Archive for April 2008
Governor Easley Turns Over a New Leaf?
Governor Easley told top newspaper editors in a meeting with the leaders of the NC Press Association that the flap over his aides ordering state public information officers to delete e-mails “should never have happened.” (Earlier, he – or his office – had denied any such thing ever happened). He added, reassuring the editors, that…
Read MoreMore on the Polls
Political junkies had poll whiplash this week. The N&O/Charlotte Observer poll had Richard Moore leading Bev Perdue by six points. Then Public Policy Polling sent out an email saying Perdue was ahead by eight points. PPP’s Tom Jensen went farther. He blasted the media poll: “The simple answer is that the (media) poll is wrong.…
Read MoreStraight Out of Dickens: Thanks to Easley
This sounds like horror story from a 19th century workhouse, straight out of Dickens: a fourteen year old girl, suffering from mental illness, is locked in a prison. Only it didn’t happen in 1850. It happened this year. Right here in North Carolina. A mentally ill 14 year old girl from Rowan County was locked…
Read MoreHillary’s New Ad
It’s like there are two Hillary Clintons. There’s one I call ‘Hillary-the-mother.’ When she talks she sounds like a mother talking about her daughter. She’s likeable. And attractive. That’s the Hillary on display in her new TV ad. The other Hillary is Hillary-the-politician and, more often than not, she sounds like a shrill shrewish wife.…
Read MoreObama and the Pirates
There were two articles â one about Barack Obama and another Iâll tell you about in a moment â in the News and Observer the other day. Hereâs one paragraph from the story about Obama. He said, speaking in Indianapolis, âNo matter what the color of your skin, no matter what faith we practice, no…
Read MoreInspiration or Perspiration?
Hillary Clinton’s new TV ad in North Carolina plays to her Clintonian strength: I feel your pain. It’s a deliberate contrast to Obama’s appeal: the lift of optimism and hope. Clinton’s appeal is who can do the hard, gritty work of government. Just as Democrats are split, there is a vast gap between the candidates’…
Read MoreCzar Edwards?
For weeks there have been hints of bad blood between John Edwards and Barack Obama. The rumors include a face-to-face blow-up between the two, and possibly Elizabeth Edwards. Which may be why Edwards has not endorsed the opponent who seemed closest to him ideologically. Now Edwards seems to be edging closer to Hillary Clinton. When…
Read MoreEmails
Governor Easley’s charged right into the middle of the great email flap. The Governor says he’s not convinced two notes made by state public information officers mean his staff ordered emails destroyed. Here’s what one note said, verbatim: “Delete emails to/from governor’s office everyday.” But, according to the governor there’s another interpretation. He suspects his…
Read MorePoll Story Buried the Lead
The real news in The News & Observer/Charlotte Observer poll is that Hillary Clinton could pull an upset in North Carolina. You are forgiven if you missed it, because the N&O’s coverage obscured the head-to-head: Obama 32, Clinton 26 and undecided 39. The 22-paragraph story made only one mention – and that in the first…
Read MoreGarin Takes the Helm
Speaking of polls, a pollster with North Carolina experience – Geoff Garin – is now one of two message czars for the Clinton campaign. Garin – with old Clinton hand Howard Wolfson – replaces the disgraced and conflicted Mark Penn Garin knows North Carolina. He goes back to Jim Hunt’s 1984 race against Jesse Helms,…
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