North Carolina is a battleground state — but for a lot more than the presidency. In the most-watched race outside of the White House, all eyes have been on the fierce bout between Governor Pat McCrory (R) and liberal challenger Roy Cooper (D), the Tarheels’ attorney general. Pitted against not only each other but the raging debate over bathroom safety and privacy, Cooper and McCrory couldn’t present a starker choice to voters.

That much was clear [Tuesday] night, as the two went at it in the final tilt before voters have their say November 8. Although the debate spanned everything from teacher pay to hurricane relief, the evening’s testiest exchange was over H.B. 2 — the law that gives local employers the freedom to set their own policies on things like restrooms, locker rooms and shower access. Of course, as Governor McCrory has pointed out for the last seven months, the bill wouldn’t have been necessary if the city of Charlotte hadn’t forced businesses to throw open their doors to both genders, regardless of the liabilities or the company’s beliefs. “Do y'all even know what the penalty was in Charlotte for someone [who] did not accept gender identity as the new requirement in identifying if you’re a boy or girl?” McCrory told the audience. “It was a fine of $500 and/or a 30-day jail sentence. This is what we overturned. That’s why we took action.” It certainly wasn’t because McCrory was looking for a fight. “The Left brought up this issue,” he reminded voters, “not the Right.”

Seven months after H.B. 2’s passage, McCrory is still weathering the storm. But as difficult as it’s been for the governor personally, I’m sure he would agree it was worth the political price to put the brakes on a threat to the privacy and safety of the citizens he was elected to serve. “I will not accept the radical changes that Roy Cooper and [Charlotte Mayor] Jennifer Roberts have brought to North Carolina. Had that not been there, I don’t think we would have had a problem. Because I don’t believe in any kind of discrimination.”

At one point in the debate, the governor explained that he’d been willing to compromise — but not on the definition of gender. I will not support the idea, he reiterated, that “we’re going to identify gender based on what you think you are.” Unlike too many Republicans, Governor McCrory had the courage to stand up and do the right thing — no matter how the Left has tried to distort the law or discredit him. Now, because of that fearlessness, he’s helping to lead a nationwide revolt against outrageous bathroom mandates like the president’s.

Late [Tuesday], that movement got a huge boost in federal court, when Judge Reed O'Connor slapped down the Obama administration’s request to limit the hold on the Department of Education’s order to let students of both sexes use any locker room, shower or restroom they want. At the end of the summer, the president’s edict was put on hold by the courts. Frustrated, the administration’s attorneys asked the court to lift the ban on implementing the policy in every state except 13 that are suing the government over it. Tuesday, O'Connor refused.

“It is clear from Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent that this Court has the power to issue a nationwide injunction where appropriate. Both Title IX and Title VII rely on the consistent, uniform application of national standards in education and workplace policy. A nationwide injunction is necessary because the alleged violation extends nationwide. Should the Court only limit the injunction to the plaintiff states who are a party to this cause of action, the Court risks a substantial likelihood that a geographically-limited injunction would be ineffective.”

Although the judge did agree that the government could continue defending its radical policy, he certainly made one thing clear: Governor McCrory is the one in the mainstream of thought on the issue — not Obama.

Originally published here.

Voters Have a Tamper Tantrum over Fraud

There’s been a lot of hype about other government’s meddling in the U.S. election process — but new footage from a James O'Keefe shows that the threat is not from bad actors in Russia but liberal political operatives here at home. In a series of jaw-dropping undercover videos, Americans have a front row seat to the highly sophisticated voter fraud going on right under the country’s nose. The explosive conversations captured Scott Foval, Deputy Political Director at People for the American Way (PFAW, the Soros funded group that operates Right Wing Watch, which works with the media to attack conservatives), describing in detail how the Democratic Party cheats the system — with the full knowledge of the Clinton campaign and DNC. In the first release, he talks more generally about the dirty tricks liberals have been using to disrupt Trump rallies, even going so far as to pay the “mentally ill” to create chaos at events for the GOP nominee.

“Over the last twenty years, I’ve paid off a few homeless guys to do some crazy stuff, and I’ve also taken them for dinner, and I’ve also made sure they had a hotel, and a shower. And I put them in a program. Like I’ve done that. But the reality is, a lot of people especially our union guys. A lot of our union guys…they’ll do whatever you want. They’re rock and roll. When I need to get something done in Arkansas, the first guy I call is the head of the AFL-CIO down there, because he will say, ‘What do you need?’ And I will say, I need a guy who will do this, this and this. And they find that guy. And that guy will be like… yeah, let’s do it. It doesn’t matter what the friggin’ legal and ethics people say. We need to win… We’re starting anarchy here.”

The first phase involved “planting activists at Trump rallies to provoke violence. The goal was to show that Trump supporters were extremists, prone to violence, a theme Mrs. Clinton herself has sounded repeatedly.” Bragging about how many operatives were on standby to execute the plan around the country, Foval made it quite clear that the strategy comes from the top. “The [Clinton] campaign pays the DNC, the DNC pays Democracy Partners. Democracy Partners pays the Foval Group. The Foval Group goes and executes…”

As disturbing as the “black ops” approach has been, it’s nothing compared to the group’s efforts to rig the election — also caught on tape. In the second video, Foval talks candidly about how the Left commits systematic voter fraud, discussing “how voters might be brought from outside Wisconsin … buying cars with Wisconsin plates to avoid looking suspicious. ‘We’ve been bussing people in … for 50 years, and we’re not going to stop now.” To avoid detection, Foval explains, “You use shells. Use shell companies. Cars come in from one company, the paychecks come from another. There’s no bus involved, so you can’t prove that it’s en masse, so it doesn’t tip people off.”

It’s a stunning admission, especially one day after President Obama brushed off accusations of ongoing tampering with the election process. Taking direct aim at Trump, who tweeted that “Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before Election Day,” Obama told the GOP nominee to “stop whining” and insisted the claims were based “on no facts.” That’s interesting, since his own Secretary for Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, has spent a good deal of the summer warning about the threats to America’s voting system. Vowing to “leave no stone unturned,” Johnson promised to tighten security around the November 8 event. Johnson went so far as to say he may declare the election system a critical infrastructure, which would allow the federal government to exert control over what has long been a state and local matter.

If you’re concerned about the mass-scale corruption taking place, one way to make a difference is by volunteering in your community to work the polls. Contact your local political party and ask about the opportunities to poll watch. You may be the only thing standing in the way of widespread voting abuse! For more on the controversy, check out my interview on Fox Business with Neil Cavuto from [yesterday] afternoon.

Originally published here.

Knock Knock Knockin’ on Ecuador

What else is the Clinton campaign hiding? The Obama administration is going to great lengths to make sure you don’t find out. In a wild twist to the WikiLeaks data dumps, it has been reported that members of the U.S. government — including Secretary of State John Kerry — have been pressuring the leaders of Ecuador to cut off internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who sought political asylum from Ecuador and has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2014.

And it seems that lobbying worked, at least temporarily. In a stunning announcement [Tuesday], Ecuadorian leaders announced that the country “has exercised its sovereign right to temporarily restrict access to some of its private communications network within its Embassy.” The decision, officials said, had nothing to do with the bullying of American leaders (or, I’m sure, the U.S. financial assistance). Ecuador doesn’t interfere in foreign elections, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa insisted while — ironically — interfering in a foreign election. Making the move even more suspicious, Correa has been outspoken in his support of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the presidential election. “For the good of the United States and the world, and for my personal appreciation of her, I’d like to see Hillary win,” he told reporters last month. Now, suddenly, he decides to pull the plug on the internet access of a man with information that could damage her chances? How convenient.

Now, obviously, FRC doesn’t condone hacking. It’s not only criminal, but it’s a serious invasion of privacy and, in some cases, national security. That said, it’s more than a little ironic that the president’s party would be so transparent about their agenda to protect Hillary Clinton. The Democratic Establishment is clearly panicked. Their panic would suggest the emails insulting Catholics and implicating the Clinton Foundation in pay-to-play schemes with supporters of ISIS were just the tip of the iceberg. If the Obama administration will go to the great lengths of leaning on another government to censor Assange’s communications, there’s probably plenty of reason for concern about Clinton’s trustworthiness.

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.