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As If By Magic

Carter Wrenn posted on May 16, 2012 10:44

Awhile back, like incubi of old, mischievous Anony-mices descended on the News and Observer’s website and set up camp; giving themselves colorful names (the way wrestlers on TV do) like Tarheel Crusher, Yosephus and Agent Pierce (who describes himself as Agent Pierce, News Personality, Legendary Cyber Commando) they set about tormenting any hapless victim who happened by.

Before the Primary when the News and Observer reported George Holding had a poll showing him leading Paul Coble by a dozen points a coven of Pachyderm Anony-mices congregated on Under the Dome, piping George and I were liars and worse and they were still carrying on four days later. Then a cohort of Liberal Anony-mices wandered by and in seconds George and I were forgotten and the two tribes were tearing one another to shreds.

Awhile back the Anony-mices got to be such a nuisance News and Observer Editor John Drescher, perhaps in the hope that ending anonymous blog posting would lead to more civility, wrote a column offering to buy ‘Agent Pierce, News Personality’ lunch if he’d post his devilment under his own name but the legendary Cyber Commando declined.

But there is an ablution. Imagine this: Tomorrow morning when the Anony-mices open the newspaper there on the front page is a list of their monikers and, as if by magic, beside their pseudonyms are their real names.

Are you listening Yosephus, Tarheel Crusher and Agent Pierce? It could happen… tomorrow.

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Posted in: Raleigh , Issues

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Render Unto Caesar

Carter Wrenn posted on May 14, 2012 17:32

Back in 2010 instead of giving a million dollars to candidates the Democratic Party decided to give the money to local party officials to spend; it didn’t work out too well as the Democrats lost control of both the State House and Senate but it was popular with local officials who then elected bow-tied David Parker (who supported the plan) State Chairman.

Parker promptly landed in hot water by hiring Jay Parmley who promptly got accused of sexually harassing a young man which Parker promptly covered up with a financial settlement paying the young man to go away.

Next just about every major Democratic elected official said Parker had to go and, after a bit of foot shuffling, Parker agreed to go then added, Just give me a little time. The Democratic elected officials said Yes then got flummoxed. Parker went to the Democratic Executive Committee, resigned, then threw everyone a curveball – his advocates on the Committee rejected his resignation.

So how did a bow-tied gadfly outfox the Governor, the Lt. Governor and a bevy of Democratic Congressmen? The old-fashioned way. By promising the Executive Committee members he’d give them another million dollars to spend this election – instead of giving the money to candidates.

So here’s what’s happened in North Carolina politics over the last month: John Edwards’ trial, a sexual harassment scandal, two married lobbyists carrying on with two members of House Speaker Thom Tillis’ staff, a gadfly buying himself re-election with a million dollars of other people’s money, and the Governor of North Carolina enraging the whole state of Mississippi by announcing North Carolina had sunk to the level of Mississippi by banning gay marriage.

If we take the admonition to ‘render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ what on earth do we do now?

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Posted in: General, North Carolina - Democrats , North Carolina - Republicans

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Backwards

Carter Wrenn posted on May 14, 2012 11:15

Like almost everything else in modern times politics has changed – in odd ways. In the old days when Jesse would run for Senate the Republican parties scattered across counties across the state had one mission: They figured their job was to elect Republican candidates. A lot of times what they could do was limited because they didn’t have much money but what money they had they spent on candidates.

A decade into the third millennium those days have passed. Instead of giving money to candidates the local parties take money from candidates. A local party has a convention and a candidate has to pony up a donation to the party to get his name in the program; a local party hosts a banquet and a candidate has to make a contribution to set up a table or open a booth to pass out brochures or bumper stickers. According to the newspaper Sunday a week ago, one local party Chairman is actually taking legal action against a candidate who wrote the local party a bad check.

That’s modern times – but it sure seems like the old timers had a better way of doing things.

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Posted in: General, North Carolina - Republicans

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Fact Checking the Fact Checkers

Carter Wrenn posted on May 08, 2012 10:30

If a newspaper is going to be a ‘Fact Checker’ it ought to take the time to do the research to get its facts straight.

A few days ago the News and Observer reported Paul Coble ‘has voted to issue’ millions of dollars in new Wake County bonds (debt) but added, But those bonds were first approved by voters. That statement is incorrect. In 2009 Paul Coble voted to pass $328 million in ‘Limited Obligation Bonds’ voters did not approve. No one other than Paul Coble and the County Commissioners voted to incur the debt.

The ‘Fact Checker’ also overlooked another fact: Paul Coble supported passing the $970 million dollar ‘General Obligation Bond’ that was on the ballot in 2006. That debt was passed by voters but Coble urged people to support it before the election – the debt wasn’t forced on him.

Fact-Checking is not an easy job, but if you want to say who’s right and who’s wrong take the time to do a little research.

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Posted in: Raleigh , North Carolina - Republicans

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A Hole in the Boat

Carter Wrenn posted on May 07, 2012 16:22

It looks like the prosecutors put a pretty big hole in Edwards’ boat last Thursday: For months Edwards has been arguing the million dollars he took from ‘Bunny’ Mellon and Fred Baron wasn’t a campaign donation because he spent the money to hide his affair from his wife and not voters.

But Thursday two Edwards aides testified a furious Elizabeth Edwards confronted her husband about his affair with Rielle Hunter on October 7th, 2007. The problem: After that, Edwards took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mellon and Baron – and he clearly wasn’t hiding his affair from Elizabeth.

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Posted in: General, North Carolina - Democrats , National Democrats

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How Little Scandals Become Big Scandals

Carter Wrenn posted on May 07, 2012 10:49

House Speaker Thom Tillis spent last week catching hand grenades – first his Chief-of-Staff landed on the front page of the newspaper for having an affair with a lobbyist then a second Tillis aide confessed to a peccadillo with another lobbyist; -- both aides promptly resigned (at Tillis’ request) then the press asked Tillis the million dollar question: Did either of those lobbyist get any special treatment – to help pass their bills – from your aides?

Now a fellow who’d brushed up against a scandal or two would have taken a deep breath and said, I’m calling for an independent investigation today to find out the answer to that question, and if anything wrong was done I’ll do my best to set it straight – but to Speaker Tillis’ misfortune this is his first scandal so when the reporter asked the question he said he’d already investigated himself and the answer was No, those lobbyists hadn’t received one scrap of special help.

When the Democrats read that in the newspaper they couldn’t believe their eyes: Tillis had climbed out on the end of the limb – and the Democrats immediately set about sawing it off behind him: By demanding an independent investigation.

What could Tillis do? If he said No it’d look like a cover-up so he said Yes and if the investigators find one of those lobbyists did get a bit of special help with a bill then Tillis will have a whole different problem.

But one thing is for sure – both Democratic and Republican legislators agree: There will be no independent investigating of peccadilloes involving legislators and lobbyists.

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Posted in: Raleigh , North Carolina - Democrats , North Carolina - Republicans

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Downright Seedy

Carter Wrenn posted on May 02, 2012 17:03

There’s an outbreak of fornication on Jones Street. In the State House. In Speaker Thom Tillis’ office. Between lobbyists and Tillis’ aides. Yesterday after all the shenanigans landed in the newspapers Speaker Tillis disposed of two aides then, after “reviewing” 130 pages of emails and other records, announced they hadn’t lifted a finger to give the lobbyists any untoward help with their bills.

Now it’s a sure bet that next the Democrats are going to call for an investigation: So after John Edwards’ trial passes we’ll be facing a whole new season of ‘political reality shows’ – just in case anyone missed the point that politics has gotten downright seedy.

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Posted in: Raleigh , North Carolina - Republicans

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Not Serving Wine

Carter Wrenn posted on May 02, 2012 12:29

It’s hard to tell who’s crazier: Andrew Young or John Edwards.

Back in 1998 in Myrtle Beach Young hears Edwards make a speech and, as Young told it himself in court last week, fell in love. A few years later Rielle Hunter met Edwards in a New York bar and fell in love too. Then Rielle got pregnant. And John told Andrew, She’s a crazy slut, and got Andrew a big stack of cash (from two friendly millionaires) to keep Rielle out of sight while Edwards ran for President.

Young got one millionaire to give him $28,000 to buy Rielle a BMW then got the other millionaire to send him another $28,000 (to pay for the same car) to spend on himself.

Rielle started feeling ignored by John so she threatened to tell reporters about their affair – two National Enquirer reporters showed up in Chapel Hill, chasing Rielle, and Young talked his wife into letting him tell the press he was Rielle’s child’s father.

Rielle and Young went on the lamb over the next year and Young took $1.2 million from the two millionaires to hide Rielle and spent a cool million of it building himself a hilltop home in Chapel Hill.

After his Presidential campaign’s kaput John betrays Andrew and Rielle and the knives come out. Andrew finds a sex tape of John and Rielle. Makes a book deal. And a movie deal. And John ends up in federal court facing 30 years in prison with Andrew testifying against him and Rielle set to testify next.

And imagine this: Once upon a time, not too long ago, out of old-fashioned probity Democratic Governor Jim Hunt wouldn’t serve wine in the Governor’s Mansion.

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Posted in: Raleigh , North Carolina - Republicans

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Walter, Bob, Bill and Pat

Carter Wrenn posted on April 30, 2012 17:50

Walter Dalton, Bob Etheridge and Bill Faison are slugging it out in the Democratic Primary and the prospect of one of them emerging flat broke after the election and facing Pat McCrory (who’s sitting on $3 million) in the fall has Republicans feeling warm all over about winning the Governor’s race for the first time in two decades.

But the Democrats are not in as bad a shape as it seems at first glance – after all, there’re still three quarters of a million more Democrats than Republicans in North Carolina and either Dalton or Etheridge or Faison is going to suit most of them just fine and it’s a safe bet as soon as the primary’s over those Democrats are going to unite into a phalanx and we’re going to be looking at one close Governor’s race.

And another mysterious piece of ephemera is going to change too.

Pat McCrory spent a year running against Bev Perdue who has been so unpopular McCrory just naturally looked a little larger and better than life. Since Perdue exited the stage Dalton and Etheridge and Faison have been fighting with each other, so for the last three months McCrory’s been running against no one at all which is another good way to look larger than life.

But once the primary’s over folks are going to start looking at Pat McCrory and comparing him to Walter Dalton (or whoever) and then that ephemeral bit of key chemistry is going to change.

In a way, what’s about to happen to McCrory is like what has happened to Barack Obama over the past year – only in reverse.

A year ago Obama was running against no one and since a lot had gone wrong on his watch people were looking at Obama and imagining a faceless alternative and the alternative looked pretty good and Obama’s chances of reelection looked pretty bleak.

But now Obama’s opponent has a face and folks are looking at Obama and Mitt Romney side by side and comparing them and Obama doesn’t look quite so bad because Mitt Romney has clay feet too.

The same thing’s about to happen to Pat McCrory only the other way around – because McCrory, unlike Obama, is popular and being popular and not running against anyone just naturally makes a fellow look better than he really is – until people start comparing him to another fellow and then, well, he just naturally doesn’t look like quite such a tower of strength.

Of course, if you had a choice you’d rather be in Pat McCrory’s shoes than Walter Dalton’s (or whoever’s) because $3 million is a lot of money, but, still, 750,000 more Democrats than Republicans is a lot of votes too.

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Posted in: General, North Carolina - Democrats , North Carolina - Republicans , National Democrats , National Republicans

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A Game Changer

Carter Wrenn posted on April 29, 2012 13:52

Every now and then during the closing days of an election a candidate defines his campaign with one line. Paul Coble did that in the News and Observer this morning. By attacking George Holding for prosecuting Mike Easley and John Edwards.

Last week, Paul Coble attacked George Holding for working for Senator Jesse Helms in Washington. This week, Paul Coble’s attacking George Holding for prosecuting Mike Easley and John Edwards.

Trailing in the polls, and desperate, this morning Paul Coble’s campaign began falling apart in front of our eyes. Over the next week Coble’s latest attack on George Holding will be the most important issue in his campaign.

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Posted in: Raleigh , North Carolina - Republicans

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