Posts by Gary Pearce
Debate tips for tonight
What should Clinton and Trump do tonight? Tim Funk of the Charlotte Observer put that question to several North Carolina talking heads, including Carter and me. Read “Here’s what NC experts say Clinton, Trump need to do in last-chance debate.”
Read MoreTAP on WUNC podcast
Not that long ago, Carter and I didn’t know what a podcast was. Now we’re on one. We talked for about an hour last week with Jeff Tiberii of WUNC Radio. You can listen here. Jeff asked us about most everything in this year’s elections – from President to the legislature. He tried to keep…
Read MorePity Pat
He’s had death threats. He and his wife are being shunned socially. He was verbally assaulted by a 21-year-old drunk student, and she was arrested. Corporate executives and university presidents have abandoned him. The voters don’t understand HB2. Its supporters are being “purged.” “It gets to me, I just hide it until I go home…
Read MoreDebates and Bugs Bunny
I couldn’t watch the debate last night because cable and Internet were still out. So, instead of giving you my take, I give you this guide to who won: Bugs Bunny always beats Daffy Duck, and the most comfortable person in the room always wins the debate. This rule originated with Jeff Greenfield, the ex-RFK…
Read MoreNo high ground for McCrory
Pat McCrory’s reelection problems go much deeper and much farther back than HB2. Any lift he gets from putting on his hurricane hat isn’t likely to lift him out of the floodwaters. That’s the assessment Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling gave at a Common Cause NC fundraiser Sunday evening. Jensen offered a view of…
Read MoreThe Stalker
Last night Donald Trump looked like a stalker, one of those sexual predators Republicans are so concerned about, except when he’s their nominee for President. After hearing his boys-on-the-bus “locker room talk,” we weren’t shocked by anything he said. The lying, rudeness and interrupting were familiar. What was new was what he did. Pacing. Sniffing.…
Read MoreQuentin Lindsey
Quentin W. Lindsey was by no means the most colorful or controversial person to work for Governor Hunt. But he had more long-term impact on North Carolina than most any of us. Quent, who died September 21, was the Governor’s Science and Public Policy Advisor. He was instrumental in the establishment of the NC School…
Read MoreNo answer at 911
A TAP contributor writes, “Here’s an example of what slips through the cracks when a governor is distracted by his world collapsing around him: “McCrory and his team did nothing when 400 people lost their jobs in the abrupt closing of Johnston Ambulance Service. Anybody who’s been around a hospital or nursing home in eastern…
Read MoreTrump’s big fat trap
Since Donald Trump opened up his big fat trap at the debate 10 days ago, a big fat trap has opened up for Republicans all down the ballot. Polls now show the full measure of damage that Trump did to himself and to all Republicans, especially with Independents and women. Even worse, Trump has two…
Read MorePat’s Cat 5 Storm
Regardless of what Hurricane Matthew does, Pat McCrory is struggling against high headwinds and a vicious riptide. That forecast track is clear in WRAL’s SurveyUSA poll (which has nothing to do with Greg Fishel). It’s not just that Roy Cooper leads McCrory 48-44. It’s that all the winds are blowing Cooper’s way. Half (51 percent)…
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