NOT Endorsed by a Screech Owl

It must mean something that a North Carolina Republican, when announcing his candidacy for public office in next year's elections, feels compelled to say right off the bat, "I'm not crazy!"

That's how we read Mecklenburg County Republican Dan Bishop's announcement that he will run for the District 104 seat now held by Rep. Ruth Samuelson, who is stepping down.

“I’m known to people in that House district,” Bishop said. “They know who I am. They know me to be conservative. They know me not to be a bomb-thrower, to be an effective advocate.”

That term "effective advocate" kinda stands out, because when Bishop declined to run again for the Mecklenburg County Commission in 2008 (after serving two terms), he said on departing, "I don’t think I’ve been terribly effective as a member of that board."

Does this mean that the comatose "moderates" (the uncrazy ones) in the North Carolina Republican Party are going to reassert themselves statewide next year? Will a country club Republican like Thom Tillis lead a resurgence of "I'm not completely bonkers" politicians who'll pull the state back from the brink? 

No, probably not, at least not in any numbers to make a difference.