Comments for Continuing With “Why Vote for Conservatives?” | Eastern NC Now

Mr. Rader: Thanks for jarring my memory. It seems our county works hard to do shameful things.

Commented: Saturday, November 7th, 2026 @ 9:13 am By: Van Zant

CT: Typically, party majorities on boards vote for party leadership on the board. I can't think of the year that "Republicans" have done that on the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.

Commented: Saturday, November 7th, 2026 @ 8:38 am By: Van Zant

We will all know beyond a shadow of a doubt what mystery man Edwards is from his vote at the very first meeting to elect commission leadership. If he votes for a fully Republican team, as is the expected result of a Republican majority body, then maybe he will turn out okay on other things, too. However, if he goes for a Frankie Waters style deal with Democrats, then we will know he was nothing but a phony and a ringer all along.

The real question is who will be chairman? Richardson has been there the longest and in most systems that would be a huge factor. However with the present chemistry of the board, that is not likely to happen.

Next up in terms of length of service would be Randy Walker, but the objections to him among conservatives would be as strong as from the Waters faction to Richardson. In his first primary campaign, Walker hired Ashley Woolard to run his social media campaign based on a pledge of "no new taxes" but as soon as the primary was over, he had Woolard pull those down as he no longer wanted to talk about taxes. It seems it was just a smoke screen for the primary. Even worse, deadbeat Randy Walker stiffed Woolard for not only Woolard's own fee, but also the money Woolard had advanced to Facebook for the ads. Not paying your campaign bills is really, really low.

Next up in seniority would be Tandy Dunn, and there does not seem to be any real hard feelings from either side on him.

that very first vote of Edwards, and then his second vote on the vice chairman will tell us all we need to know about what Edwards is really made of. Hopefully, he will not be Frankie Waters 2.0, but those votes will show us one way or the other.

Commented: Friday, November 6th, 2026 @ 10:08 am By: Concerned Taxpayer

T: Waters has been telling anyone that would listen that he picked Edwards. Is Waters a Republican? He wasn't until he decided to run for office.

The only commission candidate the Beauf Co GOP DID NOT support was Deatherage. That's especially true of the Chairwoman and her cadre. They publicly busted down the party disloyalty door on that one.

Commented: Friday, November 6th, 2026 @ 9:36 am By: Van Zant

At least a couple of you understand the situation. Most likely, if Woolard is true to his promise we are still exactly where we were before on the issue of any real taxpayer relief - one vote short.

There are two things blocking us on this issue:
1. Voters that can't seem to understand how important it is to be able to count to four.
2. A voting system (Limited Voting) that often times blocks the will of the people.

Anyway, barring some unforeseen miracle, we are no better than where we were before and maybe worse. Time will tell.

Commented: Friday, November 6th, 2026 @ 8:26 am By: Van Zant

I'm just not gonna create a secret police force, shoot people in the face and run them over with my car in the streets.

Govern better.

Commented: Thursday, November 5th, 2026 @ 2:48 pm By: big Bob

Yes, Bob, your hatred for America does continue. What part of "illegal" do you not comprehend? what other laws besides our immigration laws do you consider "optional"?

Commented: Thursday, November 5th, 2026 @ 1:14 pm By: borderhawk

the hate fest continues

Commented: Thursday, November 5th, 2026 @ 12:28 pm By: big Bob

I agree with Bob on something. I, too, would like to see the government do a better job on emigration. Emigration (as opposed to immigration) is people LEAVING the country. Yes, we do need as much of that as we can get to kick out all the illegals that Open Borders Biden let in.

Commented: Thursday, November 5th, 2026 @ 11:41 am By: borderhawk

Steve: I remember meeting Jack Hawke at a Beaufort County Republican Men's Club meeting probably about two decades ago. I was just starting out being politically active at the time. Your conversation with him back then matches the experiences I've had later. I agree that a party organization with a top-down orientation rather than bottom-up grassroots orientation is a mistake and is fertile ground for corruption.

The first position I ever had in the party was precinct chairman. I took it seriously and had an actual (not just paper) precinct committee. Even more importantly, I had area captains (block captains). They were all Republicans then. Recently I've become precinct chairman again as well as a candidate which requires the same kind of structures. The people in those captain positions now are Republicans and unaffiliated plus. Probably about as many unaffiliated as Republican. I encounter a significant number of people that want nothing to do with the party, while having a high interest in conservative principles. That's different than what it was when I was starting out. Seems to me if your goal is to build a party, that is a sign of trouble.

If the GOP does not change its attitude toward grassroot leadership, principled conservatives will continue to seek and find other outlets that appreciate their skills and motivation. In my opinion, that is one of the two crucial issues we have. The other is squandering our opportunities after gaining election majorities. When our officeholders do not do what they promised in campaigns, when they can do it, then we have lost all credibility and do not deserve public support.

In life, defeats can be opportunities. It remains to be seen what the Republican Party does with all of this.

More and more people have decided on the existence of a de facto uni-party. Heck, I can observe governmental party leaders (Republican and Democrat) and follow the money too. Many of us gravitated to the Republican Party because the Republican Party Platform is conservative. When that is no longer believable, we can expect more people to leave or remain aloof.

As for me, I'm a North Carolinian from Beaufort County, and an American first. The parties are things that change over time and may or may not hold my allegiance. Like anything in life, they must earn credibility just as leaders must earn their place as leaders.

Commented: Thursday, November 5th, 2026 @ 11:05 am By: Charles Hickman

You guys can call me all the names you want, but I know how to read a room.

Republicans will have plenty of time to lick their wounds and democrats best make sure they do not go on a retribution tour as I fear some of them will.

I'd like to see the government do better job on emigration, negotiate with Iran to end the war without them getting a nuke, shore up SS and Medicare and act like climate change is the existential threat it is.

Hopefully the hate fest is over, and both sides can govern better.

Commented: Wednesday, November 4th, 2026 @ 6:34 pm By: big Bob

SPR: I agree with you about the reasons for the worse than usual mid-term election losses. Yes, reaction against war, prices, outside meddling and other factors are problems in the elections, but there is way more going on in North Carolina. A lot of it is the NCGOP itself.

As I remember, we were encountering more and more resistance from party insiders against grassroot leadership for a while. Grassroot reaction to that came in 2015 with the election of Hassan Harnett as State Party Chairman with impressive grassroots support. A little less than one year later our, Convention elected, Chairman was ousted in a hostile ambush/coup that inserted the return of Robin Hayes just before our even year Convention. There are no elections in even years. That was followed by the controversial electronic voting elections for Michael Whatley followed by Jason Simmons.

During this time our committees were defanged and marginalized. As we were pushed more and more in this direction, we lost some good people and, as Steve said, the culture changed. That change affected us from top to bottom in the NCGOP, and I believe it is certainly one of the big factors in our demise.

I do not believe leadership that mistreats, disrespects, and manipulates the ground level leaders and volunteers has earned the right of leadership. Until this is sincerely and respectfully addressed, I see the NCGOP as a flawed organization and one in mission crisis.

Commented: Wednesday, November 4th, 2026 @ 3:52 pm By: Charles Hickman