Posts by Gary Pearce
Fighting Fracking
Opponents of fracking in North Carolina may have two powerful allies: the free market and politics. John Murawski wrote in The News & Observer that “booming shale gas production in the Northeast” could give energy developers one less reason “to take financial risks to explore North Carolina’s virgin gas deposits in Lee, Moore and…
Read MoreThe Singer or the Song
Senator Phil Berger says national Republicans have a messenger problem, not a message problem. Democrats might well hope he believes that. After attending CPAC – the right-wing Woodstock – Berger told Travis Fain at the Greensboro News & Record: “It’s not just a communication problem. Sometimes it’s the individual messengers … (and) some folks…
Read MoreUndo and Recycle
A TAPster and veteran of the Raleigh scene says “undoing” and “recycling” are the GOP trademarks thus far. Last week, he noted: “The GOP focused on un-doing the deal on the Dix property, un-doing the state’s renewable energy policy and un-doing other done deals like the death penalty moratorium. “In their zeal to…
Read MoreGot Tickets?
A long-time Raleigh lobbyist recalls the days when legislators helped themselves to ACC tournament tickets – courtesy of lobbyists and special interests. Every year about this time, the demand was so strong that lobbyists felt like Ticketmaster or StubHub. One mountain legislator – a Democrat, I should add – was especially insistent. He…
Read MoreBest in Blogs
Carter and I finally got elected to something ourselves – sort of. Talking About Politics was named one of the best North Carolina political blogs by The Fix at the Washington Post. Best of all, we were nominated by readers. We thank you. Also named from here: @NCCapitol; Progressive Pulse; Watauga Watch; The…
Read MoreFast and Mean
Two months in, two things are striking about the Republican regime in Raleigh: how fast they move and how mean they seem. This is a recipe for a Democratic revival, if – and it’s a big if – Democrats get their act together. Too many politicos – Democrats and Republicans – assume that…
Read MoreUNC PR
Why does a university with so many journalism and PR grads get such bad PR in media outlets where lots of UNC grads work? After Dan Kane’s report in The News & Observer Sunday – not to mention this weekend’s games – those grads might ask: Why did they hire a Duke guy for…
Read MoreA Good Read
If you want to know how local and state politics, TV news and Raleigh’s whole media/political world got to be the way it is, here’s the book for you. It’s “I Never Promised Not to Tell,” a tell-almost-all by Grady Jefferys, a veteran writer-ad man-journalist-consultant who was there, as he says, “When Television and…
Read MoreIncentivized
Governor McCrory and Republican legislators were against incentives before they were for them. McCrory is clearly for them when he can bask in the announcement of 2,600 new jobs by MetLife. (Hello, Snoopy!) Or maybe he’s for them when they are negotiated by Moore & Van Allen, his old law firm. But…
Read MoreA Tale of Two States
While Governor McCrory prepares a “very, very tight budget” and blocks Medicaid expansion, the Republican governor of another purple Southern state is going in the opposite direction. Governor Rick Scott of Florida was a Tea Party poster boy when he got elected in 2010. Now a Miami Tea Party leader has sent the governor…
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