Posts by Gary Pearce
A Bright Line
That didn’t take long. For all the Tea Party’s denials of racism, it took Tea Party poster boy Rand Paul about one news cycle to trip over race. The federal government, he says, has no business telling a business it can’t discriminate on the basis of race. Of course, he added, he…
Read MoreEndorsements and Establishments
Do endorsements matter? Not judging from Tuesday’s primaries. A candidate endorsed by President Obama loses a Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. A candidate endorsed by the Senate Republican leader – and the state’s senior Senator – loses the GOP primary in Kentucky. So how does Ken Lewis’ endorsement help Elaine Marshall? Well, it’s…
Read MoreA Conflict for Elaine Marshall?
Is there an inherent conflict in Secretary of State Elaine Marshall regulating lobbyists while running ads about “taking on” lobbyists? And is it proper for Marshall to ask lobbyists she regulates to contribute to her campaign? I’ve talked to several lobbyists who are outraged by what they see as a conflict, but are…
Read MoreThe Senate Race
Maybe I was wrong. After the primary, I didn’t see how Cal Cunningham could come from nine points back. Elaine Marshall’s campaign manager, Thomas Mills, is trying to cut off Cunningham’s cash by sending out a memo saying he can’t win. The Cunningham campaign is pushing back, trying to reload his donor base.…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences
I admire Roddy Jones, John Prestage and the 800 business and civic leaders they say have “responded to an invitation from former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan and Democracy North Carolina to form Campaign Donors for Campaign Reform.” In their op-ed “Urgent need for clean elections” in today’s N&O, they say that today’s “campaign financing…
Read MoreJosh Stein: Freshman Phenom
Josh Stein is the hottest freshman from Raleigh since John Wall. I’ve known Josh for more than a dozen years, and I feel like I helped raise him in politics. So permit me to brag. The N.C.Center for Public Policy Research ranked Josh the most effective freshman in the 2009 General Assembly: 19th…
Read MoreHoist by Their Own Petard
You can’t have a temperance meeting in a bar. And a group that wants to reform lobbying and fund-raising can’t have a fundraiser sponsored by lobbyists. But that’s what the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform is doing. The result: Governor Perdue – who, hard as she tries, can’t satisfy the N&O…
Read MoreTerry and the SOBs
I spoke Monday night to the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club – which, I learned, also has women members. I talked about the two groups that have always competed for political dominance in North Carolina: the “Just Say No” crowd of Jesse Helms, Richard Burr and the Tea Party and the “Go Forward’ crowd…
Read MoreDC Cal?
One overlooked factor in the Democratic Senate primary: Did being the Washington pooh-bahs’ pick hurt Cal Cunningham? The DSCC heavies got behind Cunningham only after a long and frustrating courtship of Bob Etheridge. Cunningham got so frustrated he dropped out of the race, then got back in when Etheridge finally said no. So…
Read MoreRusty Money
Tom Fetzer is so outraged about Rusty Carter’s illegal campaign contributions he called another press conference. Governor Perdue and Senator Basnight are so embarrassed they think it should be a felony. Soon Joe Lieberman probably will try to take away the citizenship of anyone who does such a heinous thing. Now, I…
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