Archive for 2012
Art Pope Responds
Following is an email from Art Pope responding to my blog post yesterday. I reprint it here in full, and I appreciate Art responding – and reading: Gary, I realize that in your blog you are simply reporting a story “going around,” and not vouching that it is true. Please let me assure…
Read MoreThe Democratic ‘Old Guard’
Governor Perdue didn’t call a press conference or step to a microphone, instead she pulled up the drawbridge to the Governor’s mansion then sent out a short message saying she wasn’t running for Governor – which Democrats, with quiet politeness, greeted with a sigh of relief because the most unpopular Governor in memory was no…
Read MorePolitics in Las Vegas
Lord help us, Donald Trump reality TV star and champion self-promoter is back. In Las Vegas. Endorsing Mitt Romney. The Presidential campaign is heading from tragedy to a farce – Obama’s wreaked havoc for three years and we Republicans have a campaign where Newt’s daughters by his first marriage are defending him from his…
Read MoreUnder the Dean Dome
As Rob Christensen wrote in his column Sunday, being booed at the Dean Dome a couple of weeks ago may have contributed to Governor Perdue’s decision not to run. And there’s another story going around about that game. According to this account, Republican puppet-master Art (“I Am Not An Heir”) Pope delivered a clear…
Read MoreBob Was Ready – or Was He?
Bob Etheridge was ready to run, but not ready to take a stand. The old cager was poised to jump into the governor’s race the moment Erskine Bowles announced he wouldn’t suit up. But Etheridge wasn’t ready to say whether he supported the gay marriage amendment or the school tax. He could have…
Read MoreThe Politics of Breast Cancer
The guest blog below was sent to me by a TAPster Friday, before the Komen Foundation cried uncle – or aunt. But it’s worth posting today: Anyone who watched yesterday’s Andrea Mitchell interview with Susan Komen Foundation founder Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker could plainly see a train wreck in slow motion. Not only did…
Read MoreState of Blues
Democrats are down in the dumps: Erskine Bowles and Joe Hackney are both out. And Heath Shuler (though there was less love loss there). The N&O’s top headline proclaims an “exodus” from the legislature. But take it from an old gray head: We’ve been down before. In 1988, Democrats had just lost a…
Read MoreWaiting
It’s a rule of political thumb: the longer it takes a potential candidate to decide whether to run, the more likely the answer will be no. Still, North Carolina Democrats sit and wait while Erskine Bowles sits and ponders. And time’s a’wasting. The primary is in three months, the election in nine. …
Read MoreBev’s Money
Among the people maddest at Governor Perdue are those who gave money to her campaign – especially big money when she was putting on a big push recently. She hasn’t decided what to do with the million-plus she has. Give it back? Give it to charity? Here’s an idea: turn the money over…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Needle is Stuck
Pat McCrory’s announcement statement showed that he hasn’t figured out how this campaign has changed. McCrory has spent four years running against Bev Perdue. Now he’s like Wiley Coyote running over the cliff: his legs are still pumping but there’s nothing underneath him anymore. To switch metaphors, he’s signing the same old song.…
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