A Sign

The two things that matter most in a political campaign are being right with the Lord and money. Today, candidates in the Republican Primary for Congress in the 13th District filed their year-end FEC reports. They showed total income for each campaign:   George Holding: $462,500. Paul Coble: $135,200.   Now, before I go any…

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Talking ’bout Two Generations

Last week I was literally at sea – on a cruise. For the last 48 hours, I’ve been immersed in the stormy seas of Democratic politics.   The first thing that struck me is the generational divide.   Many older Democrats (i.e. – older than me) see Perdue’s decision as a potential disaster and Erskine…

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Don’t Run, Erskine

Prediction: Erskine Bowles won’t run. Suggestion: He shouldn’t.   Yesterday I gave Laura Leslie and Rob Christensen all the reasons Erskine would be a great governor. The problem is that he’s a terrible candidate. Even he has admitted: “I have empirical data that I was a terrible politician.”   He has proven it twice. That…

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Quitting Time

In politics, you’re never beaten until you give up. Governor Perdue is now officially beaten.   She proclaims she’ll keep fighting and she’s no lame duck. She apparently gave a rousing speech to the Sanford-Hunt-Frye dinner. Still, she’s laying down her sword and walking off the field of battle.   No doubt she feels beat…

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Back in Port

I’m just back from a week-long cruise to the western Caribbean – Grand Cayman, Honduras and Mexico. Did I miss anything?   I’ll be catching up and weighing in. Plenty of material from last week!   Thanks to Luther Snyder, Nation Hahn and the anonymous bloggers for their great contributions last week. They set a…

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Want to win the Governor’s race? Learn social media.

With Governor Perdue’s announcement that she will not seek reelection the North Carolina political landscape has shuffled quickly. As of today, candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor (with Walter Dalton’s entry into the Governor’s race) have 107 days to raise money, reach voters, and win a statewide primary. This compressed schedule is unprecedented in North…

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Follow the Logic

Explaining that his chances of winning reelection look dim, this morning Democratic Congressman Brad Miller announced he will not run.   About an hour later Governor Beverly Perdue explained that, because the one thing she cares most about is schoolchildren (who, she added, are victims of Republican legislators cutting spending), she’s not running either.  …

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Media Locked

Gary is taking a break this week from consulting, blogging and politics. He invited several TAPsters to contribute blogs during his hiatus. Here’s one of them: Art Pope likely has never thought of himself as allied with the oft-bashed-as-liberal news media, but the mainstream media has succeeded in giving undeserved credibility to Pope’s squadron of…

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PR 101

Gary is taking a break this week from consulting, blogging and politics. He invited several TAPsters to contribute blogs during his hiatus. Here’s one of them: Mitt Romney’s reluctance to turnover his tax returns proves yet again how important it is to FALL FORWARD FAST in politics.  What started out as a refusal by Romney…

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What’s Wrong with this Picture?

Someone ought to say a kind word about Ron Paul – after all, he may be the last of an almost extinct species in American public life: An honest politician.   A politician who doesn’t spin at all.   Ask Newt about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and he’ll tell you they paid him for…

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