Archives

Categories

They All Do It

By Gary Pearce November 24, 2009

This is why Republicans won’t get far running against corruption in Raleigh.   The Greensboro News & Record reports: “The State Board of Elections has asked Sen. Phil Berger to explain at least three dozen problems found with his campaign finance reports since 2004, ranging from a lack of information to apparently illegal contributions.”   Berger’s…

Read More

Time’s a’wastin’

By Gary Pearce November 23, 2009

Next year may be a Republican year, but politics is funny. Polls show Richard Burr getting little more than 40 percent of the vote against a generic Democratic opponent. One problem: No Democratic candidate has yet convinced the party he or she can beat Burr.   The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is making another run…

Read More

Bev’s Bump

By Gary Pearce November 23, 2009

Governor Perdue finally got some good poll news. Public Policy Polling says her approval rating climbed out of the 20s. She’s at 30 percent, with 49 percent disapproval.   But why?   One theory: It’s because of her fight to keep in prison the 27 inmates the (Republican majority) Supreme Court wants to set free.…

Read More

Payback Time for Nesbitt?

By Gary Pearce November 20, 2009

A wise reader – and veteran Raleigh observer – offers this perspective about Senator Martin Nesbitt:   “As you’ll recall, Nesbitt was one of Liston Ramsey’s key lieutenants when Liston was overthrown by a coalition of impatient Dems and opportunistic Repubs. Nesbitt was really bitter about what happened, and it probably sidetracked his career for…

Read More

Wanted: Competence

By Gary Pearce November 20, 2009

Ideologues – left and right – see elections as referendums on philosophy. But voters – often as not – are looking for simple competence. Somebody to run government well: protect us from enemies foreign and domestic, encourage job growth, educate our kids, spend tax money wisely and sparingly, etc.   Republicans lost in 2006 and…

Read More

The Essential Woman

By Carter Wrenn November 20, 2009

  When I was a boy I had a wire-haired terrier, a stray who showed up on the farm and made himself at home; one day walking past a woodpile the terrier spotted a barn rat and in the blink of an eye charged, ears tucked back, hair bristling; now, far as I know, that…

Read More

Rogue Rage

By Gary Pearce November 19, 2009

Laura Leslie of WUNC-FM – who does a great political blog – told a panel during last year’s campaign that she was sick and tired of men who liked Sarah Palin because she is “hot.”   Sorry, Laura, but how else can someone so clearly unprepared for national office be taken seriously as a candidate…

Read More

No Bid Contracts

By Carter Wrenn November 18, 2009

  Over the last several months Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Lanier Cansler at DHHS has handed out a couple of hundred million dollars in contracts – many of them no bid contracts – to his former clients from the days when he was a lobbyist.   But, now, he’s done…

Read More

A Painful Lesson

By Gary Pearce November 18, 2009

It sounded like The New Martin Nesbitt after Democrats picked him for majority leader:   “I saw ’94 up close and personal. I saw how things can get out of control. There are very few things that I’m the most qualified for, but getting us through this election is one of them.”   Anxious Democrats…

Read More

Categories

Archives

Recent Articles

Tillis’ Choice

By Gary Pearce February 12, 2025

Senator Thom Tillis is a good politician. He may be good enough to preserve his image…

Read More

A Democrat to Watch

By Gary Pearce February 10, 2025

No, Trump’s blitzkrieg hasn’t left Democrats hapless, hopeless and rudderless. Here’s one example of the immense…

Read More

Always Wrong

By Carter Wrenn February 7, 2025

It’s a kind of mystery – will hitting Canada and Mexico with tariffs land us in…

Read More