Carl Mumpower is Tony Montana

It's almost too sad to talk about. I'd like to see a strong challenge to our incumbent Heath Shuler because spirited races make for good democracy. But with erstwhile Republican opponent Carl "Army of" Mumpower undecided as to whether he ought to be running at all and Libertarian candidate Keith Smith running on the sheer power of anonymity, it looks like Mr. Shuler will get to keep most of the money he raised for his reelection. The coverage of Mumpower's meltdown has been getting all sorts of fun coverage:

The Hill: "A major county Republican Party has “disavowed” the campaign of 11th congressional district GOP nominee and Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower.

“[T]here is no longer any coordination between our two organizations,” Henderson County Republican Party Chairman Robert Danos said in a release, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times."

But wait, that's not what Danos said a few days ago! When Hot Carl suspended his campaign until all the apostate Republicans rededicated themselves to Mumprinciples, Chairman Danos said, "It's a good idea...and a chance for the party to unite and refocus. It shouldn’t tick anybody off, because these are the principles of the party."

Robert Danos had a very different tone in this Asheville Citizen-Times article:

"In that letter, he wrote that Mumpower took an “unnecessarily hostile tone” over an issue that erupted about posting signs at a party-sponsored debate earlier this summer. He also criticized Mumpower's “over the top bomb throwing at fellow Republicans.

“For example, Carl labeled both Senator Burr and Senator Dole ‘closet socialists’, debasing an otherwise legitimate policy dispute,” Danos wrote.

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He also cited Mumpower's support of impeachment of President Bush over the illegal immigration issue.

“The vast majority of Republicans in Henderson County I have talked to still have no respect for such an over the top call for a President that won't even be in office still in January of '09,” Danos wrote.

The “final issue,” Danos said, was Mumpower's recent campaign suspension.

“Even though the HCRP annually recommits to our core conservative values and county, state, and national platforms, we agreed to his appeal for us to recommit (again) to our core principles solely in the hopes that it would lead him to ‘then focus my full attention on holding Congressman Shuler accountable", as he phrased it.”

Mumpower’s intentions to take his campaign statewide and nationwide irritated Danos and made it clear that the candidate had more in mind that coalescing party support in the mountains.

“I can not speak for anyone else, but the HCRP is not signing on for Carl's version of a statewide political movement,” Danos wrote. “It is my duty, and that of our Executive Committee, to do what is right for the Republicans of Henderson County and for the 27 other Republicans who will be on the ballot in Henderson County in November."

Polk and Jackson County joined Hendo in getting as far away from Carl Mumpower as possible:

Western North Carolina Republicans continue to distance themselves from congressional candidate Carl Mumpower.

Party officials in Polk and Jackson counties made public Wednesday that their organizations had voted to sever ties with the controversial Republican candidate.
[...]
"She said Mumpower needs to focus on the issues that are important to the people of Western North Carolina and stop attacking fellow Republicans. Allen deemed herself a “political junkie,” and said Mumpower has not framed the debate correctly.

“We don’t need to be reminded like a child or a patient of the party’s core values,” Allen said.

Polk County Chairwoman Cheryl Every said her organization also voted unanimously to separate from Mumpower’s campaign. She said his focus on principles has damaged his campaign.

“Principles are a wonderful thing ... (but) he has taken away from the issues,” Every said."

Even the National Republican Congressional Committee is ready to call Mumpower's campaign over:

"Freshman Heath Shuler (D) was considered a prime target for the GOP, especially given the weakness Obama showed in mountainous areas in the primaries. But maverick Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower (R) won the Republican nomination and has suspended his campaign in a dispute with county GOP committees over political correctness, conservative style. The district now looks safe for Shuler, who has $965,000 on hand to Mumpower’s $1,000, a ration of 965 to 1."

In a few short months Carl Mumpower has managed to isolate himself from anyone who might have been willing to help him. The NC-11 Republicans are about to enter a period of deep depression as they watch Heath Shuler saunter to victory without so much as a volley being fired against him.

We tried to warn you, our Republican friends, but you went and nominated him anyway.

{cross-posted from Scrutiny Hooligans, where you can find the NSFW graphic that goes along with the title of this post}