Posts by Gary Pearce
Dirty Tricksters
While President Obama struggles with a gush of oil, Bob Etheridge struggles with a gush of videos. It’s the worst close-up since Helen Thomas. Team Etheridge has to push back. And the best defense is a good offense. No, there’s no excuse for Etheridge touching – let alone grabbing – the obnoxious,…
Read MoreBlow-up
The worst wounds in politics are self-inflicted. And Bob Etheridge has delivered himself a doozie of a boo-boo. Getting caught on tape looking like a bully is not helpful in an election year that already looks toxic for incumbents. But Etheridge can survive this. He made a good start by apologizing on…
Read MoreEmoter-in-Chief
What’s with this mania about whether President Obama has shown enough anger over the BP oil spill? Is this the legacy of Bill Clinton, who so famously felt our pain? Or that old actor Ronald Reagan, who could muster a catch in the throat and a flash of anger at the drop of…
Read MoreBev at War
I would have missed this one but for Seth Effron’s Quick Clips: “Perdue declares ‘war’ against school resegregation”(The Wilmington Journal). The Journal reported: Declaring that the state was ”in a war,” Governor Beverly Perdue told members of the NC Legislative Black Caucus last weekend that she, as a citizen, fully supported the efforts…
Read MoreOld Guvs Rule
Tuesday’s primaries across the county were good for women candidates. And old governors didn’t do too badly. California Democrats nominated Jerry Brown for governor again. Brown, 72, served as governor from 1975-1983. Iowa Republicans nominated Terry Branstad for a return engagement. Branstad, 63, was governor from 1983-1999. Both were fellow governors with…
Read MoreGolden Oldie
Cal Cunningham may be a young gun, but he’s firing an old Democratic bullet: Social Security. Cunningham’s campaign is battering Elaine Marshall because she “suggested raising the current retirement age of 67 to receive full Social Security benefits.” Cunningham sent an email this week proclaiming, “I went on the record to commit to…
Read MoreMad Hatters
Rob Christensen’s column about the GOP’s 13th Congressional District primary was insightful about the inside-Beltline versus outside-Beltline dynamic at play – the same divide that plays out in the WakeCounty school board fight. There are two other interesting aspects to the battle: race and radicalism. There’d be no end to the irony of…
Read MoreFrom Scoop to Flack
A veteran PR pro here says that when she used to get a call from a reporter, she wondered what story they were working on. Now, she wonders who’s looking for a job. Mark Johnson of The Charlotte Observer/News & Observer is the latest to leave. I haven’t talked to Mark about his decision,…
Read MoreBlame the Republicans
The White House needs to go on offense on the Gulf oil spill. Democrats, all too often, are weenies when it comes to political combat. They want to be fair, see all sides and over-intellectualize. It’s time for a go-for-the-gut message: Blame the Republicans. Here’s how it goes: This all started…
Read MoreX Factors
X factors are the spice of politics – and the bane of political operatives. X factors are the unexpected events that disrupt the best-laid plans of campaign consultants and political consultants, who are the world’s greatest control freaks. The classic X factor was the economic collapse that decided the 2008 presidential election by…
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