Archive for 2008
Forget Appointing the Superintendent
Bob Orr is a smart guy. Even though he’s a Republican. He may be right that North Carolina would be better off with an appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction. But it ain’t gonna happen. The problem is simple. And it simply cannot be overcome: Making the Superintendent appointed requires a constitutional amendment. That means a…
Read MoreCharacter Trumps Issues
The fall of John Edwards and the rise of John McCain prove that issues don’t matter that much in primary elections. Character counts. Now that Edwards is out, everybody says he drove the Democratic policy debate: poverty, universal health care, global warming and Iraq. He did. And he lost. Look at McCain. On issues, he…
Read MoreNC Loss and Gain for Edwards
North Carolina stands to both lose and gain from John Edwards dropping out. We lose a front-row seat in an exciting presidential race. The biggest losers are reporters like Rob Christensen and Mark Johnson. Now they have to stay home and cover dull races like Senate and Governor. But maybe – if things work out…
Read MoreStein Taps the Money
Josh Stein managed John Edwards’ Senate campaign in 1998. This year Josh is running for State Senate in Wake County, and he learned the most important lesson in politics: the winner in the money race usually wins the vote race. Stein says he has outraised his opponent, Jack Nichols, $132,850 to $50,256, and has three…
Read MoreThe City Council Strikes a Blow for Butterflies
Seven of eight members of the Raleigh City Council live south of the 440 Beltline. So, maybe, it’s no surprise their attention is less than riveted on North Raleigh. For the first time in 30 years, the city was poised to build a gym and community center in North East Raleigh on city owned property.…
Read MoreJim Hunt’s Revenge
Back in the early 1980s, Jim Hunt chaired a commission that changed the Democratic Party’s presidential-nomination process. What he did then may matter this year. Hunt’s commission – whose staff director was David Price, then executive director of the state party – created a class of “superdelegates.” These are elected officials (Senators, Congressmen and Governors)…
Read MoreRace and Change
When Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary, he announced it was a victory for change. If so, it appears while African-Americans were overwhelmingly for change, other Democrat voters were not – because 80% of the African-Americans voted for Obama, while 75% of the white Democrats voted for Edwards or Hillary. Given the first real…
Read MoreWhy did Edwards get out?
John Edwards’ withdrawal was an abrupt surprise – even to his closest supporters. Monday afternoon, his campaign was telling reporters on a conference call that he was in for the duration. Tuesday afternoon, they were sending out fundraising emails and laying on a full schedule through Super Tuesday. Clearly, this was a sudden decision. Politically,…
Read MoreSouth Carolina Winners and Losers
The battle is over. Let’s ride down out of the hills and shoot the wounded: Big Winner? Barack Obama. But he also faces a big racial divide. The question next Tuesday is whether he can win white and Latino votes. Big Losers. The Clintons. Hillary said she found her voice in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, Bill…
Read MorePower of the Press
A couple of weeks ago, the Easley Administration rolled out a new approach on North Carolina’s disastrous mental-health system. Actually, it rolled out Mr. Fix-It: Dempsey Benton, the legendary master city manager from Raleigh who is now Secretary of Health and Human Services. Benton outlined a plan to fix the system. Why? Well, it turns…
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