Pat's worried

By Anglico at BlueNC:

I've seen a lot of bone-headed stunts in politics over the years, but this stupid move takes the cake.

HICKORY - Nearly 80 percent of Republicans approve of Patrick McHenry’s job performance - at least according to the congressman’s poll. And if the party’s primary matched him against two well-known GOP candidates, he would easily win.

These are the findings of a poll conducted by Tel Opinion Research and commissioned by McHenry’s campaign last month. McHenry’s re-election campaign announced the results Tuesday.

Hmmmm. Last month's poll conveniently released right on the heels of Patty's love-fest with the Prince of Darkness? Sounds a bit like paranoia to me.

McHenry would defeat Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman in a hypothetical rematch of their 2004 primary by a resounding 67 percent to 12 percent, according to the poll. McHenry defeated the sheriff by less than 2 percent in 2004.

The poll left Huffman confused and drew some rancor from the longtime politician, reminiscent of the bitter 2004 campaign. Huffman said the research was a “push” poll, where respondents are influenced into siding with one candidate. Huffman, who says he has no intention of running for Congress again, added the poll was “gutter politics.”

“I don’t understand why he would mention my name,” Huffman said. “It sounds to me like he’s paranoid. It’s very unprofessional. I hate to see politics stoop to this level.”

Did he say paranoid?

In another potential contest, McHenry beats District Attorney Jay Gaither by a 69 percent to 8 percent margin. Gaither’s campaign treasurer Eric Farr released a statement in response.

“I know that our District Attorney Jay Gaither’s time and attention is focused on protecting the families of Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties,” it read. “I am surprised that Patrick McHenry would spend time and money on attempting to gauge public opinion through a poll at this time. The current economic situation in the 10th District is not good, and we feel the congressman’s time and energy would be better spent focusing on bringing jobs to our district.”

Attempts to reach McHenry for further comment were unsuccessful.

"Attempts to reach McHenry for further comment were unsuccessful?" It sounds like this reporter is starting to understand how the people of McHenry's district feel.

PS The "research" company Pat hired is the same bunch of Replicants who do polling for the Civitas Circus. They've never met a question they couldn't twist to get whatever answer they want.