Local Wingnuttery

From the Charlotte Observer, which requires subscription, so here's the gist:

Republican candidate Doug Hanks said Thursday that he will exit the Charlotte City Council race, after his postings on a white supremacist Internet site became public.

In more than 4,000 posts on stormfront.org, Hanks railed against blacks and Jews, touted his instruction book on building a homemade rifle and recruited people to rally against Charlotte's decision to remove the Confederate flag from Elmwood Cemetery.

But he isn't really a racist. He was just acting! Those 4,000 posts were necessary for research he's doing for a novel.

"A novelist is an actor and they have to become the part of what they are portraying, and that is what I did," he said. "And unfortunately, it blew up in my face."

For some reason, his campaign Web site is down now.

I don't think a nutjob like this actually could get elected in Charlotte. But they're definitely still out there.