I didn’t realize it until it was too late but on Sunday morning some devil, or to put it in more modern (but less meaningful) terms, some spirit of masochism infected me. In retrospect it was just there. There was no old movie on television – so I turned on the morning talk shows. The…
Read MoreJust before he left office, former Governor Jim Hunt wrote (with a little bit of help from me, I’m proud to say) a book about education. He said in it that North Carolina’s education-reform efforts had been hampered for decades by a start-and-stop approach. The state would start a good initiative, then lose interest and…
Read MoreMike Huckabee is learning the inexorable rule of presidential campaigns – one that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani learned the hard way: Whoever stands out gets shot at. Huckabee, the self-proclaimed Christian Leader, finds himself in the crosshairs now that he’s jumped up in polls in Iowa, South Carolina and nationally.…
Read MoreAfter a good look at their records many Republicans would conclude Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Governor Mitt Romney are a pair of typical northeastern Republicans. And that’s pretty much how Giuliani has run for President, not varnishing (at least not much) his past stands on issues like gay rights. As a result he peaked the…
Read MoreHere was the churlish response of state Rep. Paul Stam, a Wake County Republican, to news that N.C. State University wants to name its new library for former Governor Jim Hunt: “Normally to get your name on a government building, you have to be dead. But I’m not on a crusade about this.” Good thing…
Read MoreROMNEY: Mitt Romney made his speech about Mormonism without saying one word about what he believes (other than that Jesus is the son of God which he won’t get an argument about from anyone, even Ron Paul, in a Republican Party); about the most controversial thing Romney said was the Founding Fathers supported religious liberty…
Read MoreBeverly Perdue has trotted out one of the oldest and tiredest campaign proposals there is: a bipartisan commission to find savings in the state budget. What’s worse, the idea could hurt her in the Democratic primary. This retread comes back up every few years – usually from a conservative or a Republican. It’s total bull.…
Read MorePoor President Bush. Everyday he’s reminding me more and more of Jimmy Carter, a nice guy stumbling (after the man and the hour met) to the end of his term like a wobbly legged boxer – so that you just can’t help wanting it all to end. Take yesterdays walloping: For two years the President’s…
Read MoreMitt Romney says he’s going to take the bull by the horns tomorrow and talk straight from the shoulder with us about his Mormon religion – tomorrow. Sounds fascinating. Except Romney’s burst of candor seems to have been sparked by Mike Huckabee’s sudden rise in the Iowa polls. So Romney’s real goal may not exactly…
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