Jim Morrill tracks down an interesting development in county GOP politics. Former WBT talker Jeff Katz has pulled out of tomorrow’s race to be county chair, throwing his support behind local attorney Robert Bryan. Bryan faces retired US Airways pilot Chris Emanuel for the office.
Normally I am bored to tears by intra-party politics, but this development intrigues me on several levels. One, just a few days before I’d heard from a couple big local GOP fundraisers how excited they were to have the chance to vote for Katz. At a time when cash is short, that would seem to matter.
But that excitement was evidently balanced by concern that Katz’s occasional radio fill-in gigs would prevent him from devoting enough time to the post. In contrast Emanuel criss-crossed the state as McCrory’s grassroots coordinator during the mayor’s bid for governor and is touting his ability to work full-time.
Here’s comes the twist, however.
Despite Emanuel’s endorsement by McCrory campaign manager Richard Hudson and McCrory fundraiser and former RNC committeeman Ed McMahan, other McCrory insiders are putting out the word that Bryan has the inside track for the job. There are two possibilities for this stance.
One, they really believe Bryan has the edge. Two, they do not and are trying to lull Bryan’s conservative supporters into a false sense of security that will keep them away from the county convention.
Let’s see which one it turns out to be.
