The Limping Rep in the NC House

 

Up front, I'm not going to name him. He's been called out plenty by others and criticized widely as the next House Democrat most likely to turn his coat and defect to the Republicans. He's been written up extensively by Bryan Anderson and a couple of days ago in the Raleigh News & Observer for his absenteeism and his history of voting with the Republicans on key issues. He missed the crucial vote on the veto override of S 382, and a fellow Democrat in the House said it was because he really isn't a Democrat.

I'm not naming him because he's already developed a persecution complex (is that still a thing?), and he's obviously fragile and unstable. After he missed the veto override vote on S 382, he put out a statement that he was being scapegoated by the Democratic caucus and that he was being treated exactly like Tricia Cotham was before she turned traitor, and he channeled a little Will Smith (of the Academy Award Slap Heard Round the World): “For those in our party who desire to keep my name in their mouths, let me make it plain and clear for you: Over these next two years, you need me,” Brockman said. “I do not need you.” Bam.

Message received, Sir. Your name is not in my mouth this morning.

Democrats in his Guilford County House district primaried him last spring, and apparently his constituents were somewhat conflicted about him, for he squeaked out his win by only 89 votes in a very low turnout election. If the voters were sending a message about his loyalty to the party, he clearly didn't get it.

Fragile and unstable? Yes. After the March primary, he admitted to a reporter with the News and Observer that he'd suffered through a mental breakdown in 2023, and his excuse after his most recent absence was that he "felt sick" and “prioritized my health.”

He's in a pressure cooker. His caucus expects his loyalty, and when they get jilted, they make noises so that the press and the wider public takes notice, and the catcalls grow exponentially. He's clearly an unhappy man, a distressed and lonely man, "scapegoated" (as he says) and certainly isolated, and the wolves on the Republican side know that the limping member of the herd is the one you pick off. 

For his own health and well being and for the good of the party that he says he still belongs to, he needs to resign.