Archive for 2008
Josh Stein and New Raleigh
No race shows more dramatically how Raleigh has changed than Josh Stein’s smashing 3-to-2 victory over Johnny Mac Alexander in Senate District 16. Alexander is prototypical Old Raleigh. He and his family are pillars of the city’s long-time business and social elite. He graduated from Broughton. He and his family have done great work at…
Read MoreIf John McCain Had Won
No, not if he had won last Tuesday. If he had won eight years ago, in 2000. If he had withstood the Bush smear machine in South Carolina. If he had picked a true maverick with real qualifications, like Chuck Hagel, for his running mate. If he had beaten Al Gore fair and square, with…
Read MoreChange
Carter and I spoke this morning to Leadership North Carolina about the political landscape today. The questions were interesting – and pointed: What do the Republicans do now? How will Bev Perdue govern and position herself for 2012? How will the state solve its fiscal problems? How will the feds pay for Medicare and Social…
Read MoreWait a While
Yesterday morning, lifting a stack of emails my eye fell on the note written across the top of the first page, ‘This one looks serious.’ It was from Richard the Intellectual. All it said was, ‘Has the world ended?’ Richard is what he himself describes as a ‘decliner’ which, I can tell you from experience,…
Read MoreA Call for Respect
Race and politics can bring out the worst in people – and the best. My daughter Maggie, 15, is a high school sophomore. Like her older brother, who has posted blogs here before, she is an ardent Democrat – and fan of Barack Obama. Since Obama won, she has heard some ugly things from her…
Read MoreA Call for Respect
Race and politics can bring out the worst in people – and the best. My daughter Maggie, 15, is a high school sophomore. Like her older brother, who has posted blogs here before, she is an ardent Democrat – and fan of Barack Obama. Since Obama won, she has heard some ugly things from her…
Read MoreSummation
Well, the hollering and screaming is over and instead of being amazed by the antics of politicians we can go back to the normal everyday rhythms of life that get disrupted every four years by an election. What went wrong for Republicans here in North Carolina? What didn’t go wrong is happier to contemplate: Half…
Read MoreWinners and Losers 2008
Campaigns end abruptly. One day you’re going 90 miles an hour, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. All of a sudden Tuesday night it’s over. On Wednesday you bask in the glory if you won or bathe in your friends’ condolences and reassurances if you lost. Then BAM! The exhausted and spent winners…
Read MoreWhat Happened
Three factors carried North Carolina for Hagan, Perdue and – maybe – Obama. It is a mistake to ascribe the result to any one of the three alone. First was the public’s rejection of George Bush because of the economic crisis. In a sense, 2008 was just a continuation of the 2006 election cycle. Voters…
Read MoreNever the Same
An excellent New York Times article today analyzed how 2008 has changed politics forever. And nowhere more than North Carolina. Let us count the ways: BATTLEGROUND: First the primary. When Obama won North Carolina, the late Tim Russert declared that he had won the nomination. Now we’ve had the heady experience of being one of…
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