Posts by Gary Pearce
Non-Conventional View
A TAPster who is no fan of the party conventions offers this: “Two thoughts as we enter two tedious weeks of convention blather: “First, the hurricane harassing the Republican National Convention is further proof that Southern small-town wind-blown burgs like Tampa and Charlotte have no business hosting big-time conventions. What self-respecting convention city…
Read MoreChanging the Subject
Since he picked Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has been talking about: Medicaid cuts, budget cuts, taxes (his and ours), Bain Capital, Obamacare, abortion and, now, birth certificates. None of which address undecided voters’ number-one concern: jobs and the economy. There seems to be a simple message for Romney in this campaign: “The economy is…
Read MoreCandidate K?
Bucky Waters may be a great basketball analyst, but he should stay away from politics. And Coach K should ignore him. Waters recently opined that Mike Krzyzewski had achieved everything he could in sports and should move on to politics: “I’d like to see him go to Washington. We desperately need leaders. Desperately.” The…
Read MorePolitics Imitates Film
I had just seen “The Campaign,” which appears loosely based on Fayetteville and the 7th District, when I saw a commercial for the real Democratic incumbent, Mike McIntyre. In the movie, Cam Brady (Will Ferrell, looking spookily like John Edwards) stands proudly for “America, Jesus and freedom.” McIntyre’s ad, which lasts an interminable…
Read MoreStand Your Ground, Rep. Akin
Rep. Todd Akin shouldn’t pull out (pardon the expression) of the Missouri Senate race. First of all, he is the Democratic Party’s best bet to keep control of the United States Senate. So stand up to all those weaklings in the GOP, Todd! Stand up for what you believe! Second, Akin may have…
Read MoreWalmart Shoppers
Rob Christensen’s column about “Walmart Moms” shows that this election is more about personalities and less about Medicare, the debt, competing budget plans, taxes or any of the issues that animate the media and political chatter. The focus groups Christensen went to focused not on “issues,” but on personal impressions of the candidates and…
Read MoreCrisis at Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill’s biggest mistake in handling its academic scandal: Treating it as a PR problem (“How do we put a stop to these stories?”) instead of a leadership problem (“How do we find out what happened and make sure it never happens again?”). The Jim Martin investigation is a good step. But way past…
Read MoreBetty Owen
Betty Owen, a valuable aide and adviser to Governor Hunt both in and out of office, died Friday. Click here for her obituary. Betty was a schoolteacher, a mom and an activist in Charlotte when Hunt first ran for Governor in 1976. He brought her to Raleigh as his education adviser. Through his first…
Read MoreShirtless Debate
The author of a recent guest blog (“GOP Sex Change 2012”) was amused by the comments she provoked. She responds: “Your readers’ comments about my Shirtless Paul Ryan guest column demonstrate the depth at which the True Believers have their collective pointy little heads stuck in the sand. In no way was I implying…
Read MoreWhy They Lie
When Carter and I were beating up on Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms, respectively, in 1984, we said some tough things. But we always stuck to some semblance of the truth. Not that we were all that noble; we feared the backlash from the media and the voters if we went too far. Something…
Read More