Josh Stein is the hottest freshman from Raleigh since John Wall. I’ve known Josh for more than a dozen years, and I feel like I helped raise him in politics. So permit me to brag. The N.C.Center for Public Policy Research ranked Josh the most effective freshman in the 2009 General Assembly: 19th…
Read MoreYou can’t have a temperance meeting in a bar. And a group that wants to reform lobbying and fund-raising can’t have a fundraiser sponsored by lobbyists. But that’s what the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform is doing. The result: Governor Perdue – who, hard as she tries, can’t satisfy the N&O…
Read MoreThere is no political spectacle quite like watching a politician duke it out with a reporter; like when Charlotte Observer reporter Mark Johnson interviewed Senate Democrat Leader Martin Nesbit about cleaning up corruption in state government. Only Nesbit wasn’t punching. He was floating like a butterfly. Like Mohammed Ali. Johnson took the bull by…
Read MoreMs. Kathleen Parker doesn’t like Reverend Franklin Graham one bit and she let him have it with both barrels in her column Sunday saying she’s delighted Graham had to do his praying in the Pentagon parking lot – on National Prayer Day – while the respectable religious leaders were doing their praying inside. What…
Read MoreI spoke Monday night to the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club – which, I learned, also has women members. I talked about the two groups that have always competed for political dominance in North Carolina: the “Just Say No” crowd of Jesse Helms, Richard Burr and the Tea Party and the “Go Forward’ crowd…
Read MoreOne overlooked factor in the Democratic Senate primary: Did being the Washington pooh-bahs’ pick hurt Cal Cunningham? The DSCC heavies got behind Cunningham only after a long and frustrating courtship of Bob Etheridge. Cunningham got so frustrated he dropped out of the race, then got back in when Etheridge finally said no. So…
Read MoreWith a new budget looming the Governor is once again off in hot pursuit of billions from the Obama Administration and, since the President’s a fan of Charter Schools, North Carolina’s Charter School parents saw their opportunity and took it. They went to a recent State Education Board Meeting and suggested to Chairman Bill…
Read MoreTom Fetzer is so outraged about Rusty Carter’s illegal campaign contributions he called another press conference. Governor Perdue and Senator Basnight are so embarrassed they think it should be a felony. Soon Joe Lieberman probably will try to take away the citizenship of anyone who does such a heinous thing. Now, I…
Read MoreCal Cunningham obviously knew what was coming Tuesday. He knew he would trail Elaine Marshall, and he knew he would face immediate pressure not to call a runoff. So he didn’t wait. He called for the runoff that night. He was interviewed live on WRAL before 7 a.m. Wednesday. And he was buzzing around…
Read More
