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Entries for 'Gary Pearce'
Gary Pearce posted on March 19, 2010 07:23
John Edwards hasn’t asked for my advice in 10 years. If he did now, I’d tell him: Keep your mouth shut.
The more the players in this tragedy/drama/farce talk, the worse it gets.
First came Edwards’ admission – through a spokesman – of paternity. Then came the dishing in Game Change. Then came Andrew Young’s tawdry tale, repeated endlessly on talk shows and interviews. Next, a movie?
Now comes Rielle Hunter revealing all – in words and pictures. (At least she had the good taste to go with GQ instead of Playboy.)
Next, apparently, Elizabeth Edwards fires back in People.
The more you hear from those three, the more you sympathize with John Edwards.
Staying mute goes against the grain of a man who made millions talking to juries, then almost talked himself into the White House before screwing himself out of it.
But take my word for it, John: Just shut up.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 18, 2010 08:00
It is becoming clear how to fight back against Ron (Archie Bunker) Margiotta over the future of WakeCounty schools.
Let him talk.
Fresh after calling people at a public hearing “animals,” Ron/Archie opined recently – at a Republican Party meeting, no less – than the Wake schools should be split into smaller districts.
Opponents of the new board majority should immediately assign somebody to follow Ron/Archie around with a camera and a microphone. Post everything he says. Let YouTube do its thing.
By the way, the best and clearest critique of the new board that I’ve read comes from ex-board member Tom Oxholm. Tom may be my neighbor, but he’s still one of the smartest and most responsible people I know.
Here’s what he said.
“On the date you are sworn in to a nonpartisan office, thanking a political party for making it happen is bad governance. Bringing resolutions to the table without giving board members in the minority time to prepare is bad governance. Stopping the construction of a school on a site that the staffs of the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners agree is the best choice - but that you campaigned against - is bad governance.
“…And banishing the CEO (after he gave the board four months' notice to find a replacement) because you did not like that he said you were "practicing partisan politics" is really bad governance.”
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Gary Pearce posted on March 17, 2010 14:22
A reader commented that it would be “whining” for Obama to blame Republicans for the country’s economic mess, as I had suggested.
Question: Was Ronald Reagan “whining” all those years?
Through the 1984 campaign – four years after he unseated Jimmy Carter – Reagan’s basic message was that he inherited a mess, it would take time to dig out and “why would we want to go back?”
If that’s whining, Obama needs to do more of it.
If I was in charge of message at the White House, every speech would start with that whine.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 17, 2010 10:24
Public Policy Polling says that – on health care reform – Democratic Congressmen Bob Etheridge and Health Shuler “both have to decide between voting the way that folks in their party would like them to, or voting the way voters in their district as a whole would like them to.”
But I’m not convinced that voting for reform will hurt them this fall.
For one thing, PPP also finds that, nationally, support for reform is rising.
For another, the picture is likely to be very different in November.
People don’t like reform now – in part – because they don’t know what’s in it. Fear trumps facts.
If a bill passes, Democrats will be able to talk about specific benefits.
If it doesn’t pass, they’ll be able to blame Republicans for everything wrong in health care.
Regardless, once the fight is over, Republicans will face the same challenge Democrats face now: how to get people interested in health-care reform when they’re mostly worried about the economy.
Health-care reform may be old news in November.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 16, 2010 15:07
Karl Rove is still playing mind games with Democrats.
Pay no attention.
Rove claims that, if Congress passes health-care reform, Democrats will lose Congress.
Bunk.
In truth, Rove fears that Democrats will pass reform, Obama will have a victory and Democrats will have something positive to run on this fall.
If the bill passes, nobody will know whether it made health-care better or worse.
But Democrats will get a boost of confidence. And Obama will be able to focus on fixing the economy – and explaining how Republicans got us in this mess.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 10, 2010 09:08
The worst injuries in politics are often self-inflicted. Two examples are in the news today.
Then there’s old political veteran Jack Hawke distancing himself from 8th District GOP candidate Tim D'Annunzio over the candidate’s blog, “Christ’s War."
Politicians just can’t help themselves. They fall in love with the sound of their voices.
Barber won’t be hurt so much, but Margiotta and D’Annunzio did real damage to themselves.
If D’Annunzio is too far out for fellow Republicans, he’s destined for a brief run as a political sideshow.
As for Margiotta, he’s about to blow the political advantage the election gave him and his allies.
He was already accused of racism, and he bears an unfortunate resemblance to Archie Bunker.
Now he has broken the first rule of You Tube politics: Everything you say in public is public.
He gave his opponents a sword. If they’re smart, they can thwart him the way Republicans in Washington have blocked President Obama.
Margiotta & Co. already have half the county mad at them. How long will it take to make the other half mad?
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Gary Pearce posted on March 09, 2010 10:21
Those four words – scrawled by James Carville in the Clinton 92 war room – may be the smartest ever uttered in politics.
And they say more than the river of words unleashed lately about What’s Wrong With Obama.
Washington is awash in the debate. Is it Rahm’s fault? Or Axelrod’s? Why has Obama lost control of the “narrative”?
Obama’s problem is simple: The economy sucks.
And he appears to be investing everything in health-care reform – not fixing the economy.
If the economy gets better, he will look better – regardless of what Rahm, Axelrod and the “narrative” do.
Reagan beat Carter in 1980 because of the economy. Clinton beat Bush in 1992 because of the economy. Obama beat McCain because of the economy.
I don’t know how much a President can affect the economy. But the economy sure affects the President. And a President has to convince people he’s fixated on fixing the economy.
That’s where Obama is failing.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 08, 2010 08:51
The Tea Party crowd is in a frenzy over rising deficits and the national debt.
In Asheville Friday, Republican candidates fell all over themselves at a Tea Party meeting that featured a clock tracking the debt.
Do these people have any memory cells whatsoever?
Obviously not, so let me remind them that, just 10 years ago, the budget deficit was heading toward zero. The debate in Washington was whether to spend the coming surplus on Social Security, tax cuts or paying down the debt.
That’s right: paying down the debt.
That was during the administration of a Democratic President named Bill Clinton. Before George Bush and a Republican Congress wrecked the budget.
And the Tea Party wants to return that crowd to power?
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Gary Pearce posted on March 05, 2010 08:30
Jerry Brown is one of those idiot-savant politicians who can be both a genius and a self-destructive fool.
Years ago, he was California’s youngest governor ever, and he succeeded an actor (Ronald Reagan). Now he’s trying to be the state’s oldest governor ever, and he would succeed another actor.
Brown’s own roles have included Governor Moonbeam, Linda Ronstadt’s boyfriend, Zen Buddhist, Mother Theresa acolyte, presidential candidate, talk show host, state party chairman, mayor of Oakland and attorney general of California.
He may self-destruct, or he may be the one Democrat agile enough to navigate this treacherous year.
He says he has “insider experience and an outsider mindset.”
Brown got the “Moonbeam” moniker back when he suggested that California launch a weather satellite. Now the sky is full of weather satellites.
It’ll be fun watching the Moonbeam shine again.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 04, 2010 10:23
A supporter of the new Wake school board held up a sign at this week’s hearing: “Elections matter.”
At the health-care summit President Obama told John McCain: “The election is over.”
They’re right. And Obama should ram through health-care reform just like the new school board majority is ramming through its new policies.
Obama needs to get something – anything – passed. Then move on to jobs and the economy.
And he’s better off being strong and wrong than weak and right.
Few people will understand what’s in his bill – or whether it makes things better or worse.
The Republicans will have a devil of a time overturning it, no matter how November turns out.
Similarly, in WakeCounty, there’s talk of a recall election of the new majority.
Two problems: How do you do a recall in North Carolina? And what makes you think it would turn out any different?
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