Posts by Gary Pearce
Elections have consequences
After the 2016 elections, a veteran Democrat noted, “If you’re going to win just three statewide races, Governor, Attorney General and Supreme Court are the three to win.” Indeed. Thanks to Mike Morgan’s victory in the Supreme Court race, the Court last week ruled 4-3 along party lines for Governor Cooper against the legislature’s cockamamie…
Read MoreAll politics is Trump
All politics is local, Tip O’Neill used to say. No more. All politics has become national in the last 20, 25 years. Today, all politics is Trump. Trump so dominates the political conversation there’s not enough air to sustain any other topic. His tweets, his unpredictability and his sheer outrageousness overwhelm everything. If Democratic pollsters…
Read MoreCar deals
North Carolina offered $1.5 billion, but still couldn’t land Toyota-Mazda. It’s not the first time Alabama beat us on a car deal. Twenty-five years ago, in 1993, Governor Hunt was just beginning his third term. Mercedes-Benz was looking to build a new manufacturing plant in the Southeast. And Hunt was in hot pursuit. The Governor…
Read MoreKing, Trump and Helms
My blog “President Shithead” irked a TAPster who worked for Jesse Helms (not Carter): “I don’t mind when you pick on my old boss, but saying he’s part of a string of Trumps… that’s hitting below the belt.” That is pretty low. But is it justified? Well, Martin Luther King Day is an appropriate day…
Read MorePresident Shithead
At times like this I consult my friend Boweaver. Now 90-something, he’s seen it all. He grew up in the Depression, enlisted in World War II and would be happy if FDR had lived forever and stayed President. His counsel generally keeps my head from exploding. He wrote back: “Who cares if Trump called some…
Read MoreCooped up
2017 was a cold first year for Governor Cooper. More heat is coming in 2018. Fittingly Cooper started both years on TV, managing snow and ice storms and wearing “disaster casual” (a tip of the TAP hat to Joe Stewart). In between, the Governor navigated an icy relationship with a power-crazed Republican legislature. He spent…
Read MoreThere are leaders. And there’s Trump
The big holiday gift book was about Grant. The big movie is about Churchill. The hot book now – and the big story – is about Trump. Two leaders. And one poor excuse for a leader. I haven’t read the Trump book. I’ve read plenty about it. It’s set the political and media agenda since…
Read MoreHappy 2018
A year that started with Trump’s inauguration was bound to suck. Good riddance, 2017. The year – and Trump – were so bad, 2018 is bound to be better. First, there’s a counter-reaction coming. There always is in politics. Second, women are mobilizing, voting, organizing, running and winning. That caused earthquakes in Virginia and Alabama.…
Read MoreTrump or taxes?
Republicans have picked their battle line for 2018: “We cut your taxes, the economy is booming, stick with us.” Will Democrats take that fight? Or is there a better path to victory? Maybe the Republican tax bill will be the political and economic disaster that Washington Democrats say it is. But, hey, Democrats don’t have…
Read MoreMoore questions
Fundraising emails from Democrats in Washington insist that Doug Jones could beat Trump’s wingman Roy Moore Tuesday night. Okay, I hear you. But we’re talking about Alabama. If Jones does win, Democrats will face some interesting questions. Like, can we win in the South only when the Republican is a creepy sexual predator? If the…
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