Posts by Carter Wrenn
From Choirboy to Pitt Bull
It wasn’t too long ago that John Edwards running for Senate as a moderate choirboy was promising to stay above gutter politics and negative smears. By gosh, he said, he was going to keep to the high moral ground. Times change. Nine years later, our choirboy has become a pit-bull attacking Hillary, Rupert Murdoch and…
Read MoreDemocrats 33, Republicans 1
For thirty years, Republicans have been steadily gaining on Democrats in party registration. But the numbers about who’s raised what in the governor’s race tell a completely different story (News & Observer). The two Democratic candidates have raised $8.4 million. The three Republicans have raised $500,000. Advantage to Democrats by 17 to 1. The contrast…
Read MoreRove’s Legacy
Back in the days when Ronald Reagan was first running for president, trying to dethrone the Republican Establishment in the primaries in 1976 and 1980, Karl Rove – along with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld – was working the other side of the street. Of course Reagan won and the Establishment, ever practical, promptly changed…
Read MoreWiretaps
There’s been a big flap in Washington about wiretaps. The Bush Administration wants to listen in on ‘foreign communications’ it suspects may be tied to terrorism without court orders (The New York Times, 8-4-07). That sounded reasonable even to a fair amount of Democrats (who voted for it). But a lot didn’t and the usual…
Read MoreThe Next Political Tidal Wave?
The Democrats in Washington are thinking long term and they may have found an issue they can ride to victory after they’ve finished milking the war in Iraq. They’re moving to pass retaliatory trade legislation against China. For years, free trade has been a sacred cow for both Democrats and Republicans. No one seemed to…
Read MoreUnions and Realtors
To get the debate on the so-called ‘Transfer Tax’ out of the backrooms of the legislature and into public domain – so voters would know about the new tax on homes – the Realtors Association ran TV ads. They got Governor Easley so stirred up he let fly and told legislators they had to decide…
Read MoreTony ‘the Fixer’ Strikes Again
While John Edwards and Hillary and Barack Obama are running around the nation deploring the greed of corporate CEOs, North Carolina State Senate kingpin Tony ‘The Fixer’ Rand is helping the CEOs. At the end of the legislative session Senator Rand slipped through a bill to give Goodyear Tire and Rubber $40 million in “incentives”…
Read MoreVideo Poker and Strippers
I’ve got to – for once – agree with Gary. The most feared name in Democratic politics today is Joe Sinsheimer. There’s no substitute for good research and Mr. Sinsheimer’s carving out a niche all his own. His particular bone of contention is corruption. How effective is he? Ask Jim Black, Rep. Thomas Wright and…
Read MoreDemocracy: It’s Like Making Sausage
Here’s a story about how democracy works that’s a far cry from what they teach in high school civics class. Two years ago, three big waste management corporations decided to build mega-garbage dumps here in North Carolina. Not for garbage from North Carolina. But for garbage from Massachusetts and New York. They promoted their idea…
Read MoreMeeker and Five Points
One of the mantras of the Urban Correctness crowd – of which Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker is High Priest – is “density.” “Density” is good. “Sprawl” is anathema. That’s what makes the flap at Five Points – involving the quasi-official, quasi-political CACs who’re usually among the mayor’s biggest boosters – interesting. Because they’ve decided “density”…
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