying we have jackshit for candidates……whether it is statewide in North Carolina or nationwide.

In North Carolina we’re dependent on two guys for 3-5 offices over the next 3-6 years. One guy, Jackson, has charisma. One guy is 68, today - Cooper. One guy, fakes a Southern country accent, our highly educated and competent Governor, Josh Stein.

It’s like the Spanish Olympic basketball coach in 1984 looking down his bench for someone to challenge Michael Jordan - he knew he had no one.

We might luck into an upset in 2026 or 2028.
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Deborah Ross has potential
I guess she my have to fake being a hick a bit more?
 
rodoheel said:
So all this really is, is that you love Jeff Jackson and think he should be the nominee over Cooper?

I love Jeff Jackson too. I think he's excellent and has a bright future in the party. I don't really get the contrast between your love of him versus your barely disguised contempt for Cooper, who I think was a very good governor who actually has plenty of charisma. And I really don't get the idea that Cooper is a mediocre candidate for that Senate seat, when I think it's fairly obvious he's the best possible candidate Dems could run.
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Exactly.
Whatley is the one with no charisma - OR experience. He’s never won a race in anything - take away the magic R and what have you got?

Coop has been constantly running against opponents who’ve all had the magic R beside their names… and I believe he’s undefeated. A consistent winner. Not sure why this race should be viewed differently.
 
I suspect Roy Cooper will win this election but it may be close. A generic US Senate election in this state is “Leans R”, but Cooper is practical and moderate and has the name recognition that no other Democratic candidate would have.

There has been a lot of speculation as to who I will vote for on this thread and the answer is, too early to tell. I will consider voting for Cooper, as I have for governor in the past, but pulling the trigger for a Democrat for the US Senate takes a little more for me compared to doing it for governor.
 
HeelYeah2012 said:
I suspect Roy Cooper will win this election but it may be close. A generic US Senate election in this state is “Leans R”, but Cooper is practical and moderate and has the name recognition that no other Democratic candidate would have.

There has been a lot of speculation as to who I will vote for on this thread and the answer is, too early to tell. I will consider voting for Cooper, as I have for governor in the past, but pulling the trigger for a Democrat for the US Senate takes a little more for me compared to doing it for governor.
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There is no speculation. You will vote for the R. There is no chance you would vote for a Democrat with control of the senate up for grabs.
 
Calheel said:
There is no speculation. You will vote for the R. There is no chance you would vote for a Democrat with control of the senate up for grabs.
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Me voting Republican in this race isn’t as likely as you seem to think. It’s probable, but not a sure thing. I love me some Roy Cooper. Great Tar Heel.

Each Senate race is ultimately a race for which party’s national agenda wins the power, rather than voting for a particular executive to make a bunch of decisions on their own (like a governor’s race), so by definition a Senate race is more “do I like republicans more or democrats more?” compared to a governor’s race where you are voting for an individual.

There are too many unknown variables right now, including who he will be running against, how well the country is doing under Republican leadership between now and then, and what kind of campaign Roy runs.

If Cooper campaigns on being in support of biological men playing women’s sports then yeah, I’m not voting for him. If he runs a moderate campaign like he did for NC governor, I’ll at least have an open mind when it comes to voting for him.

This will be a good test case for where I’m personally at on the political spectrum come November 2026. I increasingly dislike all politicians and have less and less loyalty to the “Magic R”, even though I do generally align more with Republicans on a majority of issues.
 
HeelYeah2012 said:
Me voting Republican in this race isn’t as likely as you seem to think. It’s probable, but not a sure thing. I love me some Roy Cooper. Great Tar Heel.

Each Senate race is ultimately a race for which party’s national agenda wins the power, rather than voting for a particular executive to make a bunch of decisions on their own (like a governor’s race), so by definition a Senate race is more “do I like republicans more or democrats more?” compared to a governor’s race where you are voting for an individual.

There are too many unknown variables right now, including who he will be running against, how well the country is doing under Republican leadership between now and then, and what kind of campaign Roy runs.

If Cooper campaigns on being in support of biological men playing women’s sports then yeah, I’m not voting for him. If he runs a moderate campaign like he did for NC governor, I’ll at least have an open mind when it comes to voting for him.

This will be a good test case for where I’m personally at on the political spectrum come November 2026. I increasingly dislike all politicians and have less and less loyalty to the “Magic R”, even though I do generally align more with Republicans on a majority of issues.
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I’ll set some odds

Heelyeah votes D in 2026 +2000
Heelyeah votes R in 2026 -1800
 
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