Yesterday two reporters asked me if the riots in Charlotte were going to have a ‘political impact.’ On the radio, while driving to work, I’d heard about the riots but hadn’t read any news reports and didn’t know the answer—then last night at home I turned on the television and the second night of riots…
Read MorePat McCrory acts like the Queen City has become Queer City. Now, the city that made him may break him. He got elected because he had a reputation as a moderate, pragmatic, pro-business Mayor of Charlotte. He may lose reelection because he has a reputation now as a gay-bashing, bathroom-obsessed, bad-for-business Governor. He won in…
Read MoreOne poll question asked, Should transgender men be allowed to use women’s bathrooms? and another question asked, Do you support HB2? and the answer to both questions was ‘No’ which sounds like a contradiction but isn’t: It’s a paradox – a case of voters saying to Republicans, We agree with what you set out to…
Read MoreDan Kane’s N&O series this week (“Carolina’s Blind Side”) shows anew that UNC leaders never learned The First Rule of Crisis PR. The rule: It’s the crisis. Not the PR. When you think it’s the PR, you ask, “How do we put this behind us?” When you recognize it’s the crisis, you ask, “What the…
Read MoreCarter and I were interviewed by The Charlotte Observer Monday about the election outlook. So, instead of having to organize our thoughts and actually write something, we’ll just post the following story by the Observer’s editorial board, “50 days out, here’s what political experts think (and predict!) about N.C.’s biggest races”: We’re less than 50…
Read MoreThe Washington Post recently published an article headlined: ‘Megalomaniac’ Trump vs ‘deceitful’ Clinton: How Virginia voters see the presidential race. The Post reported, according to a focus group of thirty undecided voters Donald Trump is “phony,” “crazy,” “arrogant,” “dumb,” “bigoted,” “self-centered,” and a “charlatan.” Hillary, the voters said, is “old,” “deceitful,” “a liar” and “slimy.”…
Read MoreHere’s the harsh reality of 2016 politics, as demonstrated by Hillary Clinton last week and Pat McCrory over the past many weeks: If you lead the news, you lose in the polls. You’re news, you lose. In an angry, negative political environment, more media attention translates directly into more negative feelings from voters. The ongoing…
Read MoreNow HB2 has gone too far. It’s interfering with our state religion: NCAA basketball. It’s one thing to lose the NBA All-Star Game or PayPal. But March Madness? And Potty Pat McCrory wonders why we’re still talking about this. Maybe because he keeps talking about it. He’s lurching. Defending HB2 one day, dropping it the…
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