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A Surprise

By Carter Wrenn December 23, 2024

‘You tell a lot of good stories about Reagan, like his saying a prayer for the man who shot him,’ a friend reading my book said – then laughed, ‘But I wish you’d been kinder to Trump.’ He’s a conservative. Reagan was a conservative. Trump’s now head of the Republican Party. So he sees Trump…

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Grinch Griffin

By Gary Pearce December 22, 2024

The Grinch tried to steal Christmas. Jefferson Griffin is trying to steal an election at Christmas. Call him Grinch Griffin. Griffin lost the Supreme Court race to Justice Allison Riggs. Repeated recounts and audits confirmed the result. But he wants Republicans on the Supreme Court to overrule the voters’ decision, throw out 60,000 votes on…

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Tall Tales?

By Carter Wrenn December 20, 2024

I might be wrong but a story one of Kamala Harris’ political wizards told after she lost sure sounded like a tall tale. He started out by telling a reporter there was no value, during the campaign, in Harris speaking with the New York Times or the Washington Post, added, Their readers are already with…

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Jim Hunt’s Gift

By Gary Pearce December 19, 2024

Forty years ago this month, at a low point in his political career, Jim Hunt had his best idea. It became the Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University. You can argue with “best.” He had plenty of good ideas and initiatives. Like: Smart Start, raising teachers’ pay to the national average, the Primary Reading…

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Surprises

By Carter Wrenn December 18, 2024

Scratching the Surface Broadcasting live on the radio from Grovers Mill, New Jersey on Halloween night 86 years ago a stunned reporter watched Martians leaving a spacecraft, blasting policemen with heat rays. Panic swept across New Jersey. But he wasn’t a reporter he was an actor reading The War of the Worlds on Orson Wells…

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Missing the Mark

By Gary Pearce December 16, 2024

This story from Axios Charlotte was either a cheap bid for clicks or revealed a basic ignorance of how state government works. The headline: “Cooper, Robinson have no record of speaking in days before, after or during Helene.” It began like “Breaking News” on CNN: “North Carolina’s governor and his next-in-command seemingly had zero communication…

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Going Pro

By Gary Pearce December 12, 2024

I’m a Wolfpack fan. I like going to games and yelling, “go to hell, Carolina!” I liked watching Dave Doeren’s teams beat Mack Brown’s four times in a row. I don’t fault Carolina for hiring Bill Belichick. UNC just recognized reality: college sports have gone pro. Some Carolina fans are bewildered by their university spending…

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Vanity

By Carter Wrenn December 12, 2024

Trump’s on the way back to the White House, the MAGA movement’s more powerful than ever – so is it about to Make America Great Again? Back in 1776 the 13 colonies had next to no power – while Great Britain, an empire, was a superpower. Four days after the Declaration of Independence passed, George…

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Fanning Fires

By Carter Wrenn December 11, 2024

Back during the election as Trump battled Harris – on TV, across social media, on websites – pundits on both the left and right fanned fires. And hordes of people cheered. Harris lost, Matt Gaetz strode onto the stage, new fires spread. Gaetz got out – fire spreaders locked eyes on Pete Hegseth, talking about…

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The Debate Tonight, A Hard Counter Punch

By Carter Wrenn September 10, 2024

Cocaine kingpin Jaime Davidson handed ‘Bam Bam’ Lawrence a .357 Magnum pistol, told him to go…

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Better Days

By Carter Wrenn September 9, 2024

On stage at his rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, angry, lips set, tearing into Kamala Harris, J.…

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Do TV Ads Work?

By Gary Pearce September 8, 2024

Josh Stein’s ads about Mark Robinson certainly worked. They worked because they defined Robinson early in…

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