Posts by Gary Pearce
Ambivalent About Brad Miller
Most Democrats are ambivalent about Brad Miller running against Elizabeth Dole – apparently including Brad Miller. Miller sounded ambivalent in his interview with The N&O’s Rob Christensen. He even said, “A lot of my closest friends are pretty ambivalent about it. They have mixed feelings, including my wife.” Well, Brad, that makes it hard to…
Read MoreThe You and I Tube Campaign
At a Wake County Democrats’ panel this morning, we were asked whether the Internet will make TV irrelevant in politics. My answer: look at Hillary Clinton’s new video about her campaign song. It led the morning news. It dominated CNN. CBS’ Bob Schieffer called it “genius.” The video gave Hillary millions of dollars worth of…
Read MoreRethinking Fred Thompson
Last week I trashed Fred Thompson as too lazy to run for President. Now a national Republican consultant whom I greatly respect tells me I dismissed Thompson too quickly. He says Thompson has what no other major Republican presidential candidate has: a political and cultural affinity with the hard-right conservative, even fundamentalist, base of the…
Read MoreThe Myth of Fred Thompson
I bet Fred Thompson’s presidential prospects are no more real than the TV and movie characters he plays. He’s done the Dance of the Seven Veils about running for months now. Why doesn’t he get in the race? My guess is that he’s one of these politicians who wants the office but doesn’t want to…
Read MoreThe Woman From the Middle
In the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton had sewn up the Democratic nomination, but was trailing George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot in the polls. So – at the Democratic Convention – he reintroduced himself as “The Man from Hope.” He and his consultants painted that picture to counter the popular view of Clinton as a…
Read MoreRepublicans Revert to Form on Immigration
George Bush ran as a “compassionate conservative” but hasn’t governed that way – until it came to immigration reform. But his own party is having none of his compassion toward immigrants. By voting 38-18 against his immigration bill, Senate Republicans officially certified Bush as a lame duck President. This is no surprise. Republicans reverted to…
Read MoreJim Black Out of the Frying Pan…
It looked for a while like disgraced ex-speaker Jim Black might have stolen a march on Hanging Judge Jim Dever. But Dever taught Black and his lawyers a lesson in the law and politics. Black’s lawyers asked Dever to recuse himself from sentencing. The N&O said they “argued that Dever, a Republican and former Raleigh…
Read MoreNetroots Help or Hurt?
Are the “netroots” the Democrats’ Moral Majority? The Internet-powered antiwar left gives the Democrats grassroots energy, just like religious fundamentalists have for the Republicans since 1980. But the netroots can be dictatorial and extreme, like the Religious Right. Here’s how powerful they are: Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid both were afraid to buck them on…
Read MoreThe Myth of Al Gore
A cry rises from the Democratic masses: “Run, Al, Run!” No, don’t, Al. Don’t run. The only place you can go from here is down. The minute you get in the presidential race, you lose about half the support you have now. Because they’re for Hillary, Obama or Edwards. The attack machines will start up…
Read MoreRepublican Family Values
If Fred Thompson gets into the Republican presidential race, there will be four major candidates: Thompson, McCain, Giuliani and Romney. If my math is correct, the four have – between them – a total of eight marriages. In fact, as James Carville points out, the only one of them who had just one wife is…
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