Archives

Categories

How did Hillary lose to him?

By Gary Pearce March 16, 2017

A Democrat watches Trump and wonders, “How did Hillary lose to this guy?” A political pro wonders, “How did Hillary lose to this guy after running so many more TV ads than he did?” She ran 200,000 ads to his 76,000. Was it Twitter? Comey? Putin? Or was it the ads themselves? A new study…

Read More

Roy vs Phil

By Gary Pearce March 14, 2017

Phil Berger can take away Roy Cooper’s powers. But he can’t take away his microphone. And he can’t match the Governor on TV. Democrats will happily take the contrast every day through the 2018 and 2020 elections. Last night, the Governor was smiling, positive and optimistic. The unshaven Senate boss was dark, negative and partisan.…

Read More

NoCare

By Gary Pearce March 10, 2017

“Tired of winning yet?” That’s the question from a TAPster who sent this excerpt from a story about millions of Americans who could lose health insurance under the Trump/GOP NoCare plan: Martha Brawley of Monroe, N.C., said she voted for President Trump in the hope he could make insurance more affordable. But on Tuesday, Ms.…

Read More

Thanks, Josh

By Gary Pearce March 8, 2017

Politics has been so bad that for four months – ever since Election Day – I’ve meant to write about something good. But never got to it. Thanks, Trump. So now the good news: Attorney General Josh Stein. After the carnage of Election Day, one veteran Democrat said, “If you’re going to win just three…

Read More

Crank, Crazy or a Crook?

By Gary Pearce March 6, 2017

In his State of the Union early last week, Trump sounded like a normal President. By the weekend, he was back to his cranky, crazy self. He went on a Twitter rampage. He claimed President Obama wiretapped him. Without a shred of evidence. And despite denials from intelligence officials. Now, it could just be that…

Read More

Trump TV

By Gary Pearce March 2, 2017

Trump’s presidency is best viewed, like Trump himself, as a reality TV show. Sometimes it’s scary. Like when Trump makes life and death decisions on the porch at Mar a Lago in full view of diners. Or anytime Steve Bannon crawls out of his cave. Sometimes it’s weird. Like when it’s big news that Trump…

Read More

Gone home

By Gary Pearce February 28, 2017

The house where I grew up came down yesterday. It had to go. It was built some 70 years ago. A tiny box of a place, now rundown and decades outdated. My father had bought it sight unseen. He’d come home nights from his job in the composing room of the N&O. He’d bring the…

Read More

Three Don Quixotes

By Carter Wrenn February 27, 2017

There’re a lot of odd things going on in politics: Democrats are holding anti-Republican protests and calling them Town Hall Meetings; Republicans have been tweeting about Saturday Night Live and Meryl Streep – but even when they’re angry the people hollering on Facebook or Twitter seem to be enjoying themselves. But, last week, a new…

Read More

Fake compromise

By Gary Pearce February 27, 2017

Governor Cooper is right. The HB2 “compromise” is no compromise. It would make a bad deal even worse. The referendum provision sounds good. What’s wrong with letting people vote? Plenty. First is a matter of policy and principle. As the Governor said, we shouldn’t put minority rights up to a majority vote. That’s like putting…

Read More

Categories

Archives

Recent Articles

Disaster Duty

By Gary Pearce January 12, 2025

Climate change has changed governors’ jobs. They now must be masters of disasters: floods, fires, hurricanes…

Read More

The Past, Never Past, Just Keeps Repeating Itself

By Carter Wrenn January 10, 2025

The Past, Never Past, Just Keeps Repeating Itself Off and running, campaign racing down the road,…

Read More

Devil’s Whispers

By Carter Wrenn January 9, 2025

One voice roared the man who killed fourteen people in New Orleans was angry because he…

Read More