"A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" | Eastern North Carolina Now

    There's a revolution coming in this country. A growing majority of ordinary people (i.e., not the political elite) are simply fed up with government the way it has been operating the last few years, by both political parties. That was what gave impetus to the TEA Party and while some think the TEA Party has faded into the woodwork, that is definitely not the case.

    But the real battle currently is being fought within the Republican Party. It was symbolized by the battle to elect the State Republican Party Chairman at the last GOP convention when Claude Pope, who was backed by "anyone who is anyone" in the state Republican Party, just barely defeated Jack Brosch - a TEA party leader - in spite of the fact that the Governor supported Pope.

    But the split is not over a specific issue. Rather it is over whether the party is going to present a conservative brand to the voters or one that is more "moderate" or what some call "Democrat Lite." The split is now playing out in the debate in Washington over defunding ObamaCare and raising the debt ceiling. In North Carolina it is playing out in the primary for the nomination to challenge Kay Hagan. Thom Tillis is the Establishment candidate while Greg Brannon is the conservative candidate. Now, Mr. Establishment Robin Hayes is pushing for Mark Harris and positioning him as a conservative, but most observers believe that is only to split Brannon's vote to Tillis' benefit.

    In Beaufort County the split has been playing out over the appointments to the local board of elections. The Establishment (Hayes) leaders in Raleigh did not accept the nominations as submitted by the local GOP and instead appointed RINO Jay McRoy, after some local insurgents sabotaged the local party's choices . The local GOP asked McRoy to step down but he refused. That issue has yet to be put to rest, while it is exacerbated by what some considered "meddling" by Raleigh Establishment types in the last local legislative primary when GOP leadership from Raleigh supported Arthur Williams, a recent Democrat over the conservative Mattie Lawson for the House 6 seat.

    Now it is playing out in Craven County. Brant Clifton, in his latest column in the Daily Haymaker reports on that tempest. See that Brant Clifton post here below and follow it to the post in BCN:

A Coup in Craven County

by Brant Clifton
    The turmoil within the Craven County Republican Party is a symbolic, localized representation of the nationwide struggle between limited-government forces and statist establishment types for the soul of the GOP.

    Thursday evening, county party leaders met and made two bold decisions: (1) to bring charges against county party chairman Paul Hill (see details HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) and (2) to issue a public rebuke of senator Richard Burr for his comments and actions during the effort to defund ObamaCare.

    The unrest appears to have its roots in the May 2012 GOP primaries. State House speaker Thom Tillis and other establishment types from Raleigh were accused of meddling in local primaries and attempting to sabotage conservative candidates. Craven County GOP leaders responded by issuing a resolution of censure against Tillis. Sources on the ground in Craven tell me that Hill acted in concert with state party leaders in Raleigh to sabotage the censure effort and thwart the will of local Republicans. My sources tell me that Hill's actions regarding the censure were only the tip of the iceberg. I am told frustrations with Hill's management of the local party have been growing over a period of months and months. Hill's reaction to the censure, I am told, were merely the straw that broke the camel's back.

    Click here to go visit the balance of that that Brant Clifton post.