Archive for December 2011
The New Leader in Iowa…
Newt Gingrich’s ship seems to have landed on the rocks – nationally, the Gallop poll reports, Speaker Gingrich has plummeted from 37% to 26% of the vote and in Iowa the news is even worse: The latest poll shows Newt’s dropped out of first place. With so much bad news piling up Newt let…
Read MoreNewt and the Judges
He’s fed up with elitist judges, Newt says, so as President he’s just going to ignore their rulings. And what’s more, he adds, as a historian he knows that Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln would agree with him. Of course, the press pounced, immediately, asking, So, if President Newt can ignore court rulings –…
Read MoreRepublican Waves
If you looked at a chart tracking the Republican presidential race, you would see a series of waves rising and falling. First you’d see the Michelle Bachman wave rise and fall. Then the Rick Perry wave – again, rise and fall. Same for Herman Cain. Now Newt Gingrich has been on the rise…
Read MoreFaison’s Face-off
Let me get this straight. According to Rob Christensen’s story today, Bill Faison ran for Democratic state party chair last year at the request of Governor Perdue. Two possibilities: One, Faison is an ingrate for publicly questioning whether Perdue will or should run for reelection – or, two, Perdue cannily spotted a potential…
Read MorePerdue’s Prospects
Governor Perdue had to hate reading the N&O this morning. First there’s a front-page story regurgitating her flight problems, with a boost from Democratic scold Joe Sinsheimer. Then Dome quotes a professor from his perch at UVA opining about her tough path to reelection. This is why Democrats are wringing their hands about…
Read MoreNewt vs. Newt
A Republican friend says there is only one person who can beat Newt Gingrich now: Newt Gingrich. And he’s perfectly capable of it. Tom Fetzer’s decision to lead Newt’s campaign in North Carolina shows how unhappy conservatives are with one-time frontrunner Mitt Romney. Mitt’s just too moderate. And for some Republicans, too Mormon.…
Read MoreI Stand Corrected
In response to a question recently, I blogged that Jim Hunt (1972 Lieutenant Governor’s race) was the last male candidate to defeat a woman in a Democratic primary. Wrong. It was Erskine Bowles, who defeated – among others – Elaine Marshall in 2002. This is courtesy of my friend John Hood with…
Read MoreFaison’s Social Media
Recently I took a shot at Rep. Bill Faison for taking a shot at Governor Perdue – one that I thought hurt him as much as her. Today – in an effort to be fair and balanced, as they say on Fox – I rise to praise him. Few figures in North Carolina…
Read MoreMitt and Newt?
This is it? This is the best Republicans can do? They’re about to fumble away what should be an open-field run to the White House. Case in point: An NBC/Marist poll this weekend shows President Obama leading both Republicans in South Carolina. I repeat: South Carolina. Maybe Rob Christensen is right and…
Read MoreA Jim Hunt Legacy
There is a big story behind this small item in the paper this week: “North Carolina’s public schools have the largest number of National Board Certified teachers in the nation, according to a release by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.” Nationally, there are 97,291 teachers with National Board Certification. North Carolina has over…
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