The sight of Barack Obama and George Bush together at the White House was striking in many ways. For one thing, what will it be like, as Joe Biden would say, to have an articulate President, one who can speak clearly – and write powerfully? I don’t want to overdraw this comparison, but skill with…
Read MoreNo race shows more dramatically how Raleigh has changed than Josh Stein’s smashing 3-to-2 victory over Johnny Mac Alexander in Senate District 16. Alexander is prototypical Old Raleigh. He and his family are pillars of the city’s long-time business and social elite. He graduated from Broughton. He and his family have done great work at…
Read MoreNo, not if he had won last Tuesday. If he had won eight years ago, in 2000. If he had withstood the Bush smear machine in South Carolina. If he had picked a true maverick with real qualifications, like Chuck Hagel, for his running mate. If he had beaten Al Gore fair and square, with…
Read MoreCarter and I spoke this morning to Leadership North Carolina about the political landscape today. The questions were interesting – and pointed: What do the Republicans do now? How will Bev Perdue govern and position herself for 2012? How will the state solve its fiscal problems? How will the feds pay for Medicare and Social…
Read MoreYesterday morning, lifting a stack of emails my eye fell on the note written across the top of the first page, ‘This one looks serious.’ It was from Richard the Intellectual. All it said was, ‘Has the world ended?’ Richard is what he himself describes as a ‘decliner’ which, I can tell you from experience,…
Read MoreRace and politics can bring out the worst in people – and the best. My daughter Maggie, 15, is a high school sophomore. Like her older brother, who has posted blogs here before, she is an ardent Democrat – and fan of Barack Obama. Since Obama won, she has heard some ugly things from her…
Read MoreRace and politics can bring out the worst in people – and the best. My daughter Maggie, 15, is a high school sophomore. Like her older brother, who has posted blogs here before, she is an ardent Democrat – and fan of Barack Obama. Since Obama won, she has heard some ugly things from her…
Read MoreWell, the hollering and screaming is over and instead of being amazed by the antics of politicians we can go back to the normal everyday rhythms of life that get disrupted every four years by an election. What went wrong for Republicans here in North Carolina? What didn’t go wrong is happier to contemplate: Half…
Read MoreCampaigns end abruptly. One day you’re going 90 miles an hour, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. All of a sudden Tuesday night it’s over. On Wednesday you bask in the glory if you won or bathe in your friends’ condolences and reassurances if you lost. Then BAM! The exhausted and spent winners…
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