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Entries for 'Gary Pearce'
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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Gary Pearce posted on March 03, 2010 10:29
WakeCounty is North Carolina’s most Democratic county. President Obama carried the state in 2008 because he racked up a 60,000-vote margin in this county alone.
But two big and bitter battles yesterday showed what a split county this is – and that there are no final victories in politics.
The votes – the City Council on Raleigh’s public safety center and the Wake school board on the diversity policy – were direct slaps at some formerly high-riding politicians: Mayor Charles Meeker and the staff and ex-majority on the school board.
Just last week, Meeker’s record of rebuilding downtown was toasted at a big dinner.
This week, he got only four votes for another downtown project. The left and the right joined hands to beat him.
As for the schools, the staff and the old board majority (including the mayor’s wife) had earned a reputation for turning a deaf ear to parents’ concerns.
You may not like what the new majority is doing, but they’re listening to the people who elected them.
Sometimes in politics, victory sows the seeds of defeat. That’s because, too often in politics, winners get so full of themselves they forget to listen.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 02, 2010 15:10
The candidate filings show where the energy is this year. And it’s not encouraging for Democrats.
Republicans fielded candidates in all 50 state Senate races and nearly all the state House races. There are 40-plus Republicans running in congressional primaries.
We may be seeing the three ingredients required to make a landslide:
That perfect storm gathered for Republicans in 1994. It happened for Democrats in 2006 and 2008. It may drown Democrats this year.
Some Democrats claim the Republican primaries will turn into a divisive civil war.
And, true, the Tea Partiers could wreck the Republican china cabinet.
But primaries can also tell you who is excited – and who will vote in November.
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Gary Pearce posted on March 01, 2010 08:50
North Carolina native Julianna Smoot – who was finance director in the Obama presidential campaign – has been named the new White House social secretary.
The announcement last week said this about Smoot:
“A native of North Carolina, Smoot has worked in and out of Washington. Prior to joining the Administration, Smoot served as finance director for the Obama Campaign. She has also worked for Senators Schumer, Durbin, Reid and Rockefeller.”
It left out one thing: She was also head fundraiser for John Edwards in his 1998 Senate race and, as I recall, for some years afterward.
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Gary Pearce posted on February 26, 2010 13:36
A reporter was musing recently about how North Carolina politicians used to be a bland, boring bunch.
That was back when we prided ourselves on clean, honest government.
Times have changed:
A former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate brought down by a sex scandal.
A former Governor and a key adviser caught up in corruption charges.
A former House Speaker in prison.
A former Commissioner of Agriculture now out of prison.
A former Congressman now out of prison.
A former lottery commissioner still in prison.
A gay legislator in a custody fight with her partner.
Another legislator steps down after shooting somebody.
(Is it in bad taste to say Senator Soles is going out with a bang?)
One long-time Raleigh hand suggested this all may have gone on before, but nobody got caught.
Whatever, Louisiana’s got nothing on us now.
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Gary Pearce posted on February 26, 2010 10:29
Jesse Helms is probably rolling over in his recording studio.
WRAL, the station that used to run Helms’ editorials opposing desegregation, is now running editorial messages opposing resegregation.
That’s how much Jim Goodmon has changed the station.
(Does anybody remember when WRAL used to sign off at night by playing “Dixie” instead of the national anthem? Yes, children, stations used to sign off at night!)
More power to Goodmon for it.
Even better, the Wake School Board Mullahs are mad about it.
Which is another irony. Used to, Yankees were the ones telling us to desegregate our schools. Now it’s Yankees telling us to resegregate.
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