Posts by Gary Pearce
Bridges, Bullies and Obamacare
Fearless Forecast: Obamacare won’t be a decisive issue in 2014, but Chris Christie’s bridge-gate will be in 2016. That sounds backwards. After all, polls right here at home show that Obamacare is dragging down Senator Hagan. And the buzz is that Christie’s poll ratings are holding up and Republicans are rallying around him. …
Read MoreWill Obama Get It Right?
Democrats fondly hope that, when he comes to NCSU tomorrow, President Obama finally gets his economic message right. He has struggled at that all five years in the White House. For all the good he has done, he has never done well at explaining what he’s doing. In retrospect, maybe he should have…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Bridge
The Watauga Wizard, Jerry Wayne Williamson, nails it: “McCrory Blocks Traffic on All Bridges Going into CD12.” Jerry adds in his Watauga Watchblog: “(Congressman Mel Watt’s) resignation should have triggered a special election to fill his unexpired term in the U.S. House. But, no, Gov. McCrory decided that the seat could be filled on November…
Read MoreBully at the Pulpit
Republicans can toss their Christie for President buttons, but they can learn a lesson from Governor Soprano. Pat McCrory can learn to take responsibility. He, Phil Berger and Thom Tillis (“whining…losers”) can learn that voters don’t like bullies. A TAPster (who once thought well of McCrory) noted the contrast between Christie and McCrory:…
Read MoreMovin’ On Up
Ricky Diaz’s work here is done. Clearly it is time for him to work his magic for Republicans all across America. He gave North Carolina a year’s worth of scandals, stumbles and PR disasters. Starting with his hiring: a 24-year-old getting a DHHS job paying $85,000 a year, while teachers and state employees got…
Read MoreThe Teacher Pay Shuffle
Governor McCrory is in a box on teacher pay, and Democrats can’t let him wriggle out. You don’t need to be a political genius to predict what’s coming. McCrory will try to make a big splash by proposing a pay raise for teachers this year. He has to. He and the Republican legislature have…
Read MoreMitt Tillis
Thom Tillis’ campaign paid too much attention to what he said and not enough to what you see in his new TV ad. It’s a perfect set-up for his opponents, whether Republicans or Kay Hagan. Tillis looks and sounds like the Mitt Romney that people hated in 2012: a wealthy corporate boardroom guy surrounded…
Read MoreDeclaration of Independents
A “record-high 42 percent of Americans identify as Independents: Republican identification lowest in at least 25 years,” Gallup breathlessly tells us. But those numbers may obscure the truth about politics today. It’s not that four in 10 Americans swing bath and forth between the two parties – carefully studying the issues, judiciously judging the…
Read MoreClay for Congress
Don’t underestimate a candidate who already won 12 million Americans’ votes on TV. Clay Aiken may be a surprising candidate for Congress, but he may be just what Democrats need: a new face and fresh blood that energizes new voters, especially young voters. The social-media response to his possible candidacy in the 2nd…
Read MoreThe Old Two-Step
Like a lot of politicians, Governor McCrory wants to blame somebody else for all things bad and claim credit for all things good. Yesterday, he set a land speed record by doing both within a matter of minutes. First, speaking to a business group, he claimed credit for North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropping 2…
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