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New Democratic Leaders

By Gary Pearce November 21, 2012

The party needs a new leadership pipeline for Governor. For decades, it was the Sanford-Hunt tribe. Then it was the Senate’s Basnight-Rand clan, which produced Easley, Perdue and Dalton. It was a good run, but has run dry.   The party has talent in the legislature. But do the rising stars have the requisite political…

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Gender-Neutral

By Carter Wrenn November 21, 2012

Years ago when I enrolled at the University of North Carolina, I arrived on the campus and to my delight I found I had been assigned to the first ever co-ed dormitory. Then, my first night on campus, at orientation the powers that be introduced us to the wonders of birth control. We were all…

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Getting Rid of Tarbabies

By Carter Wrenn November 20, 2012

Pat McCrory’s just captured the biggest tarbaby in North Carolina.   State government has never been a paragon of efficiency but after twelve years of Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue and pay-to-play politics it’s become an unusually broad and deep quagmire.   The state’s Medicaid claims processing contract is an example: Years ago when Mike…

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Republican Reality

By Gary Pearce November 20, 2012

Will Republicans’ Election Day encounter with reality put them more in touch with reality on global warming, evolution and whether women who are raped get pregnant?   Don’t count on it. Denial is a powerful habit.   In the election’s aftermath, it is clear that the Romney-Republican-Rove-Fox echo chamber fell victim to their own spin.…

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The Howl

By Carter Wrenn November 20, 2012

The waitress nodded to a slender fortyish brunette at the next table and said, ‘This is Gwyn, she’s a Republican’ – then Gwyn leaned across the gap between our two tables and said, ‘Just look at those Democrats, they didn’t win anyone’s hearts or minds this election – all they did was change who voted.…

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What If It’s Close Again?

By Gary Pearce November 19, 2012

This election showed how closely – and bitterly – divided Americans are. Suppose we go through another 2000 cliff-hanger one day?   Increasingly, we don’t just hold different views and opinions from our opponents. We hold them in contempt. We call them ignorant, bigoted, fascistic, communistic, unpatriotic and un-America. We question a winner’s very legitimacy.…

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Which Way for North Carolina?

By Gary Pearce November 16, 2012

The decision about Obamacare highlights the tension that will mark North Carolina’s politics the next four years.   The tension stems from an election that saw the nation go in one direction (largely Democratic) and North Carolina in another (almost all Republican).   When political partisans win an election, they tend to believe that an…

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A Home Truth

By Carter Wrenn November 15, 2012

Back before the election I wrote a lot about the importance of money in campaigns and how the Democrats were in trouble because of a lack of it.   The NC Free Enterprise Foundation has just published a report on campaign spending during the 3rd Quarter, which ended just before the election. There were a…

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Don’t Blame Etheridge

By Gary Pearce November 15, 2012

 A TAPster takes issue with the blog criticizing Bob Etheridge for running against Walter Dalton:   “I disagree with the argument that Bobby Etheridge caused Dalton’s defeat. If anything, the primary gave Dalton an opportunity to take his case to the public sooner rather than later. It is true that Perdue’s midnight decision put Dalton…

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Education Governor

By Gary Pearce March 13, 2025

With a better General Assembly, Josh Stein could join Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford on North…

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The N&O Story

By Gary Pearce March 12, 2025

Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful newspaper: The News & Observer. Everybody…

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How Democrats Win Again

By Gary Pearce March 10, 2025

The shouting, sign-waving and cane-wielding by congressional Democrats at the State of the Union isn’t a…

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