Caesar’s Wife and Voting Machines

During my childhood my grandmother used to tell me ‘appearances matter. Julius Caesar, I learned later, felt the same way.  One night his wife, Pompeia, found herself in a awkward encounter with a Roman gentleman bent on seducing her. By most accounts Pompeia was innocent but nonetheless her encounter with young Publius Clodius led to…

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Over in Kabul

There’s more bad news from Afghanistan.  The “backbone of President Obama’s plan to start withdrawing troops” has hit a wall.  Literally.  Right now, over in Afghanistan we’re spending millions to build police stations so the Afghan Army and National Police can take over from our Marines next July.   But, the newspaper reports, the Police…

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Americans are United…on One Thing

WRAL released a new poll the other day.  Senator Richard Burr leads Elaine Marshall by fifteen points but Marshall shouldn’t take it personally as the reason Burr leads has little to do with her.   54% of the voters are Unfavorable to President Obama – and it’s no coincidence Senator Burr is getting 53% of…

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They’re Back

In North Carolina, the most in-demand Democrat on the campaign trail is my old boss Governor Jim Hunt.   Nationally, the most in-demand Democrat is President Obama’s old nemesis Bill Clinton.   In California, the next governor may be Jerry Brown, who was elected California’s youngest governor ever in 1974.   In Iowa, the next…

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Buying Kabul…

For nine years we’ve been pouring billions into Afghanistan to prop up our hand-picked rascal-President Hamid Karzai.  But it turns out our arch-enemies the Iranians have one upped us.   For $2 million a year in cash – which they’ve been secretly delivering to Karzai’s office in bulging canvas sacks – they’ve bought our puppet.   …

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The Obama Mystery

Time’s Joe Klein puts his finger on President Obama’s problem in an engrossing essay “Encountering Anguish and Anxiety Across America:”   “Even among his most passionate supporters, Obama is something of a political mystery. He doesn’t challenge the Republicans; he doesn’t fight back; he doesn’t even tout his accomplishments….The Obama mystery is compounded by the…

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Don’t Change…

The election is slowly bumping and grinding to a close and it’s been a lot tougher ordeal for Democrats than Republicans – while Republicans have been cruising along riding the headwinds of Obama-disapproval, the same national tides have been pulling Democrats downward like a remorseless undertow.  Plus, since Democrats control almost everything that moves in…

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A Bad File to Lose

Clerk of Court races generally don’t generate a lot of sound and fury but the other day in Raleigh Republican Jan Pueschel sent out an email about her opponent – Democrat Lorrin Freeman (the incumbent) – that set sparks flying.   Almost everyone knows the story of Demario Atwater, who murdered UNC student Eve Carson…

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Pope Power

I wish I had a dollar for every time a Democrat has told me over the last decade: “We need something like a John Locke Foundation.”   Democrats don’t, because they don’t have an Art Pope: somebody who puts his money – big money – where his convictions are.   You know he’s made it…

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Good Intentions Gone Bad

A friend of mine who has done well as a lobbyist in Washington told me this story about the unintended consequences of campaign-finance reform.   Congress decided that the integrity our democracy is threatened by lobbyists buying meals – even a cup of coffee and a sandwich – for members.   So a lobbyist now…

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