In NC politics, the governor has often been Jan to the legislature’s Marcia. Until now.

North Carolina Republicans have a legislative supermajority, which is great news if you’re a Democratic governor who needs to slip out of the office on a Friday afternoon to crank the siren at a Carolina Hurricanes fan event.

For more than a year — since Rep. Tricia Cotham changed from a D to an R — Gov. Roy Cooper’s job has had the pizzazz of instant oatmeal.

Attend ribbon-cutting and dirt-shoveling ceremonies here and there, get snarky with Republican lawmakers and occasionally call into the Joe Ovies & Joe Giglio podcast to talk about the Canes and ACC sports.

His legislative agenda is like a Pilates class a lot of repetitive stretching followed by silent wincing. First, present an annual budget that is summarily ignored. And then veto Republican-backed bills that get overridden like a point guard driving the lane on Armando Bacot.

In “Brady Bunch” parlance, the governor has been Jan and House Speaker Tim Moore his Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

But politics can have the feel of a sitcom or a high-number cable channel reality show. There are twists that can turn silent sufferers into TikTok trenders.

Suddenly, Roy Cooper overshadows the legislature

That’s how the instant oatmeal life of a Democratic governor overshadowed by a Republican legislature in a so-called swing state suddenly became avocado toast.

For the past week, The News & Observer audience has been fixated on stories about Cooper, his campaign record and whether he’ll be the vice presidential pick after Kamala Harris officially becomes the Democrats’ nominee for president.

Kyle Ingram’s NC Reality Check story titled “If Harris picks NC’s Cooper for VP, would that hand the governor’s job to Mark Robinson?” drew a lot of interest and conversation, according to our audience analytics.

And when Cooper held a press gathering on Thursday, The N&O’s Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan reported how he demurred and dodged the veep question but dropped a Hollywood-style diss on the other dude who wants to be vice president.

It’s a bit surreal how 67-year-old Cooper has been thrust into the trendy stratosphere of young adults disguised as potential voters.

Harris — at 59 and within a few years of being Social Security eligible — is comparatively a “meme queen and brat” (both good things apparently) in a social-influencer environment that won’t be mistaken for public-policy discussions on C-SPAN.

The age issue and Raleigh

Ageism factors heavily into Americanism these days. And Raleigh helped weave this current discussion.

President Joe Biden was in Raleigh for a June 28 campaign stop one day after his debate with former President Donald Trump. “I know I’m not a young man,” Biden said in an N&O story about the rally. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, and I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”

Then, on July 20, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to Raleigh and addressed state Democrats. Pelosi reportedly had advised Biden that he could lose and hamper down-ballot races. The N&O story by Dawn Vaughan had this prescient headline: “In NC, Nancy Pelosi says: ‘Elections are about what you are going to do next.’”

The next day, 81-year-old Biden withdrew as the Democratic nominee for president.

The Americanist view leans heavily on respecting wisdom and experience — until we don’t. Our impatience explains the shot clock, the pitch clock and even instant oatmeal. We’re in a hurry to know what’s next. That’s our politics.

And that is why our governor’s future is more intriguing than his tie selections and sock choices.

The Coop has become colorful. At least for now.

Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He prefers slow-cooked oatmeal with blueberries and a bit of butter.