Democrats Are Being Hoodwinked in the North Carolina 3rd Congressional District

Here’s a story of a Republican…no, a Democrat…no wait, a Republican running for Congress.

For years, Jason Thigpen was a young up-and-coming North Carolina Republican.  He did Republican things.  He went to state Republican Conventions.  He drank the Republican “tea.”   Yes sir, Jason Thigpen was a dyed in the wool What Would Our Founding Fathers Think Of Us Now; Down With Tyranny righteous and vetted member of the Grand Old Party. 

Jason was so much a Republican that he decided to run for congress because he thought he could be a better Republican than 20 year career politician, Walter “freedom fries” Jones. 

From there however, the story turns sour.  Thigpen—as it turns out—isn’t  the only Republican (Teapublican—or whatever they’re called these days) who wants an office on Capitol Hill; another Republican got into the race and he’s got a three hundred year old family history that dates back to the Revolutionary War.  Oh, crap!  All of a sudden Jason’s got big problems: no name recognition, no campaign money to speak of and no way to look as ultraconservative as the guy the Tea Party put up to run against Walter Jones.  The backstory here is that the North Carolina Tea Party doesn’t think Walter Jones is conservative enough! 

What to do…what to do?   Jason Thigpen gets creative. 

In a brilliant stroke of marketing genius—the likes of which could make a Wall Street inside trader blush—Jason Thigpen decided to pull a Walter Jones campaign trick.  You know the trick—from the 1994 Walter Jones campaign playbook…How To Change Political Parties When You Think You’re Going To Get Your Ass Beat trick.  Jason changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. 

Now, we can’t give Jason all the credit.  The media bought into this phony baloney hook, line and sinker.  All the newspapers and television stations ran Glamor Shot stories about how a Republican saw the light, abandoned his Party roots and became a tree-huggin’ left-wing turncoat Democrat. 

Even most Democrats bought into the story.  Nobody seemed to care enough to dig deeper and ask questions.  Most Democrats, having heard the news, smugly acknowledged the blessed event with a I just led a sinner to Jesus mindtrip. 

Well, luckily you’ve got me to set the record straight.

By this point in our story, Jason figures out he has an even bigger problem now that he’s a Democrat: how to spin the story to his advantage? What can he say that could actually sound believable?  Because, Lord knows, we wouldn’t anyone to think he’s an opportunist, now would we? 

Thigpen’s Political Gamble and His Big Mistake.

Thigpen guessed that the best way to make his new-found conversion believable would be to call upon the passions invoked by the North Carolina Republican led General Assembly.  But, here’s the problem with that:

• First off, Jason isn’t running for the North Carolina legislature.  If Thigpen really and truly believed that the Republican’s have gone afoul in Raleigh, and if that’s actually why he became a Democrat; why is he running for Congress?  It would make more sense for him to seek an elected office on the state level.  After all, according to Jason, Raleigh is the real problem.
• Another concern I have that Thigpen’s conversion isn’t real is because of timing.  The Republicans have been in control of North Carolina since 2010.  The GOP never made it a secret of their intentions and what they planed to do “to” North Carolina.  Jason remained a Republican for almost 4 years after the GOP took over and it seems  he supported them every step of the way. 
• Finally, our new Democrat just doesn’t meet what I would call a “political reasonable person test.”  In other words, if it walks like a Republican and talks like a Republican; it ain’t a Democrat!  If Thigpen wanted to be taken seriously and remain relevant in his campaign ideology, he should have backed away from his congressional bid and worked a while within the North Carolina Democratic Party to help get the Teapublicans out of Raleigh. 

The Real Story of Why Jason Thigpen Became a Democrat.

For lack of a better word, Jason Thigpen is an opportunist.  The Tea Party abandoned his bid for Congress and put up someone they feel is more conservative than Walter Jones, hoping to pick Jones off in the primary.  Jason feels cheated.  And, he’s probably right.  But, the writing was on the wall. 

Anyone who keeps up with North Carolina politics knows that the North Carolina Tea Party is anticipating a Democratic backlash in the next election cycle.  They know they’ll lose some state House and Senate seats but they’ll still keep a majority.  The Tea Party also anticipates that there’s a chance at least one Republican Congressman may be picked off.  To mitigate the backlash and to keep already elected Republicans in line, the Tea Party decided to prosecute a major coordinated effort to go after people like Renee Ellmers and Walter Jones.   Jason Thigpen wasn’t in that equation.   Or, is he?

The North Carolina Tea Party’s Plan to Dismantle the North Carolina Democratic Party.

For the past two years, I’ve heard rumors of the Tea Party, along with Art Pope’s money (and others), trying to dismantle the North Carolina Democratic Party.  The idea is that they could do the same thing to the Democratic Party that they did to the Republican Party.   It actually makes a lot of sense.  Anybody who knows anything about NC Democratic politics knows we’re dysfunctional.  Collectively, we need many years of therapy! For over one hundred years, the Democrats have controlled North Carolina politics and we don’t know how to act otherwise.  We’re learning our new political role, so naturally we’re fighting among ourselves as to what when wrong and how.  Democrats have always been their own worst enemy and now would be a perfect time to throw a monkey wrench into our collective efforts to regain Raleigh and congressional seats.  

Jason Thigpen has a distinguished military record.  He was awarded the Purple Heart.  I, as well as others, applaud him for his service and we’re blessed to have had him serving our Nation.  But, his past experiences in the military—as noble as they were—doesn’t necessarily mean he should be voted into political office.  We should call him out on the issues and his real reasons for his switching to the Democratic Party.   —George Fisher

Let’s look at the facts:

• North Carolina is a Tea Party testing ground.  And, a successful Tea Party testing ground, at that.
• The Tea Party doesn’t care which party they crash as long as they win. 
• To minimize a democratic voter backlash the Tea Party would benefit if they could disrupt the North Carolina Democratic Party.

In my next article, I’ll tell you who’s the real Democrat running in the 3rd district of North Carolina.  His name is Marshall Adame.  Stay tuned.

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Marshall Adame                                          Jason Thigpen