NC Senate candidates debate Nullification

[lib3rtarian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q43TJfID_Q4

Dr. Brannon comes last.

[aclove]

A little background to flesh out the personalities on display here:

The moderator posing the question is Scott Cumbie, Chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party. Cumbie has a background as a Tea Party-affiliated activist and generally errs on the side of decentralization. However, he is a staunch social conservative and has been generally distrustful of the Liberty movement, our candidates, and our causes. He more than likely leans more toward an Article V Convention rather than state nullification.

The first candidate to answer is Bill Flynn, a Winston-Salem radio host. Flynn fancies himself a constitutional expert, but like Cumbie, is a staunch social conservative. Last year he primaried Rep. Howard Coble in NC's 6th District and lost. He still has something like $12,000 of unpaid debt left over from the campaign.

The second candidate to speak is Heather Grant. She's a registered nurse and political novice. She has no campaign to speak of, has raised no money, and poses no real threat.

The third candidate is Mark Harris. He's the former President of the Southern Baptist Convention. His political claim to fame is being a big-shot in the movement to amend NC's Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. His campaign is being run by Robin Hayes, a former NC congressman and Chair of the NCGOP from 2011-2013. He was endorsed by Mike Huckabee last week. Despite the press selling him as a Tea Party candidate, most of his support is coming from establishment figures in the party. It's a fair bet he was recruited to try to split the grassroots vote, but he ran a "Draft Mark Harris" campaign for most of last year that people got tired of and hasn't caught on as hoped. Who runs their own "Draft me for political office!" campaign, anyway?

The fourth candidate only declared in the last week or so. Ted Alexander was the mayor of Shelby, NC from 2003-2011, and just resigned as Chair of the Cleveland County GOP to run for Senate. No one knows much about him, other than that he's into historic preservation.

Absent is NC House Speaker Thom Tillis, the Karl Rove-endorsed candidate who is the establishment's preferred choice. Tillis has refused to appear at any candidate forum or debate the entire primary, choosing instead to hold multiple fundraisers with Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Mitch McConnell in Washington.

Oh, and the guy doing the cutaway commentary is NC's premier gonzo journalist, Chuck Suter. Suter is most famous for one of his "gotcha" videos catching Rep. Robert Pittenger (NC-9) saying he absolutely would NOT vote to defund ObamaCare. The video went national and brought tremendous pressure on Pittenger, who eventually DID vote to defund ObamaCare (after Boehner said it was okay to do so).

The last candidate, of course, is Greg Brannon, who has both Ron and Rand's endorsement.

Hope that helps put this video in context.

[lib3rtarian]

A little background to flesh out the personalities on display here:

The moderator posing the question is Scott Cumbie, Chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party. Cumbie has a background as a Tea Party-affiliated activist and generally errs on the side of decentralization. However, he is a staunch social conservative and has been generally distrustful of the Liberty movement, our candidates, and our causes. He more than likely leans more toward an Article V Convention rather than state nullification.

The first candidate to answer is Bill Flynn, a Winston-Salem radio host. Flynn fancies himself a constitutional expert, but like Cumbie, is a staunch social conservative. Last year he primaried Rep. Howard Coble in NC's 6th District and lost. He still has something like $12,000 of unpaid debt left over from the campaign.

The second candidate to speak is Heather Grant. She's a registered nurse and political novice. She has no campaign to speak of, has raised no money, and poses no real threat.

The third candidate is Mark Harris. He's the former President of the Southern Baptist Convention. His political claim to fame is being a big-shot in the movement to amend NC's Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. His campaign is being run by Robin Hayes, a former NC congressman and Chair of the NCGOP from 2011-2013. He was endorsed by Mike Huckabee last week. Despite the press selling him as a Tea Party candidate, most of his support is coming from establishment figures in the party. It's a fair bet he was recruited to try to split the grassroots vote, but he ran a "Draft Mark Harris" campaign for most of last year that people got tired of and hasn't caught on as hoped. Who runs their own "Draft me for political office!" campaign, anyway?

The fourth candidate only declared in the last week or so. Ted Alexander was the mayor of Shelby, NC from 2003-2011, and just resigned as Chair of the Cleveland County GOP to run for Senate. No one knows much about him, other than that he's into historic preservation.

Absent is NC House Speaker Thom Tillis, the Karl Rove-endorsed candidate who is the establishment's preferred choice. Tillis has refused to appear at any candidate forum or debate the entire primary, choosing instead to hold multiple fundraisers with Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Mitch McConnell in Washington.

Oh, and the guy doing the cutaway commentary is NC's premier gonzo journalist, Chuck Suter. Suter is most famous for one of his "gotcha" videos catching Rep. Robert Pittenger (NC-9) saying he absolutely would NOT vote to defund ObamaCare. The video went national and brought tremendous pressure on Pittenger, who eventually DID vote to defund ObamaCare (after Boehner said it was okay to do so).

The last candidate, of course, is Greg Brannon, who has both Ron and Rand's endorsement.

Hope that helps put this video in context.

Great summary. Thank you.

[Christian Liberty]

I only listened to Greg Brannon, but that was excellent on his part. Good job:)

[aclove]

To really get the full effect, you have to endure the other candidates' incredibly lame and uninformed responses.

[Occam's Banana]

Tom Woods comments on this: http://tomwoods.com/blog/nc-senate-candidates-debate-nullification/


NC Senate Candidates Debate Nullification

I am as pleased as the Soros front ThinkProgress is appalled that in this day and age, when we’re all supposed to be happy nationalists, the topic of nullification is being openly debated. The only candidate for US Senate to argue in favor of the idea is the Ron Paul-endorsed Greg Brannon (http://www.gregbrannon.com), who comes on at 8:13 in this video. He mentions Madison, Jefferson, runaway slave Joshua Glover, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court and its defiance of the federal government. He then asks what kind of law would have to be passed before his opponents would urge resistance. Worth watching those two minutes.