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.
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