Archive for October 2015
Mad Republicans
Republicans are fighting mad. At each other. The Republican presidential contest is an insult-comic festival. The US House Republican caucus is cannibalizing itself. Republican members of Congress from North Carolina are knifing each other in the back. And front. Republican legislators are fighting with the Republican Board of Governors over the next UNC President. Governor…
Read MoreClay Feet
Governor McCrory isn’t one of those politicians who lusts after power; he’s more like a genial movie star or an actor who walks onto the stage, speaks his lines, listens to the applause then moves on to the next act. The Bull Mooses in the State Senate do lust for power. They bulldoze the Governor.…
Read MoreRoss rolls out
Thirty hours after Roy Cooper’s announcement and just as the Democratic presidential debate was ending, Deborah Ross announced for US Senate. If she and Cooper do as well the rest of the way as they did their first day, Democrats will be celebrating in 13 months. Her announcement video was strong. It introduced her, “rooted” her…
Read MoreThe $300 Million Hole
There’s not a soul in the state who can match a Senate Bull Moose when it comes to bragging he’s a true conservative – that he’s more conservative than the Governor or any politician around. But then the Bull Mosses slipped. From the day the Senate came to town Phil Berger’s Medicaid Czar, Senator Ralph…
Read MoreHillary and the 4 Dwarfs
So now we can look forward to the Clinton-Trump debates next fall. On stage with Hillary last night were Grumpy (Sanders), Grumpier (Webb), Sleepy (O’Malley) and Dopey (Chafee). She pretty much mopped the floor with them, which happens when you’ve played the game at this level before. Clearly, only two Democrats can stop her now:…
Read MoreA Shaky Proposition
Just before the legislature left town the blog that promotes Senator Phil Berger reported hundreds of dead people were collecting Medicaid and that fraud’s gotten so bad even the Obama Administration wants a crackdown – but the warning came too late: The Honorables were headed for the exits and Phil Berger’s Medicaid Czar – Senator…
Read MoreRoy rolls in
Some political pros believe that nothing in a campaign consumes more time and energy and produces less value than the announcement. But Roy Cooper showed Monday how a well-designed and well-executed announcement can launch a campaign on the right trajectory. Not least of all, Cooper got several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of free TV time…
Read MoreElevator Queen
Mandy Locke’s series in the N&O pretty well tells us Cherie Berry’s approach as Commissioner of Labor: She gets her name on elevators, and workers get the shaft.
Read MoreThe Intangible
The political powers that be up in Washington are telling everyone who’ll listen that Deborah Ross is too liberal to defeat Richard Burr but, still, Deborah Ross on a tear is a wonder to behold. Senator Richard Burr is steady as it goes. He’s genial and laid back and accommodating to a fault while Deborah…
Read MoreDrunktown hangover
It’s always an honor when the N&O quotes my blog. But it’s annoying when they put words I didn’t say in my mouth. I’m afraid that’s what Colin Campbell did today in his story “Did the ‘Drunktown’ campaign ads work?” Colin is an A-plus reporter, but I give him a D-minus here. His story focused…
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