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Some Republicans and Tea Partiers in and around Moore County are launching a “Clothespin Challenge.” One of the organizers posted this on her Facebook Page: (SNIP) So, the predominant GOTV strategy this year is ”hold your nose” and mark the box next to the GOP candidate’s name? Is that what we’ve become? From Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms’s appeals for liberty and freedom and limited government to HOLD YOUR NOSE?

Like many candidates attacked over budgets, Thom Tillis, a Republican running for the Senate from North Carolina, responded in a recent debate by disputing his opponent’s numbers. “Kay’s math just doesn’t add up,” he said. The Democratic incumbent, Senator Kay Hagan, seized on that small opening to claim personal offense. “I’m actually insulted,” she declared. “I understand math.” The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, counting heavily on women to turn out across the country, accused Mr. Tillis of “mansplaining” and “condescension” toward his female adversary.

We posted earlier about the Fox News poll of this race. Digging into the cross-tabs led us to discover a really interesting stat. Hagan, the Democrat, is drawing 33 percent of the white vote — which can be expected for a Democrat candidate in this state and this day and age. Democrats tend to make up for that deficit with a huge turnout by blacks and other minorities. The astonishing thing is that Tillis, the Republican, is only drawing 45 percent of the white vote.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Thom Tillis is getting help from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as part of Christie's multiple-stop swing through the Carolinas to raise money and meet voters. Christie and Tillis were slated to hold a meet-and-greet Tuesday morning in Wilmington before holding a private fundraiser for Tillis' campaign. Christie will head on to South Carolina for several fundraisers on behalf of incumbent Gov. Nikki Haley, who is seeking re-election this fall.

WASHINGTON — As House Democrats made a Hail Mary attempt to force a vote on laws to protect gays in the workplace, Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., continues to stand by comments he made earlier this month that businesses should be free to fire employees based on their sexual orientation. Pittenger has been criticized for the remarks, but he said in a statement Wednesday that Americans are already well-protected. Current laws against discrimination should be enforced to the fullest, he emphasized. But he said Americans need more jobs and a stronger economy, not more regulations that stifle growth. “It’s incredibly hard...

Two polls released Monday show Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan opening up a lead over Republican challenger Thom Tillis. Raleigh polling firm American Insights, which has Republican ties, had Hagan with a 9 percentage point lead among likely voters, while Elon University Poll gives Hagan a 4-point lead. The polls are the latest in a string showing Hagan gaining ground in the campaign. Of likely voters surveyed by American Insights, 43 percent said they would back Hagan, 34 percent said they backed Tillis, the current state House speaker, and 5 percent backed Libertarian Sean Haugh. "The race has unmistakably shifted...

Jim Geragthy, acclaimed author and National Review’s chief campaign analyst, has been grousing about the lack of quality polling in key Senate races this year. His frustration is well-founded. So yesterday must have felt like Christmas in September for Jim and political junkies everywhere, as two pollsters released a deluge of surveys covering the most contested races in the country. In light of the results, I’d expect that national Republicans are kicking off the week with an extra spring in their step, as well. We were leaked an advance copy of last week’s much-anticipated Politico/GWU Battleground poll, which was packed...

The parents of Fort Bragg Staff Sgt. Joshua Eisenhauer have been fighting for the Army to take jurisdiction of their son's case since he was charged in January 2012 with shooting at civilian police and firefighters from his Fayetteville apartment. Now, Eisenhauer's parents say, the Army is leaving their son behind. Fort Bragg has set a Sept. 17 hearing to push Eisenhauer out of the Army, and the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office has given him a March 16 trial date. If convicted, Eisenhauer could spend the rest of his life in prison. Eisenhauer's lawyer, Todd Conormon, said he thought...

A Wake County high school teacher is under fire for comments he made in an article published online comparing the school where he works to a concentration camp. Fuquay-Varina High School biology teacher Ray Fournier later apologized for his comments in an updated version of the article that promotes his book, Education Reformation.Fournier has been a public school teacher for 13 years. Despite that, his book urges Christian parents to “rescue” their children from public schools. …

WILSON, N.C. — Thom Tillis, the Republican candidate for Senate in North Carolina, wouldn’t commit to supporting Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, if both of them win this fall. “I’m not going to look past the most important election and that’s the election in November,” he told BuzzFeed News on Saturday. “I think there are a number of people in Republican caucus who would be great leaders and it would be great for them to be in that position.” He may not be looking past election day, but Tillis did try and lay out part of his vision for the Senate...

Environmentalist groups accuse hog farms of violating civil rights. Environmental groups have filed a civil-rights complaint against hog farmers in North Carolina, claiming that by maintaining farms near neighborhoods where minorities live, the pork producers are engaged in illegal discrimination against minorities. The 48-page complaint explains that the farms create problems for surrounding neighborhoods such as foul smells and runoff in the water. The crux of the complaint, which was filed by Washington-based EarthJustice and three other environmental groups in the Tar Heel State, is not these problems themselves, however. The four environmental groups object to seeing these problems occur...

Charlotte Observer has announced it will no longer be printing the name “Redskins” in local articles, citing controversy surrounding the name. The newspaper announced on Saturday that it will start the ban Sunday. The paper said it will still cover the team, but will not refer to them by that term. ...

Wake Forest University kicked off the fall 2014 semester by instituting a campus-wide online system that has the potential to restrict free speech by allowing students and staff to anonymously file reports on any occurrences they deem biased or hateful. Known as the Bias Incident Report system , the online form does not specify the criteria for filing a report, nor does it explicitly define the word “bias.” Instead, students are pressured to submit a report anytime they believe they are encountering an incident of hate or bias — potentially opening the floodgates for students to report incidents without cause....

During last night’s North Carolina Senate Debate, incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan responded to criticism over her obliterated ‘keep your plan‘ Obamacare pledge by claiming she didn’t hear about cancellations until “last fall:”CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO “As soon as this came to my attention last fall…”Step one: Blame insurers, who were forced to cancel plans that failed to comply with Obamacare, the law for which Kay Hagan furnished the deciding vote. Step two: Claim that those millions of cancellation letters fell from the sky, as if no one had predicted them. Step three: Try to claim credit for...

Governor Pat McCrory knocked heads with the General Assembly — and lost — on the issue of waiving the use of E-verify to do residency checks on temporary workers across the state. Now, it appears that a group of Republican House members is seeking to repeal the legislation passed despite the governor’s veto. Reps. Cleveland, Millis and Conrad are sponsoring HB 1184, which seeks to repeal the e-verify exemption for temporary workers and appropriates funds for an extra investigator.

Decades before the television show, a Marine Corps battalion decorated for extensive combat in World War II and Vietnam earned the nickname the "Walking Dead." Now the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, which also saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been deactivated during a ceremony Friday at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The step comes as top U.S. military and political leaders are moving to trim the size of America's military after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is a new chart-topper in Roll Call’s latest monthly ranking of the 10 most vulnerable senators. Montana’s appointed Sen. John Walsh was by far the most endangered incumbent in the chamber at the time of the previous installment in early August, but his decision last month to not seek a full term opened the top slot to a couple other worthy contenders. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is still in a perilous political position, but Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu has leapfrogged him on the list to become the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbent. The Democrat is pushing hard to eclipse...

Full Title: Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources Form Joint Venture to Own Proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline - $4.5 billion-$5 billion pipeline would bring 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to North Carolina and Virginia - 'Transformational' project provides growing Mid-Atlantic markets a new route for access to competitive, domestic energy supplies - Investment would create thousands of jobs, promote economic development and cleaner air, increase state and local tax revenue - Pipeline expected to be in service by late 2018, pending regulatory approvals Four major U.S. energy companies – Dominion (NYSE: D), Duke...

Karl Rove and his Crossroads GPS PAC are about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the senate -- by campaigning to the left of incumbents Mark Pryor and Kay Hagan on behalf of Republican challengers Tom Cotton and Thom Tills. So blatant is this attempt in the latest round of TV ads that the Washington Post teased Rove with a headline that taunted him as a "bleeding heart liberal." Reporter/blogger Greg Sargent said in the story that the two ad campaigns "show Republicans once again hitting Dems from the left on entitlements." Salon ridiculed the North Carolina...

Last Saturday, Renee Ellmers (R-NC02) — a 2010 Tea Party favorite who has since lost the support of conservatives — gave a brief speech to the Moore County, North Carolina GOP Convention. During the speech, she claimed to hold the same views on immigration as Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and even Dr. Ben Carson. This statement came a few days after Ellmers’ tendentious appearance with Laura Ingraham last week — an interview that might have progressed smoothly had Ellmers actually expressed the same views on immigration as those four. Ellmers’ brief speech in Moore County offered no specification backing her...