Posts by Gary Pearce
Gary’s Taking a Break
This website is going to tilt right this week. I’m going to the beach. On the agenda: golf, reading, napping, seafood and spirits, swimming and jogging (to make up for the seafood and spirits). Not on the agenda: blogging. I’ll be back August 23. Don’t let Carter warp your mind while…
Read MoreThe Will of the People
Some people must have superpowers. How else can they divine “the will of the people” all by themselves? Frequently, people comment here that Obama and the Democrats are defying “the will of the people” or “the majority.” I hate to break it to you, but under our beloved Constitution the only way…
Read MoreRunning Hard
If you think running for office is easy, you should have seen Rep. Grier Martin yesterday. The heat index on my street in Raleigh’s North Ridge was somewhere north of 100 degrees. And here came Grier, drenched with sweat through his knit shirt, his khaki slacks and shoes. He was going door to…
Read MoreThe GOP Show
North Carolina Republicans are a long way from winning this fall’s legislative elections, but they’re winning the battle of perceptions. And that battle has big implications for fundraising. Three sources have told me in the last week that the Republicans’ presentations on their prospects for the fall are blowing away the Democrats. …
Read MoreLet the Mosque Go Up
I understand the emotional reaction against building a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center. And I understand politicians who demagogue the flap to score points. That’s what politicians do. But I don’t understand the logic. Carter wrote in his blog yesterday, as I read it, that the mosque shouldn’t…
Read MoreWelcome, Sarah?
Under the Dome reports that Republicans “had a field day” with Elaine Marshall’s stumble over whether she wants President Obama to campaign in North Carolina. In the end, she said: “I would welcome President Obama to North Carolina.” So here’s the question for Senator Burr: Does he welcome Sarah Palin to North…
Read MoreThree for UNC
The Raleigh buzz is that three of the finalists for UNC System President are AG Roy Cooper, Greensboro super-lawyer (and Board of Governors Chair) Jim Phillips and Bill Roper of UNC Health Care. Cooper and Phillips, interestingly, are long-time friends and political allies. For Cooper, the N&O’s much-hyped series on the SBI could…
Read MoreDeacon Burr
Senator Richard Burr is a proud graduate of Wake Forest University. He played football there. Today, in the Senate, he is a proud opponent of wasteful federal spending. Apparently, he must choose between the two. John Murawski reports in the N&O that two of Burr’s Senate Republican colleagues, John McCain and Tom…
Read MoreWomen on Top
At lunch last week with a group of knowledgeable media and political types, I asked this question: Has any state in the country ever had women simultaneously occupy its top three elected offices – governor and both U.S. Senate seats? Because North Carolina could this year: Governor Bev Perdue, Senator Kay Hagan and –…
Read MoreFamily Values
There was a nice little contrast this weekend under the category of News About Politicians’ Children. There was the nice, simple little wedding of Chelsea Clinton. (I can already see my conservative commentators’ blood pressure rising as they prepare to lace into the cost and glitz of the ceremony. Give the girl a…
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