Posts by Gary Pearce
Run Everywhere?
A reader wrote about North Carolina Democrats’ 2024 strategy: “I question the wisdom of trying to recruit Democratic candidates in all 170 legislative districts. Precincts and counties that voted overwhelmingly for Trump seem like lost causes to me.” Indeed, some places are 70 percent Republican. Why run there? Here’s why. Josh Stein won the 2020…
Read MoreFired Up!
Less than 24 hours after I blogged that Democrats in the legislature seemed “beat down,” I got corrected. One of the House Democratic leaders called Saturday morning to tell me that caucus members are fired up, energized and getting organized for 2024, 2026, 2028 – and for taking the majority by the end of the…
Read MoreDemocrats’ Split Personality
There are two wildly divergent states of mind – and emotional states – among North Carolina Democrats today. I saw one at last Saturday night’s Unity Dinner in Raleigh. I see and hear the other among Democrats in politics and government in Raleigh. At the dinner, 400-plus eager, energized and enthusiastic Democrats jammed the reception,…
Read More“Hitler,” Mr. Robinson?
Mark Robinson, who leads the Republican race for governor of North Carolina, said this about the criminal charges against Donald Trump: “Law and order has been destroyed, and we have a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized against political enemies, much like it was during Hitler’s reign.” Have you read the indictment, Mr. Robinson?…
Read More“MAGA Fascists” vs Democracy
Adrian Fontes doesn’t mince words. He calls election-deniers “MAGA fascists.” Fontes, Arizona’s newly elected secretary of state, was the keynote speaker at the state Democratic Party’s Unity Dinner Saturday night. The big, burly ex-Marine with a booming voice and commanding presence delivered the most powerful and inspiring speech I’ve heard since Barack Obama in 2008.…
Read MoreEyes on Russia
While we were obsessing over billionaires at the bottom of the ocean, a civil war broke out in Russia. In 1917, civil war in Russia led to the fall of the Tsar and the rise of communism and the Soviet Union. In 1991, armed conflict in Moscow led to the breakup of the Soviet Union,…
Read MoreDining With Democrats
I’m doing something Saturday I haven’t done in years: go to a Democratic Party dinner. There, I’ll remember a man who is little known to Democrats, but meant a lot to me – and to North Carolina. The occasion is the state party Unity Dinner. I’ve done my time at these things. I’ve half-eaten too…
Read More“Deeply Sad” Abortion Ad?
A right-wing blog took a swing this week at Rachel Hunt’s abortion ad – and at her father, former Governor Jim Hunt. In a blog headlined “Rachel Hunt releases deeply sad campaign video,” Andrew Dunn wrote in Longleaf Politics: “State Sen. Rachel Hunt is making the abortion issue the centerpiece of her campaign for lieutenant…
Read MoreMandy Cohen, Covid and Masks
MAGA Republicans apparently like masks only when they’re worn by Proud Boys attacking the U.S. Capitol. North Carolina’s junior U.S. senator, “Popgun Ted” Budd, and 8th District Congressman, “Bathroom Dan” Bishop, last week claimed that, when Dr. Mandy Cohen was the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, she “spread misinformation about … Covid vaccinations…
Read MoreTillis’ Tap Dance
Do I have to start liking Thom Tillis now? The second-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina got censured by the state Republican convention for working with Democrats on guns, immigration and gay marriage. The resolution cited “blatant violations of our party platform.” The NC GOP doesn’t tolerate deviations from the party line. Then-Senator Richard Burr…
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