What Thom Tillis should do right now
Ditch the "old school" approach for a more modern, authentic campaign
We’ll start with a little personal news, as they say. A decade after leaving the newspaper world — I’m back in it. Well, at least a little bit.
As of last week, I’m now a contributor to the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer opinion pages, trying to add a little conservative insight to an editorial board that’s more liberal than an Asheville drum circle.
Longleaf Politics will continue unchanged; it’s always been a little inside-baseball over here. My newspaper columns will lean more public-interest.
You can read the first column here. It’s about why U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis always seems to make people mad. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but here’s the key snippet:
If you want to be charitable, you’d call him a “maverick” or a “bipartisan leader.” Unfortunately for him, not many people have that desire. The grassroots right calls him a RINO, while the left calls him gutless. But neither quite hits the mark. What’s actually driving Tillis is being a little too comfortable in Washington at a time when that’s decidedly not what North Carolina Republicans are looking for.
What I’d tell Tillis to do right now
In the interest of full disclosure here, I have no relationship with Tillis. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, and I think the grassroots right is a lot harder on him than it should be. However, Tillis really doesn’t do himself any favors in this regard with his campaign strategy.
Tillis and his top consultant Paul Shumaker run a distinctively old-school campaign. You may be thinking that an old-school campaign is about barnstorming around the state speaking at BBQ dinners and kissing babies. Wrong: At this point, that’s an “antique” campaign.
What’s “old-school” now is running a playbook out of the mass media era — raise a ton of money, focus group a few messages, and then dump millions of dollars on TV. It’s been plenty successful over the last few decades.
But the political world is changing. Candidates today have the ability to speak unfiltered to their supporters in real time. You have the chance to be authentic with your constituents and build meaningful relationships with them over a period of years.
Tillis does not do this at all. His website hasn’t been updated since the 2020 campaign. I haven’t gotten an email newsletter from him since 2019.
And when I was writing that Observer column, I had a heck of a hard time coming up with any signature accomplishments he’s had while in office. It’s not bragging to let your constituents know what you’re doing for them. Tell us about them. Go ahead and use that franking privilege.
So my brief advice to the Tillis campaign would be this: You ended September 2024 with $1.5 million in the bank. I’m guessing by now, it’s at least double or triple that amount.
You don’t need to hoard it all until 2026. Spend a little today and hire a field team that can show up at every North Carolina county GOP meeting. Cut videos that you can send along with them telling each county what you’re doing for them. Start sending a weekly email and a weekly direct-to-camera video telling us what you’re doing.
Remember the 2014 campaign when Tillis debated an empty chair? And then he blasted U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan for missing an intelligence briefing. It was a compelling message. Now Tillis is the one risking being seen as an empty chair.
It’s easy to be mad at somebody you never see. But here in the South, we’re going to be polite to you if you show up.
Quick hits
I’m a big fan of Rep. Keith Kidwell’s "North Carolina Reclaiming College Education on America’s Constitutional Heritage Act.” We need more civics education at all levels of schooling in our state.
For the first time in a LONG time, the state House now has a public calendar with dates of expected votes and a few breaks worked in. This is a fantastic approach from new House Speaker Destin Hall. I really like the way he’s treating his job.
Gov. Josh Stein is already making the Washington Post’s list of “Democrats who should run for president.” It’s not really a surprise, since any Southern Democrat governor tends to make it on there. I did find it a little interesting that former Gov. Roy Cooper no longer makes the list. Oh, how quickly the world moves on.
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Important reads
Robinson drops CNN lawsuit, says he won't seek future elected office (Anderson Alerts)
WNC’s missing flood-control lakes (Business North Carolina)
GROW NC office and state lawmakers clash over temporary housing needs in western NC (Carolina Journal)
What North Carolina Could Learn from Indiana About School Finance (John Locke Foundation)
Top spenders on social media this week
Question of the week
Last week, I asked you what the threshold in a primary election should be to avoid a runoff. The results were overwhelming: 50% of you said it should be brought back to 40%, as it was for years. Not many of you (14%) like the new 30% threshold.
This week, let’s talk media consumption.
Congratulations! “Asheville drum circle” gave me a chuckle.
You asked about the CLT papers… I also do not subscribe to the Independent Tribune in Cabarrus County! They replete CLT leftest propaganda and their paper!