Posts by Gary Pearce
Two Americans
Two Page One stories. Two men. Two very different Americans. John Glenn was my hero when I was 12. He still is 55 years later. Everything shut down at Martin Junior High School in Raleigh so we could watch Glenn’s flight, from launch to splashdown, including the anxiety about reentry. All of us boys wanted…
Read MoreTrump(no)care
Today’s paper reports that, if Republicans repeal Obamacare, some 30 million Americans will lose health insurance. Another 10 million will lose subsidies and have to pay more for insurance. Give Donald Trump credit. He may do something President Obama never could do: get Americans to understand and appreciate Obamacare. How’s that Make America Great Again…
Read MoreHelping storm victims – or politicians?
Will next week’s legislative session be about hurricane and fire relief – or political relief? Will the legislature help people who lost loved ones, homes and property – or help Republicans who lost elections? And will Republicans give Roy Cooper a nuclear weapon to use against them in 2017, one that dwarfs HB2? Senate Republicans are…
Read MoreRoy’s bully pulpit
Republicans may have supermajorities in the legislature, but Governor Cooper will have a superpower: the biggest microphone in the state. Or, in today’s world, the biggest smartphone. Forty years ago, Stephanie Bass and I were setting up Governor-elect Jim Hunt’s first press office. And we had a theory. We had come out of the capital…
Read MoreTrump explained
Millions of words have been expended the last month analyzing, over-analyzing and struggling to understand why the American people – or, at least, the Electoral College system – would make Donald Trump President. Democrats are frenziedly trying to figure out what happened and, as usual, find somebody or something to blame. As in: “Hillary was…
Read MoreGovernor Roy Cooper
After 16 years of mediocrity, North Carolina will get to see excellence again in the Executive Mansion. I know something about excellent Governors. I worked for Jim Hunt for four terms. Cooper reminds me of Governor Hunt. Not so much the young, ambitious Hunt I and II of 1976-1984. But the seasoned, focused and farsighted…
Read MoreAlas, Poor Pat
As his hopes and his days dwindle down to a precious few, you almost feel sorry for Pat McCrory. Almost. It has to be hard being the first North Carolina Governor to lose a reelection race. He couldn’t do what Jim Hunt, Jim Martin, Jim Hunt again and Mike Easley did. Bev Perdue was a…
Read MoreElections 2017?
This ball game may have just changed big-league, as Trump would say. The referees in federal court threw the penalty flag on the Republican legislature for unconstitutional gerrymandering. This means loss of down, possible loss of possession and maybe a replay in just 12 months. No doubt candidates and contributors, still exhausted from this year,…
Read MoreDining with D.G.
You can have your Anthony Bourdains and your Phil Rosenthals. If I’m eating on the road, I’m going with North Carolina’s own D.G. Martin. Now you can drive and dine with D.G. by picking up his new book, “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries: A Traveler’s Guide to Local Restaurants, Diners, and Barbecue Joints,” published by UNC…
Read MoreFlunking the Electoral College
As Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead passes 2 million, the quadrennial question arises: Why elect Presidents differently from the way we elect every other public official? And why not change it? The practical answer is that it’s impossible today to amend the Constitution. Half the country would automatically oppose it, given how divided we are.…
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