November 05, 201811/05/2018 From the Right

Final notice: Don't be misled by NC Supreme Court candidate Chris Anglin's cynical campaign

If you're reading this, you probably already knew that Chris Anglin is not a candidate in good standing with his "party." In fact, he didn't even belong to the party until virtually the moment the race began. But like I said, you knew that. The unfortunate part is the people who NEED to know that so they don't just see an "R" and vote for it, still don't seem aware and will contribute to giving the Democrats a 5-2 majority on the state's highest court.

Looking at this Spectrum TV poll, one can only come to a few conclusions. The first may be that this Barbara Jackson has completely lost her party's backing, maybe because of a scandal, disloyalty or poor performance. As a justice on the state's top court though, Jackson has been well respected and does not have any major Republican opposition. 

The other conclusion you could come to is that Chris Anglin is just another great conservative option and many Republicans simply prefer him... Unlikely. His Republican history is about as old as his campaign for this seat. 

When asked why he was running as a Republican, his answer in a Charlotte Observer op-ed was, in part, "to make the point that partisan judicial elections are a mistake." If that's not clear enough evidence that his campaign is a dishonest attempt to confuse voters, wait, there is more. 

Show me your friends and I'll show you your party

If it wasn't odd enough that a legitimate and loyal Republican candidate would refuse to back down when their party chairman speaks out against them multiple times, or when their party cohorts in the legislature pass a law specifically to prevent their ability to be recognized as part of the group, don't just look to his enemies, but to his friends. 

When it was time to pick a campaign manager, who do you think Mr. Anglin chose? Dee Stewart? Paul Shumaker? No. He picked Perry Woods, perennial Twitter gadfly and liberal's liberal. When it was time to find a lawyer to represent him in court to fight the party switching law, who did he pick? Another prominent area liberal, Democrat Wake County Commissioner John Burns. 

In a recent debate, Anglin said Bob Orr was a fair judge, "even though he was a Republican."

He also said in a recent debate that he thought Bob Orr was a fair judge, "even though he was a Republican." Hmm. Forgot the game for a second, Chris? 

But again, it isn't about you. You're reading articles about the race. The 22 percent of voters that indicate they are planning to vote for Chris Anglin are not doing so because they've looked at all this information and decided he was an honest "constitutional Republican," as he calls himself. They intend to vote for him because they, like most people, do not walk in with a lot of information on the candidates. 

And this is EXACTLY the reason why the partisan labels that Mr. Anglin is making a joke of were added. The (Rs) and (Ds) are important pieces of data to voters who often don't show up with much else to go on. So maybe Anglin thinks he is proving why partisan elections are a bad idea, but if he weren't making a mockery of their purpose, his quick gaining of such a large portion of voters' trust shows they do perform the intended function.