NC GOP Senate Candidate Michael Whatley is hitting every county, even ones that are in Virginia! Former 11th District GOP Chair Michele Woodhouse updates us on the campaign's latest misstep.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Over the weekend, and this is something that we had
talked about last week, if I'm not mistaken, was the
wondering where was Michael Watley been, who's running for Senate
here in North Carolina. And, well, apparently he was here
(00:24):
over the weekend. I'm not really sure that anybody told
him he was here. he was going to be up
in Jackson County. And he gave a quote to WBT.
(00:45):
He gave a quote to WBT that he was going
to be in Jackson County, and then he was going
to be up in Spotsylvania County. Tank. I'm not familiar
with the Spotsylvania County, North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
No, I don't think that's. No. But we have a Transylvania. Yeah,
we do have a Transylvania County. But now Spotsylvania County
is a little bit north of us in the state
of Virginia. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So our good friend, former District 11 chairwoman Michelle Woodhouse
is with us from Virginia. Well, Michelle, I don't even
know what to make of this, to be honest with you.
We were asking the question last week, where is Michael
Watley been? And apparently he was in Western North Carolina
(01:33):
this weekend, but nobody knew.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, and it is a continued problem with Michael Watley
and his campaign that no one knows where he is.
And apparently Michael Watley doesn't know where he is because
he was in Spotsylvania County in Virginia.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah. Okay, so he's aware he's not running in Virginia, right?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Well, I hope so, and I hope that Michael Watley
is recognizing especially that coming to western North Carolina, areas
that he is supposed to be, the hurricanes are over,
that this would be an opportunity to really engage with
a lot of voters, get your name out, continue to
show people that you're fighting for the victims of Hurricane Helene, but...
(02:19):
Yet again, Michael Watley is running a campaign that has
so many of us in the GOP just scratching our head.
You almost can't be this bad on purpose, and we're
just trying to figure out what's next as we go into–
it's kind of a dull time, right, July? But as
we go into the critical months upcoming, he has such
(02:39):
low name recognition. He's alienating members of the base. He's
making unforced errors with the– hurricane AI posts, lying about
being from the state of Michigan, not knowing what counties
he's visiting, and then just making on-the-ground blunders and not
letting local GOP and elected officials or the media know
(03:01):
he's going to be there so that he can get
his message out. It's really bewildering.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I guess the part of it that is so kind
of asinine for everybody here in western North Carolina, and
I would say probably you yourself included in this, is that,
you know, we're all still trying to get back from
a hurricane. We're all still trying to, people are still
trying to rebuild. People are still trying to get back
on their feet again. This is the guy that was
(03:29):
in charge of it. And it's not even, you're not
showing up to campaign for your Senate campaign. Like you're
not showing up to answer questions for your job, sir.
Like the current job.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Absolutely. And he hasn't been answering those questions for bumping
up on two years now, as you and I both know.
He came here on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene,
had a very short 45-minute, perhaps, locked-door meeting, didn't let
the media in, didn't let people know he was coming,
hasn't published really any report of any substantive nature around
(04:08):
what they've done, and then went on and had a
fundraiser for himself.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, that ain't going to fly.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Not long term, at least.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, and you have people, to your point, who are
still trying to rebuild. And I am so grateful for
the work that our local elected officials have done. They've
done at the federal level getting money allocated to Western
North Carolina. But I think you and I both know this.
That money is not making it to the ground. It's
not making it to the areas that people need help
(04:40):
to rebuild roads and bridges. You know, we still have
a giant blue tarp hanging in our neighborhood, a home
that is sinking into the ground. They can't get their
home knocked down for at least six more months. And
they're awaiting their $ 45, 000 track, I think, or whatever they
get from FEMA. And we're seeing the impact, continued impact here.
(05:02):
And what's unfortunate for Michael Watley, I think he was
set up for failure as the hurricanes are. I mean,
there was just no way that that was going to
be a winning opportunity for him. But own it. step
into it, be on the ground talking to people. I'm
just not sure what his campaign is doing. We went
to dinner on Saturday night with some local GOP folks.
(05:25):
And one of the things that was so interesting at
the table is people were saying their neighbors, not political
people like us who are really in it, were saying...
who's running not who is michael watley right who's running
right with the republican and that is of great concern
bumping up on the middle of july running to get
someone like roy cooper who is just a statewide machine
(05:48):
And it does look like, from things I'm hearing in D.C.,
that the money that's been promised to North Carolina is
not coming here for that race. They recognize it's a
lost cause. The dollars will be allocated to places like
New Hampshire, Michigan, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Where there's a shot.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Where there's a shot. Absolutely. If you can flip a
seat in New Hampshire, you can hold that Senate seat
for the greater part of a decade or longer. Two,
three terms. He's so popular. Do you put money in
a barrel in North Carolina and set it on fire?
And then we're going to see it here in the 11th.
Our friend Dr. Chris Cooper just dropped a great article.
(06:25):
NC11 is really going to be all eyes and the
nation will be here because Michael Watley is so weak
above Chuck Edwards. Jamie Ager is a Roy Cooper-esque kind
of Democrat in the way he's campaigning. Right. How much
impact is that going to have on Congressman Edwards' race?
I think probably significant.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, it certainly sounds that way. Just real quickly, Michelle,
I got about 90 seconds left. The loss of South
Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham over the weekend, certainly a shock
to so many. I don't think anybody realized, obviously he
didn't either, that he was maybe as ill as he was. But,
you know, looking at it from your perspective, I know
(07:07):
you've had a long history with the D.C.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Folks.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
What do you think this means for the party moving forward?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Well, I mean, whether you agree with Lindsey Graham on
a lot of issues or not, I think there was
no one who fought harder. Watching that Kavanaugh hearing over
and over as a conservative just fires you up. He
is a big loss. But what I'm going to challenge
our North Carolina senator, Tom Tillis, to do is honor
(07:32):
your colleague and pass the SAVE Act. do the thing
that Lindsey Graham wanted his legacy to be and honor
him in that way. I think South Carolina is going
to hold that seat as a Republican, but my goodness,
were the vultures not circling just minutes after the announcement
of his death, and that was really unfortunate. It'll be
(07:54):
interesting to see South Carolina does things a little bit
differently than we would do here in North Carolina in
that replacement, but it'll be interesting to watch. They're going
to have a primary august 11th and of course we
get as much south carolina news here north carolina news
so we're going to feel like we're right in the
middle of that race um hopefully republicans will be smart
(08:15):
they will align behind one person that primary will cost
south carolina voters no money and we can get very
focused on an easy easy republican re-election there and um
replace a great conservative fighter like we had in senator
graham There we go.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Michelle, always appreciate the time, my dear. Have a great
rest of your day.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You too. Thanks so much. You got it.
Over the weekend, and this is something that we had
talked about last week, if I'm not mistaken, was the
wondering where was Michael Watley been, who's running for Senate
here in North Carolina. And, well, apparently he was here
(00:24):
over the weekend. I'm not really sure that anybody told
him he was here. he was going to be up
in Jackson County. And he gave a quote to WBT.
(00:45):
He gave a quote to WBT that he was going
to be in Jackson County, and then he was going
to be up in Spotsylvania County. Tank. I'm not familiar
with the Spotsylvania County, North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
No, I don't think that's. No. But we have a Transylvania. Yeah,
we do have a Transylvania County. But now Spotsylvania County
is a little bit north of us in the state
of Virginia. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So our good friend, former District 11 chairwoman Michelle Woodhouse
is with us from Virginia. Well, Michelle, I don't even
know what to make of this, to be honest with you.
We were asking the question last week, where is Michael
Watley been? And apparently he was in Western North Carolina
(01:33):
this weekend, but nobody knew.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, and it is a continued problem with Michael Watley
and his campaign that no one knows where he is.
And apparently Michael Watley doesn't know where he is because
he was in Spotsylvania County in Virginia.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah. Okay, so he's aware he's not running in Virginia, right?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Well, I hope so, and I hope that Michael Watley
is recognizing especially that coming to western North Carolina, areas
that he is supposed to be, the hurricanes are over,
that this would be an opportunity to really engage with
a lot of voters, get your name out, continue to
show people that you're fighting for the victims of Hurricane Helene, but...
(02:19):
Yet again, Michael Watley is running a campaign that has
so many of us in the GOP just scratching our head.
You almost can't be this bad on purpose, and we're
just trying to figure out what's next as we go into–
it's kind of a dull time, right, July? But as
we go into the critical months upcoming, he has such
(02:39):
low name recognition. He's alienating members of the base. He's
making unforced errors with the– hurricane AI posts, lying about
being from the state of Michigan, not knowing what counties
he's visiting, and then just making on-the-ground blunders and not
letting local GOP and elected officials or the media know
(03:01):
he's going to be there so that he can get
his message out. It's really bewildering.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I guess the part of it that is so kind
of asinine for everybody here in western North Carolina, and
I would say probably you yourself included in this, is that,
you know, we're all still trying to get back from
a hurricane. We're all still trying to, people are still
trying to rebuild. People are still trying to get back
on their feet again. This is the guy that was
(03:29):
in charge of it. And it's not even, you're not
showing up to campaign for your Senate campaign. Like you're
not showing up to answer questions for your job, sir.
Like the current job.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Absolutely. And he hasn't been answering those questions for bumping
up on two years now, as you and I both know.
He came here on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene,
had a very short 45-minute, perhaps, locked-door meeting, didn't let
the media in, didn't let people know he was coming,
hasn't published really any report of any substantive nature around
(04:08):
what they've done, and then went on and had a
fundraiser for himself.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, that ain't going to fly.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Not long term, at least.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, and you have people, to your point, who are
still trying to rebuild. And I am so grateful for
the work that our local elected officials have done. They've
done at the federal level getting money allocated to Western
North Carolina. But I think you and I both know this.
That money is not making it to the ground. It's
not making it to the areas that people need help
(04:40):
to rebuild roads and bridges. You know, we still have
a giant blue tarp hanging in our neighborhood, a home
that is sinking into the ground. They can't get their
home knocked down for at least six more months. And
they're awaiting their $ 45, 000 track, I think, or whatever they
get from FEMA. And we're seeing the impact, continued impact here.
(05:02):
And what's unfortunate for Michael Watley, I think he was
set up for failure as the hurricanes are. I mean,
there was just no way that that was going to
be a winning opportunity for him. But own it. step
into it, be on the ground talking to people. I'm
just not sure what his campaign is doing. We went
to dinner on Saturday night with some local GOP folks.
(05:25):
And one of the things that was so interesting at
the table is people were saying their neighbors, not political
people like us who are really in it, were saying...
who's running not who is michael watley right who's running
right with the republican and that is of great concern
bumping up on the middle of july running to get
someone like roy cooper who is just a statewide machine
(05:48):
And it does look like, from things I'm hearing in D.C.,
that the money that's been promised to North Carolina is
not coming here for that race. They recognize it's a
lost cause. The dollars will be allocated to places like
New Hampshire, Michigan, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Where there's a shot.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Where there's a shot. Absolutely. If you can flip a
seat in New Hampshire, you can hold that Senate seat
for the greater part of a decade or longer. Two,
three terms. He's so popular. Do you put money in
a barrel in North Carolina and set it on fire?
And then we're going to see it here in the 11th.
Our friend Dr. Chris Cooper just dropped a great article.
(06:25):
NC11 is really going to be all eyes and the
nation will be here because Michael Watley is so weak
above Chuck Edwards. Jamie Ager is a Roy Cooper-esque kind
of Democrat in the way he's campaigning. Right. How much
impact is that going to have on Congressman Edwards' race?
I think probably significant.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, it certainly sounds that way. Just real quickly, Michelle,
I got about 90 seconds left. The loss of South
Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham over the weekend, certainly a shock
to so many. I don't think anybody realized, obviously he
didn't either, that he was maybe as ill as he was. But,
you know, looking at it from your perspective, I know
(07:07):
you've had a long history with the D.C.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Folks.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
What do you think this means for the party moving forward?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Well, I mean, whether you agree with Lindsey Graham on
a lot of issues or not, I think there was
no one who fought harder. Watching that Kavanaugh hearing over
and over as a conservative just fires you up. He
is a big loss. But what I'm going to challenge
our North Carolina senator, Tom Tillis, to do is honor
(07:32):
your colleague and pass the SAVE Act. do the thing
that Lindsey Graham wanted his legacy to be and honor
him in that way. I think South Carolina is going
to hold that seat as a Republican, but my goodness,
were the vultures not circling just minutes after the announcement
of his death, and that was really unfortunate. It'll be
(07:54):
interesting to see South Carolina does things a little bit
differently than we would do here in North Carolina in
that replacement, but it'll be interesting to watch. They're going
to have a primary august 11th and of course we
get as much south carolina news here north carolina news
so we're going to feel like we're right in the
middle of that race um hopefully republicans will be smart
(08:15):
they will align behind one person that primary will cost
south carolina voters no money and we can get very
focused on an easy easy republican re-election there and um
replace a great conservative fighter like we had in senator
graham There we go.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Michelle, always appreciate the time, my dear. Have a great
rest of your day.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You too. Thanks so much. You got it.
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