The Party Bails on Its Own Guy: GOP Yanks Millions From Whatley's Sinking Ship

Money talks. And in politics, money leaving the room screams.

Six and a half million dollars. That is what the Republican-aligned super PAC Old North Action just walked away from. (cite index="1">The group cut $6.5 million in October ad reservations in North Carolina's Senate race, according to political ad tracker AdImpact. When your own side's donors decide their cash is better spent in some other state, that is not a strategy tweak. That is a vote of no confidence, whispered in the language these people actually understand.

And it is not just one PAC getting cold feet. (cite index="1">The Senate Leadership Fund, the main GOP Senate super PAC, also dropped about $900,000 in broadcast reservations while adding $400,000 in digital. They call it routine. A Western Carolina political scientist called it something closer to the truth: (cite index="2">an early sign that some national money thinks North Carolina may not be in play anymore.

Meet Michael Whatley, the man the party can't quit fast enough. Former RNC chairman, former North Carolina GOP chairman, and, before all that, (cite index="5">an energy industry lobbyist for Big Oil and utility companies. Trump didn't just endorse him. Trump built him. (cite index="6">Trump encouraged Whatley to run, endorsed his campaign when he launched in late July, and the RNC gave him an early boost by approving national party resources for his campaign even before he had won the primary. The president literally posted a "mission" for North Carolina Republicans: get Whatley to run.

So how is the handpicked golden boy doing? He is getting his teeth kicked in. (cite index="3">A Harper Polling survey, a GOP-affiliated pollster, put Cooper up 49 to 34, a 15-point lead and Cooper's largest yet in that poll. The RealClearPolitics average is kinder to Whatley and still ugly: (cite index="4">Cooper at 49.3 percent to Whatley's 41 as of September 22, an 8.3-point gap. Whatley's problem isn't just that voters dislike him. It's that they don't know him. (cite index="7">Nearly a third of voters still have no opinion of Whatley or have never heard of him, and among those who do know him, 42 percent view him unfavorably against just 26 percent favorable.

Here is the punchline the money already figured out. Trump is the anchor, not the life raft. (cite index="8">Republicans privately say the key battleground for Senate control may be out of reach as Whatley's ties to the president bog him down. The Washington Post reported the party is (cite index="8">privately conceding it appears set to lose the seat unless Trump's poor approval ratings improve dramatically. The man's own approval in North Carolina has cratered to 31 percent, in a state he carried three straight times. His answer to the crisis? At a Gastonia rally he told the crowd to (cite index="9">"Pretend I'm on the ballot." Sir, that is the problem.

The cash gap tells the same story the polls do. (cite index="5">Cooper raised roughly $35 million to Whatley's little over $11 million, and entered July with more than $20 million on hand against Whatley's $3.5 million. A lobbyist who spent a career raising other people's money can't seem to raise his own. Now the outside groups that were supposed to bail him out are quietly checking the exits.

Whatley spent years as the guy who told other Republicans how to win. Turns out running the machine and being the candidate are different jobs. The receipts are in, and his own party is reading them. MUCK YOU!