NC: Cooper picks unwise political fights

During the 2016 gubernatorial campaign, Democratic politicians, progressive activists, and left-leaning media outlets excoriated Pat McCrory and other North Carolina Republicans for elevating divisive social disputes above the issues that most voters care most about, such as creating jobs and improving education.

Their main example was House Bill 2. Their claim wasn’t exactly that the public disapproved of the legislation in all its particulars — indeed, North Carolinians generally agree that people on public property, and most especially students in schools, have a reasonable and enforceable expectation of privacy when they use bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms.

Rather, critics of McCrory and GOP lawmakers argued that they had overreacted, that they had swept too many other issues up into their legislative response to an anti-discrimination ordinance in Charlotte that was itself unpopular. (Not coincidentally, the ordinance’s main champion, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, has just lost her re-election bid.)

Back last fall, Democratic candidate Roy Cooper was singing the same tune about avoiding distractions and sticking to fundamentals. If you listen to him now, however, he sure sounds distracted.

Several weeks ago, it was the issue of Confederate monuments and memorials.

More @ Carolina Journal