Way back in the 1970s, Jerry Brown got tagged as “Governor Moonbeam” in California for far-out ideas that turned out far-seeing, like environmental consciousness and the state launching its own space satellite. Mark Robinson would be Governor Bonkers. A HuffPost article, “The Unbelievably Bonkers Conspiracy Theorist Running For Governor Of North Carolina,” collected some of…
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One of my favorite reads every week is Dan Barkin’s Tuesday report in the Business North Carolina Daily Digest, for gems like this: “There were 44% fewer manufacturing jobs in our state last year than in 1990. Some of the decline was automation, some of it was due to competition from low-wage countries like China.…
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Ron DeSantis’ SuperPac told him in the debate he should: 1) ‘Defend Trump’ and 2) ‘Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy.’ That was his political guru’s practical advice. But there’s a more important question. Trump’s convinced Republicans Biden ‘stole the election.’ During the debate Pence or Christie or Hutchinson may ask Trump: You said 30,000…
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When North Carolina’s legislature debated whether to start a lottery 20 years ago, one argument overcame concerns about gambling and corruption: All the money would go to public schools. The result was the Education Lottery. Back then, Republicans opposed the lottery – period. They pilloried then-Lt. Governor Bev Perdue for casting the tie-breaking vote to…
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In days long past the news media boasted it was ‘unbiased.’ It wasn’t. But to their credit when a politician they liked spun a lie most reporters called him out. Back then, at the same time, over in Great Britain newspapers didn’t pretend they were unbiased. They took sides. And made no bones about it.…
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Ron DeSantis started out saying, Here’s me. Here’s Trump. Here’s the difference. But saying ‘I’m Trump-lite’ flopped. Trump-lite didn’t top the real Trump. It’s an old story: A candidate looks good, sounds good, has a good record, but stumbles. DeSantis stumbled, replaced his campaign manager, jiggered his strategy, but the pieces still haven’t come together.…
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I started a Twitter war over tomato sandwiches, and I got my all-time record reaction. Last I looked, I had over 32,000 views, plus lots of likes, dislikes, retweets and comments pro and con. It started when a Republican legislator tweeted that Wednesday would be “Tomato Sandwich Day” at the General Assembly. I responded, “Much…
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A legislator once told me how he traded political favors for campaign contributions: He said, It’s legal but you have to walk a line. He explained when someone asked him to vote for a bill he couldn’t say, ‘Sure, I will, if you’ll contribute to my campaign in return.’ That was a ‘quid pro quo.’…
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The Republican Party used to stand for a strong national defense. North Carolina’s two Republican Senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, boast of their support for the state’s military personnel and veterans. But neither Tillis nor Budd, nor any Republican Senator, has the backbone to stand up to Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama (pictured), a…
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