Archive for March 2012
Run! (Away!)
A TAPster raises a key question about the Democrats running for governor: Why? See below: Your blog today about Bobby Etheridge and Dan Blue and their crafty mobilization of black voters prompted a thought about the Democratic governor’s primary in North Carolina. Why would any Democrat want the job? Walter Dalton, Etheridge…
Read MoreBlue and Etheridge
Here’s an intriguing back story in the Democratic governor’s race: Did Dan Blue and Bob Etheridge cut a deal by which Blue bowed out, Etheridge got in and Blue will endorse him? That’s the Raleigh chatter. Blue and Etheridge reportedly talked frequently as filing date neared. It would make sense. They go back…
Read MoreAntisocial Media
Here’s a lesson learned the hard way: a thin skin and a tendency to overreact don’t serve you well in politics. But that’s exactly the tone being set on Twitter by Jeanne Milliken Bonds, campaign manager for Bill Faison. And it doesn’t serve Faison’s campaign well. Some background: As faithful readers know, I’ve…
Read MoreWhat’s He Been Smoking?
Paul Coble’s gone and done it again. Just a few months ago Paul Coble was asking Joe Knott to support him for Congress. Now, treading water, Paul’s hit the panic button and called Joe Knott a wild-eyed liberal – because Joe’s supporting George Holding and not Paul. Next, out of a clear blue…
Read MoreHyperspeed Campaigns
In a hyper-speed, short-attention-span world, North Carolina Democrats are having a hyper-speed, short-attention-span race for Governor. The campaigns have to do in two months what you normally do over many months and even years: hire staff, find office space, recruit consultants, do benchmark polls, conduct oppo research, prep on issues, collect endorsements, make ads,…
Read MoreCoble Heaves a Mudball
Yesterday, Paul Coble reared up on his hind legs and brayed like a mule and hurled a mudball straight at George Holding – which is a sure sign Coble’s campaign is in trouble. The rhubarb began Saturday at the debate – Coble rolled through a homily to himself then Bill Randall asked, What about…
Read MoreBurn the Heretics!
After all these years, I find out that Carter Wrenn is a liberal. He had me fooled â working for Jesse Helms, where he ran ads calling Jim Hunt a âMondale liberal.â Even after we became friends and worked together on some non-political projects, he maintained the façade of a crusty conservative. Now…
Read MoreDemocracy in Action in the State House
The News and Observer headline read, Thom Tillis pushed bill for donors. And the first line claimed Tillis had “muscled through” a bill so his donors could charge folks (who’re near the bottom of the 99%) 36% interest on loans. But here’s an odd fact: Not one Democratic legislator had a critical word…
Read MoreObama’s Gallantry, Romney’s Timidity
Near the end of the 1960 campaign, at the urging of civil rights aide Harris Wofford, John Kennedy called Coretta Scott King to offer his sympathy after Martin Luther King was jailed. Robert Kennedy exploded at Wofford: “You just lost us the election.” As it turned out, the call won JFK thousands of African-America…
Read MoreThanks, Rush
America’s biggest problem is the economy. So, of course, national politics plunges into culture wars – or, more like, sex wars. I guess it’s because Republicans in Congress and Rick Santorum just can’t resist the lure of legislating morality. And maybe it’s because people know more about sex than about the economy. …
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