Posts by Gary Pearce
Keith Weatherly Responds
I received this email from Keith Weatherly re my blog on “The Tillis Retirement Home”: “You need better informed TAPsters. I work for Majority Leader Stam – not the Speaker. Past 2 years I worked for Minority Leader Stam. I had floor privileges as staff for minority (as does current Minority Leader’s staff). Majority Leader’s…
Read MoreYow Shoots PR Bricks
Whatever her talents as NCSU’s AD, Debbie Yow’s PR skills are lacking. As an alum, I hope she’s better at hiring than communicating. I’m a fan, not a fanatic. I like what I see about the new coach. But, once again, I’m stunned by the frenzy Wolfpack fans can work themselves into when everything…
Read MoreThe Tillis Retirement Home
Here’s an interesting tip from a TAPster: “Has anybody noticed that the cozy corner office of the NC Speaker of the House has become a retirement home for wayward ex-legislators? At last count, the Speaker has three of the lost souls on his staff. Charles Thomas and Bill Daughtridge were recently joined by Bruce…
Read MoreOut-organized?
State GOP Chair Robin Hayes says President Obama carried North Carolina in 2008 because of simple political mechanics. He told McClatchey reporters: “The president and his group did a much better job of organizing through the Internet, through social networking, through every possible means to identify and get their folks to the polls. They…
Read MoreBugs Bunny Always Beats Daffy Duck
Those six words may be the most brilliant I have ever read about political and media strategy. I found them in Jeff Greenfield’s new book, Then Everything Changed. The book is an interesting foray into “alternative history,” based on real events: What if JFK had been assassinated in December 1960, before taking office? What…
Read MoreThe Word Is ‘Extreme’
I’m told that flustered Democrats in the legislature don’t seem to understand they’re not still in charge – and don’t know how to act as the minority. They could take a cue from no less a message maven than Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. This week, according to The New York Times,…
Read MoreLegislative (In)security
A TAPster (bartender, two cold ones here) offers this thought-provoking caution: “Carter’s brief blog about legislators carrying guns is scary on many fronts. It’s probably only a matter of time before a gun battle breaks out in the legislative cafeteria when a lawmaker tries to take the last piece of fried catfish from a hungry…
Read MoreA Stunning Turn of Events
A Civitas Institute critic of Smart Start has twisted himself into an interesting position. In an N&O op-ed, Andrew Henson acknowledges that “early child care investment has proven to have an effect on children’s lives and should be a key priority for the legislature.” He then proceeds to argue that Smart Start, which…
Read MoreWashed Up
A political tsunami brings ashore strange creatures from the deep. Witness some of the Republicans in the legislature. A serious Senator, Neal Hunt, comes up with a good idea that could repair burnt bridges for Republicans: pardon Reconstruction Governor W.W. Holden, who was impeached for standing up to the Ku Klux Klan. …
Read MoreRedistrict the Right Way!
This is an urgent open letter to Republican political consultants in North Carolina: Now is the time to come to the aid of your profession. Your party is in charge of redistricting. The lonely eyes of all political consultants – Democrats and Republicans – turn to you. I’m not talking about partisan…
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