Posts by Gary Pearce
0-3 Start for Pat?
On their first day in session, legislative leaders sent a message to Governor McCrory: We’re back, and we’re in charge. McCrory has talked about three things in recent weeks: He wants more money for economic incentives, he may want to expand Medicaid and he wants a Dix deal with Raleigh (not Charlotte). In…
Read MoreObama’s Fail
Two headlines this week tell why even President Obama’s fans despair sometimes. First, while Obama and his staff focused on rolling out his free-community college proposal, they neglected to send anybody to the biggest story in the world: the Paris rally against terror. Second, while the President was giving a speech on cybersecurity, our…
Read MorePaul’s Conversion
Has Rep. Paul Tine found the promised land – or no man’s land? Tine, who was elected twice as a Democrat, says he can help his district by switching to unaffiliated and caucusing with House Republicans. But will it help him or hurt him in 2016? Voters clearly have no love for…
Read MoreWatch Us on WRAL
David Crabtree and Mark Binker of WRAL hosted Carter and me for this weekend’s “On the Record” show. We talked about the new Congress, the political landscape, Richard Burr’s reelection race, Governor McCrory and Medicaid, Paul Tine’s switcheroo and Jeb Bush. The show airs Saturday at 7 pm, or whenever basketball ends. It will…
Read MoreJerry Brown is Not Pusillanimous
At 76, the California governor is still young at heart, bold of vision and quick of wit. Brown was sworn into his fourth term this week, and he’s off with a bang. He wants to attack global warming by reducing California’s energy consumption over the next 15 years, slashing gas consumption by cars and…
Read MoreThey Walk the Line
John Boehner, Jeb Bush and Pat McCrory took their first steps this week along a Republican Party fault line that offers peril for each of them – and peril for Democrats if they succeed. Boehner had to fend off a conservative challenge to his reelection as Speaker. Two dozen right-wing Republicans abandoned him. Lucky…
Read MoreGive ’em Hell, Harry!
You’ve got to love Harry Reid, especially since Republicans hate him so bad. The Harry-haters were hee-hawing and high-fiving last week after Reid hurt himself exercising. One wrote, “It Couldn’t Happen to a Nastier Guy.” Another speculated that Reid is into kinky sex. Here’s hoping that Harry will get well and keep giving…
Read More2015 Questions
No predictions or resolutions! Instead let’s ask the big questions for 2015 for the state’s big three political forces: Governor McCrory, Republican legislators and Democrats. For Governor McCrory, will 2015 be about policy and politics, or about personal ethics? As we tuned out for the holidays, he was eyeball-to-eyeball with the capital media, AP…
Read MoreHappy New Year!
2015 will mark the 10th year Carter and I have been doing this blog, as best I can tell from my records. The first posts I could unearth were in late 2005. If memory serves, this was Carter’s idea. He and I worked together with a (non-partisan) client, and we traveled around the state…
Read MorePat and Jesse
During Governor McCrory’s attack on the AP, one observer compared it to Jesse Helms’ legendary battles with the media. Now, Carter knew Jesse a lot better than I did. But I see a big difference. Jesse attacked the media because he wanted a political fight. McCrory attacked the media because he doesn’t want…
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