There seems to be a rumor floating around GOP circles that NCGOP Vice-Chair Johnson intends to run against Richard Burr in a primary.

Anyone else hearing of this?

First I've heard of it.  Where'd you hear that?

An email I received about a meeting in my area described him as a "Burr challenger"

Could be a typo, but that's kind of hard to get wrong.

Anonymous said :

An email I received about a meeting in my area described him as a "Burr challenger"

Could be a typo, but that's kind of hard to get wrong.

Who in their right mind thinks that in NC he could be even a "token" challenger?  No, nothing to do with his color.  It has to do with republican incumbancy in the political atmosphere of today.

What a dumb idea.

Did you see Burr's latest numbers, he fell from 40% to 30% in vote for

and no opinion dropped 10 % but not vote for went up 10% 

Anonymous said :

Did you see Burr's latest numbers, he fell from 40% to 30% in vote for

and no opinion dropped 10 % but not vote for went up 10% 

 

 

In the latest Rasmussen poll which just came out, Burr's numbers did improve a bit, putting him at 50% reelect against one opponent and 45% against the other. Still not great, but moving in the right direction.  This probably reflects a general pro Republican wave coming off the Massachusetts win rather than anything Burr or his campaign have done.  Burr needs to do a much better job in connecting on the issues that voters care about.  He comes across as too distant and out of touch.  Most importantly, he needs to bring on a team of grown ups to run his campaign while it is still relatively early.  His problem relates largely to a poor campaign staff and poor advice.
 

I give no credence at all to the Tim Johnson story for a number of reasons:

1) He does not have the guts to really stand up for himself against Stewart and Fetzer, so it does not make sense that he would have the guts to take on a sitting US Senator.

2) His personal baggage would be a field day for press.  While I like the guy, I just don't see putting that out there for the media, which he would do if he ran for public office.

3) It is getting late in the game to crank up a statewide campaign.  Where would he get his funding and organization?

Anonymous said :

I give no credence at all to the Tim Johnson story for a number of reasons:

1) He does not have the guts to really stand up for himself against Stewart and Fetzer, so it does not make sense that he would have the guts to take on a sitting US Senator.

2) His personal baggage would be a field day for press.  While I like the guy, I just don't see putting that out there for the media, which he would do if he ran for public office.

3) It is getting late in the game to crank up a statewide campaign.  Where would he get his funding and organization?

This whole idea of Johnston challenging Burr has been created to shore up Burr's popularity in NC within the party faithful.  There is just no way he's going to challenge Burr.  Ridiculous.