We’re on WRAL

Carter and I taped WRAL’s “On the Record” today for airing Saturday night at 7 p.m. Or you can watch it on the station’s website.   We were with anchor Bill Leslie and WUNC radio’s Laura Leslie (no relation to Bill). The topic, of course, was Tuesday’s runoffs and the November elections.

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E-NC Authority

A while back President Obama’s administration was giving cell phones to people on welfare and, now, State Senator Doug Berger has sponsored a bill to have the “E-NC Authority” provide broadband Internet service to the same folks. It is unclear how hard-pressed welfare recipients will get computers.   Senator Berger’s bill may be seen as…

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Not From Here

Raleigh is reviving an old Southern trait: We don’t cotton to outside agitators invading paradise and stirring up folks.   First my old friend Grady Jefferys wrote a provocative piece in the N&O complaining about “big city” ideas ruining old Raleigh.   This week, after losing his Republican congressional primary, Bernie Reeves lamented that we’re…

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Why We Like Women

Women are winning everywhere: Elaine Marshall, Nikki Haley, Blanche Lincoln, Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman.   North Carolina leads the way. Marshall would make two female Senators. A female governor. As Thomas Mills with the Marshall campaign pointed out, seven of ten statewide winners in 2008 were women. And women are moving up in the legislature…

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Marshall Arts

There’s a simple explanation for Elaine Marshall’s victory: Thomas Mills.   Her homegrown campaign manager outwitted Cal Cunningham’s bigger-name team, defied the DSCC and disproved the doubters.   Maybe one time in 10 the candidate with less money wins. This was one, and that’s a big win in politics.   As Secretary of State, Marshall…

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More With D.G.

D.G. Martin again has generously shared his radio time on WCHL (1360AM) with me. He did two more lengthy interviews about my book on Jim Hunt, which will be published in November.   The final part of the program airs tonight at 6 pm. (Another segment aired last night.)   Or you can listen on…

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Naked Confidence

Elaine Marshall’s campaign has shown a striking level of confidence about today’s runoff.   She said the only way she could lose would be to walk down the street naked.   Yep, that would do it.   And her campaign apparently sent out a communication that sounded like an early declaration of victory.   They…

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Bernie Reeves

The first ‘reality moment’ in a political campaign last week belonged to Bob Etheridge; the second belonged to Bill Randall.   Randall, who is locked in a tight runoff with Bernie Reeves, called his first press conference Tuesday and announced – as the cameras rolled – he thought the government and BP had conspired to…

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Renee Ellmers

Last week was a heckuva week.   On Monday, Al Lytton – Renee  Ellmers’ campaign manager – and I sat down, racking our brains to figure out how Renee could raise money over the Internet (to match the million odd dollars Bob Etheridge has sitting in his bank account from special interests), then out of…

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The Penniless Primary

Campaign-finance reformers take heed: the Democratic U.S. Senate primary is what politics would look like without money.   Unexciting, uninspiring and virtually invisible. Plus, virtually no voters.   A campaign without TV ads is essentially a campaign that doesn’t exist. Yes, I know the importance of online communications. But TV is still the most powerful…

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