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We are not certain this is the big news that everyone else seems to think it is. First of all, broadly speaking, everyone knows that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC), who is trying for a promotion to governor right now, is crazypants and has said all kinds of impolitic things over the years. Second, there's already been extensive coverage of his rather massive appetite for pornographic material, substantial enough that the staff at his local porn shop knew him by name, and would often enjoy pizzas that he brought for them.
In any event, yesterday CNN published what they described as a "bombshell report," compiled by looking back through many years' worth of messages that Robinson posted to adult sites. Among the revelations:
Robinson canceled his various campaign events yesterday, and did a bunch of media hits where he denied everything.
Republicans, both in North Carolina, and nationwide, have been pressuring Robinson to drop out for months because of all of his baggage. Yesterday's news caused them to turn up the pressure even more. It should not surprise you, however, that Robinson decreed that he's not going anywhere.
There are at least two things, beyond Robinson's personality/stubbornness, that make it near-impossible that Republicans will be able to eject him from the race. The first of those is that there is one Republican who is still all-in on the Lieutenant Governor. That would be Donald Trump, who has said that Robinson is a "better version" of Martin Luther King Jr. You know, some of that famously profound Trumpian historical analysis. Anyhow, the former president does not like to admit when he's wrong, and does not like to change course. And in today's GOP, if you have Trump on your side, that's all you really need.
The second issue, for those who would jettison Robinson, is that the ballot deadline arrived yesterday. Under the terms of North Carolina law, at least in theory, his name must now appear. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has demonstrated that these "ironclad" laws are actually somewhat flexible, so we suppose it's possible Robinson could be replaced, if he files some sort of lawsuit. But probably not, particularly if he holds on for even just a few more days.
The Republicans don't particularly care about the governor's race, which is almost certainly lost. AG Josh Stein (D) has led in every poll taken in the last 2 months (nearly two dozen of them), and his smallest lead was +4. Usually, he's in, or close to, double-digits. In the four most recent polls, for example, he was +9, +8, +13 and +8.
The concern here is that Robinson could drag down the entire Republican ticket, very possibly moving the state from the Republican column to the Democratic one in the presidential contest. We tend to doubt that he's going to increase Democratic turnout; Democratic voters already knew he was crazypants, and most of them probably aren't that offended by someone looking at trans porn, etc. But if there are Trump-skeptical Republicans who don't feel they have anything important to vote for, with a radioactive sure-fire loser running for governor and no U.S. Senate race? Some of them might stay home, we suppose. The Tar Heel State was decided by about 65,000 votes in 2020, so even a small shift could make a difference. (Z)