Over a week ago in a newspaper story – after a day of women chanting “shame, shame, shame” – a Republican consultant declared bluntly House Speaker Thom Tillis had better support the Senate’s abortion bill or just about every Republican was going to be mad with him. Next, in the same story, a Democratic…
Read MoreThe Republican team’s best player this season is – the envelope please – Senator Phil Berger. Now, this is a judgment about political skills, not philosophy. I disagree with Berger on probably every issue. But as I look at all the Republican players on the field this year – particularly compared to Governor McCrory…
Read MoreThe powers-that-be at William Peace University need to learn the basic lesson of leadership: If you want people to trust you, you better tell them the truth. Instead, three years of secrecy and closed-door decisions are putting the school’s future at risk. Full disclosure: My PR partner Joyce Fitzpatrick and I have counseled…
Read MoreCarter and I taped “Who’s Talking” with D.G. Martin on WCHL FM 97.9 for this weekend. It is scheduled to run this Saturday and Sunday at 6am, 1 pm and 11pm. You can also hear it at http://chapelboro.com/category/wchl/lifestyle-weekly/whos-talking/ . We talked with D.G. about the legislature, the size of government, Moral Mondays and…
Read MoreBecause it’s about a big electoral prize that Democrats dream about – and because it has some salience to North Carolina – this long article in Texas Monthly is worth a read for Democrats. (Sorry, Republicans, it’s banned for you.) The article addresses this proposition: “Democrats once ruled Texas. Then came five decades of…
Read MoreThankful yet? You get a tax cut. And North Carolinians get more jobs. At least, that’s the theory. Cary Republican Rep. Nelson Dollar called it the “jobs bill of a generation.” Sen. Josh Stein, a Raleigh Democrat, called it “tax breaks for the wealthy and out-of-state corporations.” Here’s the economic question: Will…
Read MoreGovernor McCrory has a bad habit: He says what he thinks will impress the person in front of him. That gets a politician in trouble. And it has him. It’s why he’s breaking his promise on abortion. It’s why he made himself a punching bag over whether he was in a Moral Monday crowd.…
Read MoreThe other day Thomas Edsall of the New York Times reported that a terrible thing has happened. Since the Voting Rights Act passed, the number of Black state legislators has grown from fewer than 5 to 313 – but at the same time, Black political power has diminished. The problem: Most Black legislators are Democrats…
Read MoreZeb Alley was truly a happy warrior. He was a real warrior, a warrior wounded in combat in Korea. For the rest of his 84 years, he loved life, laughter, lobbying, the legislature, people, a party, a good meal, a good time and the Democratic Party. For all my happy memories of Zeb, I…
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