Patrick McCrory

Deputy Budget Director. WRAL.com reports as breaking news.

Pope says McCrory is the Budget Director, and he will be his Deputy.

Wow. We've been scrooged at Christmas.

What happens when you cross a slick city talker like Pat McCrory up with a snake oil salesman like Dallas (Not the Busdriver) Woodhouse with an unlimited supply of Art Pope's money?

Why you get grassroots! Just ask 'em!

(This via email.)
Section of Ethics Bill that would raise taxes and fees to fund political campaigns removed from bill after massive grassroots uprising

Taxpayers will save millions of dollars that would have been spent on political campaigns after a grassroots uprising lead by Americans for Prosperity along with Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory caused state senate democratic leaders to pull the controversial “welfare for politicians” section out of the ethics bill.

First phase: woo the immigrant-haters:

"What is wrong with the new law on immigration in Arizona?" said McCrory, the GOP nominee for governor in 2008, drawing a roar from 800 delegates to the Republican convention in Winston-Salem. "We ought to pass the same exact fair law."

McCrory's embrace of the Arizona law comes at a time when he is trying to win the support of the party's more conservative wing, some of whom have been skeptical of him since he supported a mass transit tax in Charlotte.

If you think the slate of Republican crazies running in the 8th District is bad, you ain't looked at the 7th District yet. The pickings there are so slim that Pat McCrory has endorsed two out of three Republican contenders in hopes that one of the sad sacks might somehow get some traction. It's been a lesson in screw-up from the get-go, that could qualify as a clinical trial for narcissistic personality disorder.

Quick: What causes a politician's popularity to tank? A controversial vote, weak performance, general voter unrest ... all can cause poll numbers to drift downward. But for your approval ratings to really bottom out, it takes a scandal.

Ex-Mayor Pat McCrory, the paradoxical darling of the free-market, anti-government crowd, must have felt something of a shiver yesterday when the EPA announced Charlotte's smart growth award.

"Of course I have mixed feelings," said hizzoner's ghost. "I'm a durn Republican. I hate government and I hate planning, especially transportation planning. And now my beloved city is getting an award for 'smart growth' from the doggone Enviromental Protection nazis? That's too low a blow."

The Charlotte Observer bids adieu to Mayor Pat this morning, offering one singular thread of praise. According to the newspaper, McCrory was nothing short of a communistic central planner in the area of transportation policy, with the passion of a tax-and-spend socialist.

It's risky to try to proclaim anyone's legacy before history has a chance to weigh in, but it's a good bet that Pat McCrory's legacy will be felt for decades in the city's transportation system. McCrory's championing of the transit tax and light rail made a powerful difference. Just as significant, if less flashy, was his support for city policies that help pedestrians and bicyclists as well as automobiles, whether with sidewalks, greenways or stronger rules to ensure that more streets connect.

A hearty congratulations to Patrick McHenry! I hear he is engaged to be married. I hope that his marriage is a strong as mine, that they are as happy together as my husband and I, and that they receive all the same legal rights on a state and federal level as my husband and I do.

And on a marriage note, I would like to direct your attention to an article from PHB about a special guest visiting NC:
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/12954/carrie-prejean-brings-opposite...

It's hard these days to get worked up over Republican hypocrisy, especially when it comes to Mayor Pat McCrory. As the chief executive of North Carolina's largest city, he has failed again and again to represent Charlotte's interests in both Raleigh and in Washington, even as he whines today about finding himself on the short end of the stimulus stick. And even as he calls for for "Eisenhower-type" spending for the next generation.

“This is a nationwide trend on how the money was divvied up – everyone is getting a little bit, and in the end there will be nothing to show for it,” said Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican. “We should have spent it in Eisenhower- and Roosevelt-type projects for the next generation.”

Apparently, any Republican with a pulse is a potential candidate for the 8th District no matter how unlikely the candidacy. CQ is pushing the rumor that Pat McCrory is a potential candidate for a run against Larry Kissell. I guess they had to have something to talk about.

Pat McCrory has no trouble promoting Pat McCrory, so traveling to Raleigh (not in the 8th) to bash available, affordable health care is right up his alley. However, he isn't stupid enough to run and lose in the 8th and think that after two very visible losses he will have much of a shot at running and winning again.