What were they thinking?

After the Republican Party won control of both chambers and

the governorship for the first time in over 100 years the party
sought to flex its political muscles, and did!

Under Gov. Pat McCrory long avoided tough choices were
made, especially while the state was still in a deep recession.

McCrory and the General Assembly took many steps which
led NC to rank ninth of best performing states by most economic
measures.

But, the new leadership did something else, they stuck their
hands into a dormant "beehive", awakening the colony, which
attacked McCrory with a vengeance ever since.

The "beehive" is Voter ID, important to Republicans who felt
the integrity of the process had been corrupted, and new voter
identification would strengthen the process.

As much as I believe it is important to have election integrity
I did not see the wisdom in  introducing Voter ID legislation
so early in a new administration, especially when the party
was victorious without tougher Voter ID laws.

I must say, in conversations with others, they disagreed with me.

For reasons I am unaware of, perhaps a campaign promise, McCrory 

and legislative leaders made it a high priority even though the

governor must have known what was coming.

North Carolinians need to understand our state has two influential
publications in Raleigh and Charlotte, the regions which have the
largest populations and often determine state wide winners.

The Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer dutifully
do  the bidding of the Democrat Party, and Voter ID was ripe for
the picking.  These "publications" have proven to be Democrat
propaganda instruments, not legitimate newspapers.

For the past five years both papers took on McCrory and General
Assembly, distorting the legislation and editorializing the alleged
discrimination.

Left leaning groups joined in,  protested at the capitol; the  ACLU
sued the state, appeals were heard, first upheld, now overturned.

The story: http://bit.ly/2aibhuV

The reason I felt it was too ambitious to seek Voter ID legislation
so early in an administration was the message it sent to the minority
community that has been lied to about the Republican Party for the
one hundred years since we last held the majority.

Republicans may have failed to appreciate the success they had,

changing history without  Voter ID! The party overcame whatever
real or imagined political chicanery might have been occurring!

Republicans have shown they can govern better than Democrats,
yet, as long as Voter ID is 'buzzing' around minorities will keep
the hardened views about the party, even if they are false.

Professional politicians should listen more to people outside the
sphere of political influence. If they did, there would be no reason
to ask, "What were they thinking?"