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 MoreNext 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 MoreGovernor 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 MoreA 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 MoreIdeologues – 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 MoreWhen 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 MoreLaura 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 MoreOver 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 MoreIt 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…
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Senator Thom Tillis is a good politician. He may be good enough to preserve his image…
Read MoreNo, Trump’s blitzkrieg hasn’t left Democrats hapless, hopeless and rudderless. Here’s one example of the immense…
Read MoreIt’s a kind of mystery – will hitting Canada and Mexico with tariffs land us in…
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