Secret Sharers

Two recent stories make the “what were they thinking?” list.   First, the leaders of Peace College kept secret a plan to take the historic school coed, then sprung it as a done deal.   Did they really expect that to go down well?   Then the N.C. Department of Commerce told PCS Phosphate to…

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GOP Joblessness

Are Democrats asleep? Below are two news reports that ran a week ago. They are rich fodder for North Carolina Democrats to use against Republicans. But I haven’t seen them do it:   “State cuts push up NC jobless rate – North Carolina’s jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent in June, the highest level since…

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Third-Party Dreams

“We need a third party.”   That’s a recurrent fantasy among citizens and commentators frustrated by the bump and grind of politics as usual, like the current debt-ceiling stalemate in Washington.   Thomas Friedman of the New York Times gave voice to this longing in recent columns.   The fantasy goes like this: A heroic group…

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Tackling Thorp, Baddour

I’m impressed by the timing of the TAPster who contributed the item below on UNC football. I posted the blog yesterday, timed to go up this morning. Apparently, its mere presence in cyberspace got action.   Bill Friday told the N&O the firing of Davis ends the story. I doubt it.   Chancellor Holden Thorp…

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Fumbling at UNC

  A TAPster writes “there’s a case to be made that the political leadership of the state should fix the glommed up mess in the UNC football program.”   True, but I think the ball is now in the hands of UNC President Tom Ross. Not UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp; he climbed out on a…

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Long, Hot Summer

  Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s that the dog days of summer always seem to fire up political passions.   But this debt-ceiling kabuki in Washington has everybody hot and bothered.   Democrats are mad at Republicans, and Republicans are mad at Democrats, of course. But conservative Republicans are also mad at Tea Party…

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Armageddon

Obama’s got just about everyone convinced we’re staring economic Armageddon in the face if we don’t raise the debt ceiling.  John Boehner agrees, Mitch McConnell agrees and just about every TV pundit agrees.   But here’s what’s hard to figure out: Obama, Boehner, McConnell and Harry Reid could avoid Armageddon with one simple bill that…

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Executive Power Outage

President Obama and Governor Perdue may have gained political yardage by contrasting themselves to unreasonable, extremist Republicans. But – in light of what has happened to both of them in recent days – they may lose even more ground by looking weak.   Weakness is a flaw voters will not forgive in an executive. President…

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Blue Dems

North Carolina Democrats are, truly, blue these days.   My unscientific survey of party leaders and activists last week found mainly gloom about next year’s legislative and congressional races in the face of new, Republican-gerrymandered districts.   Maybe the most telling sign is a phenomenon I haven’t experienced in all my years of politics: North…

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Teed Up

News reports this morning say President Obama and Speaker Boehner are near a deal on taxes, spending and the debt limit.   If it happens, the golfers among us will know why: They teed it up together a few weeks back.   There’s nothing like 18 holes to build a friendship – and show you…

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