Posts by Gary Pearce
What Happened Tuesday
The best overnight analysis I’ve read is by Stephen Clermont, a pollster with Change Research in Washington. I’ve known Stephen since he worked with Harrison Hickman on polls for Governor Jim Hunt in the 1990s. We recently worked together on a poll of rural voters in North Carolina. Here’s his take on Tuesday: Last night…
Read MoreFrom A(ndrew) to Z(ohran)
The New York City mayor’s race is a preview of the 2028 Democratic presidential race: an aging, center-left establishment figure scarred by past battles, challenged by a fresh but unproven champion of young, more-left progressives. That could mean a civil war in 2028, like what led to Donald Trump in 2016. Or a new leader…
Read MoreStormy Politics
A reader sent these “random thoughts on a rainy day.” I thought they’re worth sharing: Watching the homes on Hatteras Island collapse into an angry Atlantic is sad. But the scene is also a microcosm of today’s paradoxical conflict between the responsibilities of individual citizens and their government. These are private homes whose owners and…
Read MorePoliticians We Like – In the Other Party
John F. Kennedy is one of Republicans’ favorite Democrats. And John McCain is one of Democrats’ favorite Republicans. That’s what we found when we asked Democratic and Republican voters in a rural North Carolina poll to name a politician in the other party they like or respect. Two things stood out: It helps to be…
Read MoreHow Democrats Vetoed Redistricting Vetoes
The News & Observer said former Governor Roy Cooper is “to blame” for governors not having the power to veto redistricting bills. Actually, a lot of Democrats who were in the legislature in the 1990s have to share that blame. In fact, some Democrats in the state House then – including then-Speaker and now-Senator Dan…
Read MoreNot 1930s Germany
Sometimes you fear America could go down the same road as Germany 100 years ago. Then you see millions of Americans turn out at thousands of No King rallies across the country. Germans rallied for a dictator. Americans rallied against one. Unlike Germans, Americans have lived under freedom, not tyranny, for 250 years. Germans went…
Read MoreThey’re For Trump, Not For You
Republican legislators just did something that swing voters dislike most about them: “put loyalty to Donald Trump over loyalty to our country” – and loyalty to the people of North Carolina. They re-gerrymandered Democratic Congressman Don Davis’ district so a Republican will win it – because Trump told them to. In a recent poll of…
Read MoreYoung Republicans, In Their Own Words
The only thing more offensive – and revealing – than Young Republicans’ ugly texts is JD Vance’s dismissal of them as “what kids do.” The texts, sent by Young Republican leaders around the country, included: “I love Hitler,” “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” and frequent use of f-words, r-words and the n-word. Politico discovered…
Read More“Come and Get Me”
No Democratic leader is doing a better job standing up to Trump than Illinois Governor JB Pritzker – a protégé of North Carolina’s Terry Sanford. When Trump threatened to arrest him, Pritzker shot back: “Come and get me.” When Trump sent National Guard troops from Texas to “war-torn Chicago,” Pritzker made a mocking video (photo)…
Read MoreDemocrats’ Country Road
Rural North Carolina is unfriendly territory for Democrats, but we can gain ground there – and that will help us statewide. That’s my takeaway from a recent poll of 684 voters in 46 rural counties. By 63-27%, those voters had an unfavorable view of the party: When they hear “Democratic Party” they think about Democrats…
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