Presidential candidate John Edwards says, “Americans are looking for strength, idealistic strength” in our leaders. And, he adds, Americans want politicians with “core beliefs” – who are not subject to the whim of polls. Apparently, John Edwards’ idea of proving to Americans that he has that kind of “strength” is to lead a crusade against…
Read MoreHere is the headline I did not want to see (from the March 3 News & Observer): “Isley wants to shift TTA funds –The Raleigh councilman says the money should go toward roads and schools.” Wake up, Raleigh Democrats. This should be OUR issue. The N&O reported: City Council member Philip Isley wants to cut…
Read MoreI’ve always liked James Carville. I got to know him when he did some early consulting on Jim Hunt’s 1984 Senate campaign. He’s not always popular with the D.C. Democrats. Which is one reason I like him. Today a friend sent me the Duke Chronicle’s account of his speech there Saturday. (Great scheduling move, James:…
Read MoreThe directors of the State Lottery are not only going to get salaries higher than most others in State Government – they’re going to get more time off. At least the top nineteen employees will. Technically, lottery employees are state employees. But that hasn’t stopped the Lottery Commission from giving them higher salaries and more…
Read MoreIt’s only March but I’m for giving Jaume Plensa, the Spanish artist who’s sold Mayor Meeker on $2.5 million in ‘art’ for downtown, the Salesman of the Year award. The good news here is this $2.5 million – it appears – is going to be paid for by Jim Goodman, of Capital Broadcasting, and not…
Read MoreHere’s a point of view on the War in Iraq that is being, unfortunately, ignored. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, in a commentary in the News and Observer today (3-6-06), argues that our problems in Iraq are a result of “President Bush’s decision to approach the Iraq invasion with the Rumsfeld Doctrine, which calls…
Read MoreCarter and I spoke to a class of aspiring political operatives this week. Just before we started, CNN broadcast the story about Bush’s approval rating dropping to 34 percent. Apparently, he is about where Nixon was when he resigned. But Democrats shouldn’t start celebrating. Bush’s 10-point drop came because his administration wants to let a…
Read MoreIt looks like our crusade to get the Raleigh City Council focused on schools is making progress. In his annual State of the City address this week, Mayor Charles Meeker laid out three goals for 2006: reduce fuel consumption, fight homelessness and – according to The News & Observer – “push Wake County to solve…
Read More‘Pay to Play’ is the name the media has given the scandals that are going on in Raleigh. It means, roughly, lobbyists ‘pay’ (by making contributions) – if they want legislators to ‘play’ (listen to them or act on what they want) in Raleigh. To be fair to the lobbyists, they aren’t enamored about raising…
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