--- title: Stop Talking About the Other Guy - July 14 2026 description: How negative campaigning in North Carolina’s Senate race could help elect Roy Cooper — and what unaffiliated voters want instead. canonical_url: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/stop-talking-about-the-other-guy-july-14-2026 language: en-US date: 2026-07-14T13:00:39Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/stop-talking-about-the-other-guy-july-14-2026. markdown-tokens: 1005 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/stop-talking-about-the-other-guy-july-14-2026. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ![Balance Between Attack Ads and Positive Ads](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/daily_update/2026/July/july14/july142026-article.png) Stop talking about the other guy. This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Tuesday July 14, 2026. A [Pew Research](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/09/19/americans-dismal-views-of-the-nations-politics/) poll found that around 8 in 10 Americans say Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems. A study done by the [Independent Center](https://www.independentcenter.org/articles/a-nation-in-transition-what-independent-voters-are-really-saying) in April of this year hones this problem down to the unaffiliated voter – the largest voting bloc in North Carolina which will decide the upcoming midterm elections. What they found is that independent voters: - Are tired of being talked down to. - Crave honesty—even when it’s uncomfortable. - Want leaders who can admit complexity and reject tribalism. In [short](https://www.independentcenter.org/articles/a-nation-in-transition-what-independent-voters-are-really-saying), “they are rejecting party conformity in favor of practical, issue-based decision-making. “ In other words, stop bashing the other guy. Stop calling him or her a communist, socialist, or any other “ist” in order to instill fear or loathing. Stop trying to convince voters that America will fall into a humanist hell-hole if they elect a Democrat and that all of our freedoms will come to an abrupt end if Republicans do not stay in political power. For candidates and political parties, this approach simply will not work. Independent voters hate it – and more and more persuadable Republican voters are being turned off by it. Michael Whatley’s Senatorial campaign seemingly has not received this message yet. While there is [some evidence](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/north-carolina-news/election-2026-cooper-poll-lead-tightened-to-4-points) Mr. Whatley’s very targeted negative ads against Roy Cooper has driven up the former governor’s “negative rating” – in the end it is the candidate’s own positive rating that wins elections. One look at Mr. Whatley’s [issue’s page](https://michaelwhatley.com/issues/) shows the problem. Governor Cooper is referenced 13 times. President Trump and his policies are referenced 6 times. Mr. Whatley’s own proposals to stop immigration, stop crime, and address high cost issues: precisely zero. He is either talking about how bad Roy Cooper was as governor, or how Mr. Whatley will just pass the Trump agenda if he is elected. That won’t work. Most Republican voters already know how big a problem Roy Cooper was when he was in the governor’s office. Independent voters simply do not care. But what independent voters and persuadable Republican voters really want to know is how Mr. Whatley – not President Trump – will solve the issues that effect North Carolina residents on a daily basis. To be clear, Roy Cooper will be a terrible Senator for North Carolina. But until Mr. Whatley stops trying to get people to vote against Mr. Cooper and instead turns all his energy into convincing people to vote for him, we need to get used to the idea of Senator Roy Cooper. For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.