Posts by Gary Pearce
Dogging Trump
A reader offers this suggestion: If I were a Democratic pundit I would, henceforth, refer to our President as “Putin’s Poodle.” In the first place, it’s true. He respects and trusts Dictator Putin more than he respects and trusts American intelligence services. In the second place, Trump can sure dish it out. You remember —…
Read MoreBert Bennett
In his terse, clipped way, Bert Bennett once summed up perfectly why we’re Democrats and why he helped elect Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt: “Sanford and Hunt had the right attitude: human dignity, based on ethics and work and not color or background or money.” Rob Christensen’s N&O profile today caught the essence of Bert,…
Read MoreMayor McFarlane and the Stephenson Gang
Back when Jim Hunt was Governor (the good old days) he routinely had job approval ratings in the mid to high 60s. He was one of the most popular governors in America, until Carter & Co. spent two years and $20 million knocking him down in 1984. Even then, Hunt bounced back into the 60s…
Read MoreTrump’s character counts
Elections are usually about issues. But sometimes character overwhelms issues. Like with Trump. The Gallup Poll asked: “Thinking about Donald Trump as a person, do you have a positive or negative opinion of him?” Only 36 percent of voters – just over one in three – said positive; 55 percent said negative. Among Independents, only…
Read MoreThe power of positive messaging
Sometimes Carter and I get asked to speak about the 1984 Hunt-Helms Senate race. Some of the people we see weren’t born then. For them, it’s like going to the Dinosaur Museum – and the dinosaurs come out and talk. Because we lost, I’m often asked what was the biggest lesson I learned. That’s easy,…
Read MoreWhat would Mister Rogers do?
You knew there was something just a little too good about Fred Rogers, didn’t you? Now all is revealed, thanks to a new documentary. Brace yourself: Mister Rogers was a lifelong Republican. That’s about it. Otherwise, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” shows him to have been just as kind, wise and decent in real life…
Read MoreCooper’s historic fight
Governor Cooper has been in some fights in his political life. This is the fight of his political life. And North Carolina’s. November’s legislative elections will decide the course of Cooper’s first term – and perhaps his entire tenure and his place in history. The elections could set North Carolina’s course for the next decade…
Read MoreThe Apple of our eye
A TAPster who has watched North Carolina’s growth and change for decades offers this analysis: Apple’s arrival at RTP will be the most transformative event in the state’s political history. Period. No kidding, this is a generational political game changer. There have been other transformational events in the state, but nothing like Apple. Banks and…
Read MoreRFK
He gave better – and better-known – speeches. Less remembered is what he said in a hot, crowded, chaotic Los Angeles ballroom just minutes before he flashed a grin and a peace (or victory) sign and said, “So on to Chicago and let’s win there.” He speaks to us today just as he did to…
Read MoreRepublicans we love
Trump has accomplished one thing. He’s made Democrats love Republicans we used to loathe. Remember demonic warmonger George W. Bush? Now he’s lovable, artistic George, a goofy but compassionate conservative. George H.W.? A veritable statesman. John McCain, the hateful Palin-picker from 2008? A true American hero. Mitt Romney, the 47 percenter from 2012? A fine…
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