From Staff Reports 

Politics is a world of words, and there is so much more to words than meets the eye.

Brian Turner, who has announced he will run against state Representative Tim Moffitt, claimed Moffitt asked him to drop out of the race. That was only one side of the story.

The comments were made at a Feb. 24 luncheon arranged by Buncombe County Commissioner David King, who later said he wished he had never gotten involved.

Allegedly, Moffitt not only asked Turner to step down so he could focus on just one campaign, that of House speaker; Moffitt supposedly indicated that he would reward Turner for dropping out of the race with a high-paying job at UNC-TV.

Turner had been serving as vice chancellor at UNC Asheville until he stepped down to run for the House, and UNC officials have indicated they will soon launch a talent search for a permanent director of UNC-TV. In his private life, Moffitt runs his company, Moffitt International, a professional head-hunter agency.

Moffitt said he was trying to pay Turner a compliment based on his talents and interest in television. Moffitt replied to the allegation with the insinuation that he did not have the connections to score Turner the position. “It would be easier for me to help him become the queen of Spain,” he quipped.

King was the only outside to witness to the conversation. He said the exchange sounded harmless. He agreed with his fellow-Republican Moffitt’s interpretation of the event. That is, Moffitt was only making a suggestion following Turner’s expression of interest in serving the public.

Moffitt further shared that he thought his opponent was somewhat of a rookie, and he tried at one point in the conversation to convey that legislators need thick skin. Turner took that as some kind of a threat. In addition to having his office decorated with anti-Moffitt cartoons, Moffitt has been the victim of Twitter account hackers who tried to make it look like he was a gay-basher.