Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC) - re: SVB - Here's the situation: Everything's fine

[In It to Win It]

He's very calming

Link to tweet

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1. He's been doing this for voters about 8 years now.

His email update on Ukraine after meeting with military was a must read.

Jackson would have been the Sen from NC right now but for Schumer’s poor insight into NC.

[W_HAMILTON]

2. Stop wrongly blaming others for good candidates losing in red states.

From Jackson's own mouth:

Link to tweet

Beasley had won statewide in North Carolina. Jackson had not.

Jackson bowed out of the race because not only was he losing to Beasley, but he also would also have been unlikely to win the seat and instead he opted for a promotion to U.S. House seat in an easy Democratic district (D+11).

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3. That district seat wasn't drawn yet when he dropped out.

He didn’t opt for a seat that didn’t even exist when he dropped out.

I know exactly what he said when he dropped out. I know Jeff personally - before he ran for office. He would not go negative on another Democrat, certainly not against Beasley, and he would rather drop out than divide the party.

And I know he’d have defeated both Tillis in 2020 and Budd in 2022. Tillis was ripe for defeat, especially in his home county and Budd was a resounding bore.

BTW, Repubs had drawn Jeff’s previous seat at R+3 and he won by +5.

He’s the best campaigner in NC, Rep or Dem. For a Dem to win NC they have to be great on the campaign trail.

Beasley is a wonderful person who was a lousy campaigner.

[W_HAMILTON]

4. And if Jackson was such a great campaigner, why couldn't he beat a "lousy campaigner" in a primary?

"Because Schumer" is your answer to that?

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5. You don't understand the NC dynamics at play.

He left early to avoid splitting the party. Beasley had just come off a loss in 2020 and still had a statewide network. Jeff announced early and Beasley announced a few months later. You would have to know him to understand the sincerity about not scoring points at the expense of primary opponent . He knows he is young and has a future. He had no intention of making his name at her expense, either. Beasley will certainly support him in the future.

You can ask most other NC voters here and they will likely agree with me about his campaign and communication skills that are appealing to voters young, old, and in between, liberals to moderates to moderate Repubs.

I don’t know why you decided this is the confrontation you wanted to have over this race, but, there is another side that can be heard here at DU. I am as loyal a Dem as they come and have worked earnestly for Dems for decades - I can make a criticism of the party leaders on occasion and when warranted. I earned it.

[W_HAMILTON]

7. I don't doubt that he has a bright future ahead of him.

What I do doubt is that he could have beaten Beasley in the primary, when she had much better name recognition, already showed that she could win at the state level, and -- as you yourself admitted -- had a statewide network already in place.

And blaming party leaders or the party for a candidate's failures is not going to help that candidate going forward, as we have seen with other candidates that claimed """rigging""" when they lost, only to go on to lose future primaries as well because voters wanted to make it clear to them that they are the ultimate deciders and there is no """rigging""" going on here.

Luckily, from what I've seen, he is not the one making the same claims that you are, so he is doing the right thing.

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9. Well, he wouldn't say it publicly, would he?

As I would only say this at DU amongst my DU family.

Why you want to continue to throw knives is a bit perplexing.

But, I’ll continue with some facts about N.C. for you, in a sharing is caring sense.

Beasley won in 2008 when it was a great year for Dem candidates after the failures of 8yrs of BushCheney. Obama won NC. Judges were not designated by Party on the ballots. When red wave happened in 2010 and again in 2012, the GOP controlled the NCGA. One of the changes they made was to force judges to run partisan political campaigns. We worked our asses off on the ground here to retain as many Dems as possible. DU even chipped in to help fund Mecklenburg County’s ‘blue ballots’ passed out at voting locations to advise Dem voters which judges were Dems. We won, overall, then but, still lost some judicial ground statewide. In 2016 McCrory was very unpopular and we got Cooper in. Cooper appointed Beasley to her seat as Chief Justice. She lost in 2020 when she had to run for the seat. Cooper won.

The differences in N.C. between 2008-2010 and 2020-2022 are enormous. Beasley, a great candidate on paper, is not the great campaigner that was needed to win statewide.

I’m sorry it bugs you to hear it, but, it is the truth.

[W_HAMILTON]

11. Yes, there is a difference since Beasley won statewide.

And that difference is also why Jackson would have almost assuredly lost the Senate race, just like the other two Democrats did before him.

What bugs me is blaming others for a candidate being unable to win their primary. Go on with the conspiracy theory. Play it out. Do you think Schumer wanted to lose this Senate seat? If Jackson was such an incredible candidate and sure to win statewide, why would he have not supported him? Go on, answer.

It's not some big conspiracy theory to be in favor of a candidate that the voters prefer and that had all the advantages I mentioned in my previous message and NOT be in favor of a divisive primary, which is apparently what it would have taken for Jackson to beat Beasley.

I now know that the reason you are intent to blame others for these (most likely inevitable) losses in NC is because you are apparently personal friends with Jackson, but that doesn't mean others that aren't as personally invested are going to go along with your unfair criticism here.

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12. He stopped competing when he dropped out early.

He did not lose in a vote. He chose the party and its future unity over personal ambition.

Think what you like, since you’re hellbent on turning this into an ugly confrontation. The man in the video is the person who would be Sen. from NC had he not been a more gracious and faithful Dem than most. He didn’t just acquire his communications skill when he became a Congressman. He’s been a stellar communicator before he ever ran for office. And he just gets better year after year.

I think Schumer looked at Jackson and saw someone young who had time and didn’t feel the need to look further into him. I think he was unaware that Jackson possessed campaign skills that could rival Clinton in his prime.

If other folks from NC weigh in, I think most will agree with me that Jackson would have been the strongest candidate to run for Senate. It’s not just me, W_. That’s where you are wrong.

[W_HAMILTON]

13. And I think you're wrong...

...to blame Schumer and then go even further and claim that he didn't know much about Jackson.

If Jackson is so incredible, he could have run a "clean" primary campaign and still won. It wouldn't have been divisive as long as he (and Beasley) chose not to make it divisive.

Beto is an incredible campaigner, too, and yet he didn't win statewide in Texas. And blaming him for the red nature of Texas is just as silly as blaming Beasley -- or worse, Schumer -- for the red nature of North Carolina.

[Celerity]

8. I was more frustrated that Jackson did not run against the turgid Tillis in 2020, leaving us to

toss our eggs into the Cunningham basket, who then blew his chance with the affair and sexting scandal. (Cunningham had already lost a Senate campaign before 2020 as well).

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10. That was Schumer's decision, too.

Jackson was ready then and would have pounded Tillis in his home County. Schumer got behind Cunningham.

[BlackSkimmer]

6. Schumer should have supported Beasley.

Real damn shame the powers that be ignored this race.

Never underestimate NC, on either side. We need good Dems, and we have them here.