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A Little Nuance

By Carter Wrenn December 31, 2014

A reporter at The Hill newspaper up in Washington let Jeb Bush have it right between the eyes, reporting there’s ‘no love lost’ between Bush and the Republican base and that in Iowa the Tea Party activists are torching Bush’s conservative credentials.   “Jeb Bush,” he quoted a radio talk show host as saying, “is…

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Happy New Year!

By Gary Pearce December 31, 2014

2015 will mark the 10th year Carter and I have been doing this blog, as best I can tell from my records. The first posts I could unearth were in late 2005.   If memory serves, this was Carter’s idea. He and I worked together with a (non-partisan) client, and we traveled around the state…

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What on Earth is Next?

By Carter Wrenn December 30, 2014

Obama may be aloof but he’s also soft-spoken and temperate and if he’s unpopular (due to his failures) beyond his failures he’s a genial man – a traditional liberal who believes government should help people out by providing healthcare and school lunches and so on.   But now and then, standing at a podium, the…

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Jumping Out of the Frying Pan…

By Carter Wrenn December 29, 2014

Gary has a point in his column (below) ‘Pat and Jesse’: Pat McCrory’s fight with the Associated Press isn’t like Jesse’s long-running battles with the media.   In Jesse’s eyes, the media was biased. It didn’t like his conservative philosophy. Plus, as Senator John East once said admiringly, Jesse was a brawler. Part of him…

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Best Column

By Carter Wrenn December 29, 2014

  Here’s, as Paul Harvey used to say, ‘The rest of the story’ about Louis Zamperini – from John Drescher’s column Angelina Jolie’s ‘Unbroken’ misses subject’s deep faith.    

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Pat and Jesse

By Gary Pearce December 29, 2014

During Governor McCrory’s attack on the AP, one observer compared it to Jesse Helms’ legendary battles with the media.   Now, Carter knew Jesse a lot better than I did. But I see a big difference.   Jesse attacked the media because he wanted a political fight. McCrory attacked the media because he doesn’t want…

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Online BS

By Gary Pearce December 26, 2014

An outfit called Verifeed says “social conversations” on Twitter helped Thom Tillis beat Kay Hagan. Put me down as a skeptic.   You hear a lot of sweeping claims about how social media is transforming politics. The acolytes can drown you in numbers about “clicks” and “reads” and “open rates.” But is there hard evidence…

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A Christmas Prayer

By Gary Pearce December 24, 2014

Not even the season is free from America’s politics. Democrats post stories on Facebook about “how to talk to your right-wing uncle at Christmas.” Republicans claim that atheists and Democrats want to “take Christ out of Christmas.” People debate over whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.”   The New York Times Magazine on…

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Obama Redux

By Gary Pearce December 23, 2014

Where was this guy in October when we needed him?   In the weeks before the election, President Obama seemed passive and powerless as ISIS ran wild in the Middle East and Ebola panicked America.   In the weeks since, he’s come back strong: heralding a recovering economy, challenging Congress on immigration, championing Internet openness,…

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Eighth Graders – Not Grown-Ups

By Carter Wrenn April 14, 2025

Striding onto stage, waving both arms, wearing a Wisconsin Green Bay Packers cheese hat, grinning, Elon…

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The Stein Way

By Gary Pearce April 14, 2025

Governor Josh Stein’s way could be Democrats’ way back to the White House in 2028. In…

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Tillis’ Fate

By Gary Pearce April 10, 2025

Senator Thom Tillis wants to have it both ways. He wants MAGA Republicans to think he’s…

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