Does anybody even want a Republican governor?

There's a reason why Republicans have a bad track record in executive races. The most powerful members of the party don't really want to win them.

Like most of us who grew up around here, I’ve been a Braves fan since the Maddux and Jones era. But I’ve always wanted North Carolina to land a Major League Baseball team of its own — and I think it might actually happen.

Charlotte has flirted with the idea for years, but the real momentum is in Raleigh. Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon now publicly supports bringing a team to the Triangle, and there’s a fantastic grassroots effort behind it, too.

In Charlotte, there’s simply no big-name leader stepping up and no cohesive effort to land a team. It doesn’t seem like the city even wants one anymore. And when the MLB finally gets around to expanding, I think that’s going to make a big difference.

It’s the same story in North Carolina politics. To win something as big as the governor’s mansion, someone has to lead the charge. A person with power has to want it to happen. Right now, Republicans just don’t have that.

Last week, I wrote at length about the long-running political machine th…