Posts by Gary Pearce
Cal on Camera
Cal Cunningham looked unsteady before he got into the game. But his first play was strong. Based on his start, I rate him the favorite in the primary – and, on today’s market, the strongest potential challenger to Burr. Cunningham announced with a four-minute video. He looked good, and he sounded strong. He…
Read MoreSchoolyard Bullies
All the nice, well-intentioned people who support diversity in the Wake schools better wake up and realize they’re in a war. Many of them eschewed Democratic Party help in the election. We’re non-partisan, they said. Well, the other side had no qualms about enlisting the Republican Party on its side. So now…
Read MoreOff With Their Heads!
The new majority took over the Wake County school board like the Jacobins took over Paris. Replacing a board that was seen as high-handed and arrogant, they set new standards for high-handed and arrogant. One step got little attention. The board hired a Republican lawyer. Unclear is whether they fired Tharrington and Smith,…
Read MoreI Stand Corrected
News & Observer Executive Editor John Drescher doesn’t miss much. Within minutes of my post below about the N&O’s 25-year club, he shot me this email: Gary, There are far more long-timers here than you give us credit for. Of the people in the 25-year club, 15 are in the newsroom: Tudor, Christensen, Stevens, Siceloff,…
Read MoreAging Out
As an ex-News & Observer employee (I left in 1975), I’m always interested in the 25-year club members. The ad in today’s paper was revealing. Of the 62 members, only five work in news. One more is in editorials. And two more are in interactive media. That is, only five people in…
Read MoreSharp DSCC Elbows
This isn’t how Cal Cunningham wanted to reenter the Senate race. Joe (the Sledgehammer) Sinsheimer weighed in on Facebook: “While I think Cunningham is an attractive candidate, I really don’t like the idea of folks in Washington choosing our next Senator.” Nor does Elaine Marshall’s campaign. The Hill says: “This has left Marshall‘s…
Read More‘Bailout Burr’
I talked to two seasoned and smart Democrats recently who think that – contrary to all the talk about 2010 being a Republican year – Richard Burr will be vulnerable. One, who watched Burr’s race in 2004, thinks he is a weak campaigner. That year, Burr did in fact campaign as far under the…
Read MoreTiger and the Rags
Readers of The National Enquirer knew from the beginning what readers and viewers of ESPN, the networks, The News & Observer, The New York Times and all other major media didn’t know until well after Tiger Woods made one of his worst drives ever. Last week, The Enquirer reported that Tiger had been –…
Read MoreThey All Do It
This is why Republicans won’t get far running against corruption in Raleigh. The Greensboro News & Record reports: “The State Board of Elections has asked Sen. Phil Berger to explain at least three dozen problems found with his campaign finance reports since 2004, ranging from a lack of information to apparently illegal contributions.” Berger’s…
Read MoreTime’s a’wastin’
Next year may be a Republican year, but politics is funny. Polls show Richard Burr getting little more than 40 percent of the vote against a generic Democratic opponent. One problem: No Democratic candidate has yet convinced the party he or she can beat Burr. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is making another run…
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