NC 12th Congressional District

Man, do I feel sorry for Jack Brosch. I think he's going to get a rather severe beating during the upcoming election because by voters alone he's outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, and that's using math that stretches the realm of possibility awfully thin. Mel Watt is also raising over $800 for every dollar Brosch raises. If you just want to look at cash on hand for the race, Mel Watt's got him beat by just shy of three orders of magnitude! The whole race is damn near pathetic; it's going to be like watching a kindergartner flail at a sumo-wrestler. This won't so much be an election as it will be a pro-longed victory lap.

That's a shame. For starters, the NC 12th is incredibly gerrymandered, to the point where the Democratic Party advantage is something like 300% over a straight race against a Republican candidate, and I for one possess a dripping disdain for many Congressman Watt's positions. I'd dearly love for there to be more conversation about these issues, but the Congressman would be smart to not debate him because it would give Brosch the pittance of credibility he needs to be considered a throw-away candidate. It even looks like the RNC is also leaving Brosch out in the cold too, since he's fundraising is so low, and he's got zero media presence other than what is essentially free.

To be fair, Brosch is a rather lack-luster candidate. In this district, his best bet is to run as a moderate or slightly left of center Republican, but many of his positions are taken quite literally from the GOP script on their website (a point he boldly, and rather foolishly, makes all too clear). His website is also absolutely rife with spelling and grammatical errors, which a good way of convincing educated voters to steer clear of him. I'm sure a dedicated "Errorist" could find mistakes aplenty on my own blog, but even my own untrained eye takes a vicarious beating from Blosch's assault on the English language. Congressman Watts even has the guy beaten in appearance, considering that at 67 he looks a decade younger than Brosch (I can't find any hard numbers for his age, but his Facebook profile has him graduating in 1976, putting him in his mid to early 50's).

Ultimately, what Brosch fails is the quick glance take-away. He doesn't exude confidence, leadership, charm, or intellect. Don't get me wrong, Brosch may well possess many or all of these traits (I certainly do not know the man), but his machinations for getting his positions out do not assist him in conveying these traits at all. People vote on issues, but they are also looking for leadership. If Brosch can't get around these image problems, he won't get a chance to discuss his positions on the issues at all.