What Is Bill Thinking?

Most of time, you can tell what a campaign is thinking by watching what it does. Sometimes, what a campaign does makes you wonder what – or if – they’re thinking. So it is with Bill Faison’s campaign for governor.   Some weeks ago, the buzz was that Faison was going to pump a half-million…

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Walter, Bob, Bill and Pat

Walter Dalton, Bob Etheridge and Bill Faison are slugging it out in the Democratic Primary and the prospect of one of them emerging flat broke after the election and facing Pat McCrory (who’s sitting on $3 million) in the fall has Republicans feeling warm all over about winning the Governor’s race for the first time…

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Payback?

Since their 2010 debacle, Democrats have muttered about an “iron triangle” they believe helped do them in: politically motivated prosecutions, relentless Republican pressure for the investigations and tough media scrutiny. Some even saw a coordinated conspiracy.   So don’t be surprised if they look for payback in the Charles Thomas/lobbyist affair. They want investigations –…

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A Game Changer

Every now and then during the closing days of an election a candidate defines his campaign with one line. Paul Coble did that in the News and Observer this morning. By attacking George Holding for prosecuting Mike Easley and John Edwards.   Last week, Paul Coble attacked George Holding for working for Senator Jesse Helms…

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Coming Unglued

I’ve seen candidates say some bizarre things when their campaigns fall apart – but this one has to take the cake. Paul Coble’s actually slamming George Holding for prosecuting Mike Easley and John Edwards – and saying those prosecutions were a waste of taxpayers money. We just entered the twilight zone. Paul’s poll numbers have…

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Justin Guillory Responds

Following is Justin’s response to my blog (see below) about his N&O op-ed:   “Thanks for taking an interest in my op-ed. Here is my take on your questions:   “First, I disagree that progressive politics are not business friendly. The current Republican leadership has taken us so far to the right that we need…

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Another Day, Another Scandal

It certainly didn’t take the Republicans long to pick up where Jim Black left off.   Democrats can have a field day: “The Speaker’s chief of staff, roommate and best friend had a romantic relationship with a lobbyist who had legislation before the House.”   They can ask: “What did the Speaker know and when…

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Democrats: New Generation or New Direction?

Justin Guillory’s op-ed in the N&O – “Embrace the future, North Carolina Democrats” – struck a theme you hear a lot these days from young Democrats:   “The major upheaval in the Democratic ranks provides a unique window of opportunity for the party to turn over a new page and choose its next generation of…

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A $3 Million Problem

Whoever wakes up May 9 as the Democratic nominee for governor will immediately face an insurmountable obstacle.   Pat McCrory is sitting on $3.1 million, John Franks reports in Dome. That’s precisely $3.1 million more than the Democratic nominee will have that day.   It will be impossible to make up the gap.   Now, in politics…

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Needed: A Manhattan Project

The all-but-certain presidential nominee emerges from his party’s primaries bruised and bloodied. He was mocked relentlessly as a flip-flopper and a panderer, a career politician with no inner core, a former governor with little to brag about. The brutal march to the nomination drove his favorability ratings into the ground.   He faces an incumbent…

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