Can Roy Cooper Show Democrats How to Win Again?

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Can Roy Cooper Show Democrats How to Win Again?

Can Roy Cooper Show Democrats How to Win Again?

North Carolina’s governor is unveiling an audacious plan to oust his Republican rivals. Democrats hope to make it a national model.

By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

July 18, 2017

RALEIGH, N.C.—Roy Cooper wants Democrats to do something they haven’t done in state politics in years: Go on offense.

His eyes on 2018 state legislature races and potential special elections in between, the North Carolina governor is launching a multimillion-dollar, multiyear effort to knock Republicans out of the state capital. And national Democrats, reeling from losing hundreds of seats in statehouses across the country over the past decade, are hoping other governors pay close attention.

Cooper’s initiative is the latest frontier in a state that’s a cauldron of just about every political fight in America—redistricting, voter ID, public education, gender. The two major parties are just about equally matched here, though unaffiliated voters outnumber Republicans. North Carolina is where Hillary Clinton swooped in for her final, exuberant past-midnight rally—only to see it called early the next night for Donald Trump; it’s where a local battle over who can use which bathroom became a national brawl over human sexuality.

Already, Cooper has quietly banked $1 million for his new group, Break the Majority, and plans to raise several million more, along with recruiting candidates and then campaigning for them in state senate and general assembly races. The money, being put into a new state Democratic Party account, will also cover salaries for what will effectively be a new campaign committee, with a dedicated communications director, research director, several junior staffers and cash for everything from field organizers to ads.

Given the cutthroat nature of politics in North Carolina, Cooper’s power play is especially audacious: Though there have been previous independent expenditures and coordinated campaigns in the state and beyond, an effort with this kind of focus and funding is unprecedented.

“Until I get some leverage in the General Assembly, I can’t get the things done in education, in economic development. I can’t do as much to stop this social conservative legislation that makes us embarrassed as a state, and doesn’t truly reflect who we are as North Carolinians,” Cooper told me, six months into the job, in an interview here in the governor’s mansion for POLITICO’s Off Message podcast. “And it’s time for that to stop.”

Cooper is coordinating closely on mechanics and messaging with Eric Holder, who’s chairing the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. At the state party’s Unity Dinner last weekend, Holder called North Carolina “ground zero in the fight to restore our democracy” as the finishing touches were being put on the launch for what NDRC executive director Kelly Ward calls “a great model for Democratic governors across the country.”

Cooper already had national Democrats paying attention: He’s the only swing-state candidate for governor or senator who won last year in a state Trump carried, thanks in large part to the outrage over HB-2, the transgender “bathroom bill,” and the businesses that pulled out of the state in response. Lanky, with a homegrown Nash County drawl and stories about growing up on a farm, plus two degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, he’s exactly what many Democrats say they’ve been waiting for. He kept them waiting for years, including four terms as state attorney general.

Ralph Northam, running for governor in Virginia this fall, and Gwen Graham, running for governor in Florida next year, are among those who’ve debriefed with Cooper, and Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez has expressed interest in learning from the victory, according to a person familiar with the conversations. The Democratic Governors Association hired Cooper's campaign manager, Trey Nix, as its campaign director for the 2018 cycle.

Cooper tells the people who call him for advice to start early, and commit to raising huge amounts of money to outspend opponents who’ll likely have massive outside help. Campaign aides have pushed how they invested in online organizing, and how much time Cooper spent responding to attacks directly himself, on camera. “They knew that he was a little more progressive than they were, but they also knew that he had a connection and cared about the state in a unique way,” Nix says of North Carolina voters.

Cooper also stresses what he thinks is the connecting thread between taxes, education and jobs that most candidates miss: They have to figure out how to shake voters who believe “Democrats are going to take something from them and give it to somebody else who doesn’t deserve it.”


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hashmander

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the cac mamba said:
:salute:
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what are you saluting exactly mr alleged bernie sanders supporter? supposedly you could get behind the dems if they were more like bernie. these blue dog dem types are suppose to be who you are against but you're saluting it.

i have no problem with them personally because bernie types aren't gonna win in the south. but these centrist types are suppose to be the enemy of bernie supporters though. the guy from virginia who is consulting with roy on how to win is a two time dubya bush voter.
 
hashmander

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the cac mamba said:
how bout a democrat who's showing some fukkin balls :childplease:

:dame:
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how is he "showing balls"? by winning as a moderate? does't that piss of the purity liberals. standing up to the same social conservatives that other democrats are standing up to? isn't he on the opposite side of the transgender bathroom issue as you for example? he's like the democrats you and your kind complain about all the time (the obama, holder, etc). so excuse me for being confused.
 
the cac mamba

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hashmander said:
how is he "showing balls"? by winning as a moderate? does't that piss of the purity liberals. standing up to the same social conservatives that other democrats are standing up to? isn't he on the opposite side of the transgender bathroom issue as you for example? he's like the democrats you and your kind complain about all the time (the obama, holder, etc). so excuse me for being confused.
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why do you know so much about my positions? i dont even know who you are :mjlol:
 
hashmander

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the cac mamba said:
why do you know so much about my positions? i dont even know who you are :mjlol:
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because you post here all the time and during election season you were pretty active with trumpset. just because you're full of shyt and all over the place doesn't mean it takes great research to figure out what your'e about.
 
fact

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How you gonna ROFL with a hollow back?
Realistically, what are Bryce's chances of taking out Paul Ryan? I'm curious *pause*, because he looks like the perfect candidate to move up quick through the ranks, but I know that Ryan has infinite money and resources behind him. I think that will be the real litmus test.
 
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