Posts by Carter Wrenn
Is Tillis Losing the ‘Base?’
I got a call from a reporter who’d read a poll: Biden and Cal Cunningham each had 47% of the vote in North Carolina; Trump had 47% (tied with Biden) but Thom Tillis only had 40%, seven points behind Cunningham – the reporter asked, There’re a lot of people, a lot of Republicans, voting for…
Read MoreWho Wins Tonight?
Well, ‘Sleepy Joe’ and ‘Tacky Trump’ go head to head tonight with no holds barred and with courtesy all but gone the ratings of tonight’s debate should shoot through the roof! Every morning my inbox is filled with emails from old friends who say, Trump lies but… and, at the same time, when Biden floats…
Read MoreA Bad Sign?
In a political campaign signs can tell you who’s up or who’s down: A tremor in a candidate’s voice, an evasive campaign manager, and polls (though these days a lot of polls are silly). When one campaign cuts back its media buys, as the other ramps up, that’s another sign. I read a story in…
Read MoreLast Respects
Thirty-five years ago, the morning George Crile – a producer at 60 Minutes who later wrote the book Charlie Wilson’s War – called I thought, An interview with 60 Minutes – what’s the difference between that and sticking your head in a lion’s mouth? I said: ‘I reckon you know the chances of Tom Ellis…
Read MoreWhat a Poll Missed
During Ronald Reagan’s 1976 primary Tom Ellis and I sat in a room listening to Arthur Finkelstein explain his first poll for Reagan in North Carolina – forty years later, sitting in my office across the table from Arthur, I listened to him explain his polls for George Holding. Sadly, a year later, Arthur passed…
Read MorePolitics 101
Imagine for a moment that you’re a Republican candidate running in a down ballot race in a swing district: Your fate is in the hands of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. For example: Turnout. If Democrats vote and Republicans don’t your ship sinks – but there’s not much you can do about that. Biden and…
Read MoreAn Uncomfortable Question
The phone rang, a friend’s voice asked, ‘Do you believe John Bolton?’ ‘I do.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I’ve known him for 40 years.’ ‘So you think Trump smeared him?’ ‘Yes.’ Angry, Trump had branded John Bolton a liar, fool, washed up, whacko and a sick puppy. There’s no one quite like Trump when he’s on a tirade…
Read MoreDan versus Roy: Every Lost Second
Dan Forest is a good, decent man and he’s the most conservative candidate on the ballot for statewide office this fall but he’s running against an incumbent Governor who has a fine-tuned political machine with its eyes locked on beating Dan Forest. We’re a swing state and, before the coronavirus epidemic upended the world, Roy…
Read MoreCoronavirus Journal, April 5
Coronavirus first reared its head in China in January but it wasn’t until two months later that HHS placed its first order to stockpile masks. A foible. Oklahoma ordered 16,000 face shields – FEMA sent 120,000. North Carolina ordered 500,000 coveralls – FEMA sent 306. HHS had over 16,000 ventilators in the stockpile – but…
Read MoreLight to See
You rarely hear a politician or a TV talk show host or health-care bureaucrat mention it but there’s one crucial fact we don’t know: The Infection Rate. We don’t know the total number of people in the United States who have already been infected by coronavirus. Why is that fact crucial? In Italy the government…
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