What's the Real Reason?

Charlotte Republican Ruth Samuelson, a leading contender to replace Thom Tillis as Speaker of the NC House, announced abruptly yesterday that she would not be running for reelection.

Thunderstruck. That's not too strong a word for the reaction the announcement produced across the state among politicos. Many thought she'd rise to be the first female Speaker of the House.

Samuelson told the Charlotte Observer that "she decided that a continued political career would take too much time from other passions, 'philanthropy, faith and family.' She also plans to pursue business opportunities."

“We realized that my current trajectory in the House ruled out a lot of other things that are more important to us,” she told the Observer. “We’ve got a lot of awesome opportunities. We wanted to be more intentional.”

That statement has enough protruding improbabilities and curious turns of phrase to keep the exegesis going for months.