The Republican National Committee has not been doing well. Not long after RNC money was spent on a lesbian bondage themed nightclub, it has recently come to the attention of the press (and the FEC) that the Republican National Committee failed to report a whopping $3 million in debt. In addition to this snafu, though it seems likely that the Republican party looks forward to many victories in November, the Republican party is allegedly facing difficulties fundraising, likely mostly a result of a bad economy and a lack of general public interest in non-Presidential political races. In short, the RNC in 2010, though arguably in a better position than in 2008, is having problems.

Governor Bev Perdue is now calling on the NC Legislature to pass a $17m small business assistance package, entitled JobsNOW, that will offer a lot of tax credits and assistance from the local government to small businesses. The idea is, of course, to focus on smaller NC-based businesses, particularly for state contracts, and to avoid putting too much precedent on bigger multi-state corporations that (supposedly) do not bring in as much cash to NC residents. You can read all of her plans on her website, but the long and short of it is that she wants to provide a cornucopia of tax incentives for new businesses and businesses looking for capital, as well as reinforce main street business and tourism, two somewhat dying industries in NC.

Because of lavish, highly inappropriate spending by the national GOP, NC GOP chairman Tom Fetzer is demanding that national GOP chairman Michael Steele resign. This all comes after the revelation that one or more staffers (including Erik Brown) of the GOP went to an erotic bondage nightclub in Los Angeles, spending over $2,000 on the GOP dime. As you can imagine, the above scandal is incredibly offensive, especially to donors who gave money to the party recently.

Clearly, despite their behavior attempting to indicate otherwise, the GOP still has some serious internal issues that make it appear to be more of a lewd old boy’s club than an actual political party. It’s not too hard to see the move being made by the NC GOP — disassociate themselves with the national scandals and save themselves from being dragged down by them. The big question, of course, is how effective this will be: the GOP has done very well at rallying a base for the November elections, but scandals like the whole bondage club issue run the risk of destroying all their progress. The NCDP might have a chink in their opponent’s armor.

If you haven’t seen it on the national news, you’ll hear it here – an interracial couple in Lowell has been the subject of frequent racist attacks on their home, including “We will burn you out” spray painted on the side of their home and a noose with a note being left in front of their door. Apparently the messages have been pretty standard and expected, though frightening for 2010 — one message said “We don’t approve. End it,”, further claiming “If your daddy knew what you was doing he’d flip over in the grave”. Backwoods racism has not left NC. One can only hope that the police in the area catch these people (who supposedly may not even live in Lowell) and prosecute them as quickly and as harshly as possible — behavior like this doesn’t help NC look good on the national stage.