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Thin Skin

By Gary Pearce May 23, 2012

Democrats think they’ve found a weakness in Pat McCrory – one that can be fatal in a politician: thin skin.   Oddly, it’s the same sensitivity Mitt Romney showed when the Obama campaign raised questions about his business career. Romney took it as a personal attack. McCrory reacted the same way to the Tree.com ad.…

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A Consultant’s Wet Dream

By Gary Pearce May 22, 2012

Here’s proof super PACs are evil: political consultants love them.   And the John Edwards of evil super PAC consultants is none other than Fred Davis – creator of the “atheist” ad that shamed Elizabeth Dole, Pat McCrory’s admaker and the genius behind the much-maligned Jeremiah Wright attack on President Obama. (Even Mitt Romney had…

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Round 1: Dalton vs. McCrory

By Carter Wrenn May 22, 2012

First the Republicans called Walter Dalton ‘Bev Perdue, Jr.’ Then the Democrats called Pat McCrory a skunk who as Mayor of Charlotte lobbied to get government money for a company that paid him $140,000.   Then McCrory’s lawyers threatened to rain legal mayhem on the TV stations if they ran the Democrats’ slanderous ad, and…

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Enough?

By Gary Pearce May 21, 2012

One thing is clear from the John Edwards trial, a second thing is much less clear and a third will play out over time.   What is clear, after days of mind-numbing retelling of the sordid tale, is that Edwards did terrible things. And so did several other characters. The prosecutors did a fine job…

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A Hung Jury

By Carter Wrenn May 21, 2012

At dinner the other night two lawyers and a priest were arguing about the John Edwards trial and one said, A juror would have to be blind to believe John Edwards when he says he didn’t take that million dollars from those two billionaires to hide his affair from voters.   The second lawyer nodded…

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Spare Change

By Gary Pearce May 19, 2012

Mitt and Ann Romney this week contributed $150,000 to his campaign.   Apparently they found the money under the sofa cushions in one of their houses and needed a place to put it.

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Question for Pat

By Gary Pearce May 19, 2012

The next time Pat McCrory answers reporters’ questions, he should be asked:   “You say you want to get rid of the politics-as-usual system in Raleigh. Will you follow the example Speaker Tillis set with his staff?”

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Tin-Ear Tillis

By Gary Pearce May 18, 2012

Thom Tillis once looked like a formidable statewide candidate.   First he overcame the birthers, flat-earthers and Skip Stam to get elected Speaker. He ran the House with crisp – if sometimes heavy-handed  – efficiency. He went on a statewide tour that gave him an aura of openness. He seemed to have something of a…

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George Holding: Kenneth Starr Redux?

By Gary Pearce May 17, 2012

The breakfast talk turned to John Edwards’ trial – and to a recent PBS special on President Clinton. Someone asked: “Is George Holding going to go down in history as the Kenneth Starr of North Carolina politics?”   Starr will forever be remembered as the obsessed special prosecutor who produced a detailed, explicit examination of…

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A Show

By Carter Wrenn January 31, 2025

Addison McDowell worked for Ted Budd, worked as a lobbyist, 31 years old ran for Congress,…

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Chaos, Carnage and Cruelty

By Gary Pearce January 31, 2025

Trump doesn’t care how much chaos he creates, how much carnage he causes and how much…

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Two Pieces

By Carter Wrenn January 30, 2025

When the smoke cleared – after Jesse Helms’ second campaign – we’d raised more money than…

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