Bowater, as his friends call him, is a local Democrat – and an incurable optimist. While Republican preen and strut with power and Democrats wring their hands with worry, Bowater remain serenely sanguine. One friend finally reached his limit – with the Republicans and with Bowater’s rosy view. He demanded, “What makes you so…
Read MoreHalf-way through her plan Jessica Laurenz started to make a list of the building blocks she would need to build a campaign. She ticked off, ‘A brain trust, research, relentless media, year-round voter registration, a vibrant multi-racial organizing infrastructure and statewide field organizing.’ But, then, she missed a piece: Obama. Four years ago,…
Read MoreOpponents of fracking in North Carolina may have two powerful allies: the free market and politics. John Murawski wrote in The News & Observer that “booming shale gas production in the Northeast” could give energy developers one less reason “to take financial risks to explore North Carolina’s virgin gas deposits in Lee, Moore and…
Read MoreThe poll young Sean Kosofsky and Jessica Laurenz took told them three stories: That President Obama’s mantra – ‘Democrats are for middle class families while Republicans are for the rich’ – had permeated the political atmosphere across North Carolina. That President Obama’s plan to expand Medicaid – the plan Republicans in the state legislature just…
Read MoreSenator Phil Berger says national Republicans have a messenger problem, not a message problem. Democrats might well hope he believes that. After attending CPAC – the right-wing Woodstock – Berger told Travis Fain at the Greensboro News & Record: “It’s not just a communication problem. Sometimes it’s the individual messengers … (and) some folks…
Read MoreIn his novel Intruder in the Dust, William Faulkner wrote if you have something outside the ordinary to do and it’s got to be done quickly, don’t waste time on the men – go get the women and children. Thirty-seven years ago, here in North Carolina, we built Ronald Reagan’s first Presidential campaign around women…
Read MoreA TAPster and veteran of the Raleigh scene says “undoing” and “recycling” are the GOP trademarks thus far. Last week, he noted: “The GOP focused on un-doing the deal on the Dix property, un-doing the state’s renewable energy policy and un-doing other done deals like the death penalty moratorium. “In their zeal to…
Read MoreA long-time Raleigh lobbyist recalls the days when legislators helped themselves to ACC tournament tickets – courtesy of lobbyists and special interests. Every year about this time, the demand was so strong that lobbyists felt like Ticketmaster or StubHub. One mountain legislator – a Democrat, I should add – was especially insistent. He…
Read MoreCarter and I finally got elected to something ourselves – sort of. Talking About Politics was named one of the best North Carolina political blogs by The Fix at the Washington Post. Best of all, we were nominated by readers. We thank you. Also named from here: @NCCapitol; Progressive Pulse; Watauga Watch; The…
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With a better General Assembly, Josh Stein could join Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford on North…
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Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful newspaper: The News & Observer. Everybody…
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The shouting, sign-waving and cane-wielding by congressional Democrats at the State of the Union isn’t a…
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