Joe Biden has been a good President, but missed being great because he wasn’t a great communicator. You can’t be a great politician – and certainly not a great President – if you aren’t a great communicator. Biden’s one term is much like President Jimmy Carter’s. Both did great things, but couldn’t tell the story.…
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Turning on the TV, watching the first debate in the 2016 Iowa primary, I stared at a row of candidates standing on stage – they all talked, sounded like smooth-tongued Washington politicians – except one: Donald Trump. Trump beat Hillary. Covid struck. Biden beat Trump. Trump ran again. Biden got out. Trump called Kamala Harris…
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John Bolton: “Reagan lost the first five primaries to Gerald Ford in 1976 – then upset Ford in North Carolina. Carter Wrenn ran Reagan’s North Carolina campaign. He tells a compelling story about American politics, from Reagan to Trump.” Stephen Mansfield, New York Times bestselling author: “Our generation is awash in a sea of thin…
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Trump boasts that his election – by 1.5% in the popular vote – gives him a “mandate.” Which reminds me of what Jim Hunt said after one of his four elections as governor. (I forget which one, but I do remember that his margins of victory ranged from 9.5 to 31%.) A reporter asked Hunt,…
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There was a moment after Trump won when he could have sowed healing. Brought us together. But Trump’s a fighter. Not a healer. The media didn’t change either. It went from howling to defeat Trump – or Harris – to howling about Matt Gaetz and Trump’s cabinet picks. In a way, that wasn’t surprising: Howls…
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John Bolton: “Reagan lost the first five primaries to Gerald Ford in 1976 – then upset Ford in North Carolina. Carter Wrenn ran Reagan’s North Carolina campaign. He tells a compelling story about American politics, from Reagan to Trump.” Stephen Mansfield, New York Times bestselling author: “Our generation is awash in a sea of thin…
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Instead of obsessing over Trump’s Cabinet picks, I read the story of a man who gave his life pursuing freedom and happiness for his country. The book is Patriot, by Alexei Navalny, the Russian politician who stood up to Putin and as a consequence was harassed, arrested, charged with multiple made-up crimes, poisoned and ultimately…
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Back in the last millennium, the paradox of North Carolina politics was: How can the same state elect Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms? Today, it’s: How can the same state elect Donald Trump and Josh Stein? They’re not just political opposites; they’re two of the most opposite people on planet Earth. Call us TrumpenStein. The…
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Back in 1975, I met Ronald Reagan at a dinner in Raleigh. That fall he ran for President – I ran his North Carolina primary, working with Jesse Helms (one of two U.S. Senators who endorsed Reagan) and Tom Ellis (Reagan’s North Carolina Chairman). Reagan lost the first five primaries to Gerald Ford – his…
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