Posts by Gary Pearce
Fox News, Fake News
They knew it was a lie. They knew Biden won and Trump lost. But they told the lie anyway, nightly and relentlessly. The Fox News crowd – Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham – knew that Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and their crazy conspiracy claims were a crock. They emailed each other…
Read MoreDon’t Give Up
A Democratic legislator said something that struck me: “Feeling helpless is Democrats’ biggest problem in North Carolina.” Many Democrats are depressed and discouraged, or angry and frustrated, by 2022 – losing the US Senate and Supreme Court races and seeing Republicans get a near-supermajority in the legislature. Those feelings fueled the state party upheaval last…
Read MoreTake Me Away
Sometimes I wonder why I watch the nightly news. Earthquakes killed more than 35,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Aid was slow in coming, and builders are blamed for shoddy construction. Russia launched a new offensive. Ukrainian forces, short of ammunition, fell back. Several US airliners had near crashes and collisions. A train carrying dangerous…
Read MoreThe Goodwin House Gets a Shakeup
If Anderson Clayton can infuse North Carolina Democrats with the energy, optimism and aggressiveness of her insurgent campaign for state party chair, 2024 can be a good year. The first vice chair, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick, also was ousted, by Jonah Garson. Kimberly Hardy defeated incumbent second vice chair Matt Hughes. Garson and Hardy…
Read MoreBully Bill
The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” should be renamed the “Bullying Bill of Rights.” Yes, parents should be involved in their children’s schools. But any good in the bill the North Carolina Senate passed last week is outweighed by the harm to LGBTQ+ students. Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, (pictured) said, “no matter the intent, the consequence…
Read MoreErskine Bowles and the Community Woodpile
The best thing about blogging again is reconnecting with old friends. Like Erskine Bowles, who emailed to welcome Carter and me back. In 2004, I worked in Erskine’s unsuccessful race against Richard Burr for Senate. Erskine and I had a rocky relationship then. I pushed him to do things he wasn’t comfortable with, like running…
Read MoreCan Democrats Go Country?
As North Carolina Democrats elect a state chair this weekend, three divides emerge: young/old, rural/Raleigh and grassroots/headquarters. Two contrasting candidates are 73-year-old incumbent chair Bobbie Richardson, who defends the party’s 2022 performance, and 25-year-old Anderson Clayton (pictured), who says the party should do more at the grassroots and in rural areas. One young Democrat texted…
Read MoreThe Crazy Party
Returning to reality after a week off, I was struck by this from The New York Times report on President Biden’s State of the Union speech: “Republican lawmakers shouted both ‘liar’ and ‘bullshit’ at parts of Mr. Biden’s speech, and no one appeared shocked.” No one was shocked? Has the Republican Party gone off the…
Read MoreDavid Price Made Politics Work
If you want to know politics at its best, study David Price. He was showered with well-earned praise when he retired from Congress earlier this month. But too few people fully appreciate what a force for good Price has been for so long – for the Triangle, for North Carolina, for the Democratic Party and,…
Read MoreHow Much Hate?
Frank Bruni wrote in The New York Times this week that Lt. Governor Mark Robinson’s candidacy for governor would raise “the question of how much bigotry and divisiveness Republican and independent voters in North Carolina are willing to endorse, indulge or be persuaded to overlook.” Well, North Carolina elected Jesse Helms (pictured) to the Senate…
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