Posts by Gary Pearce
50 days minus 1
Carter and I were interviewed by The Charlotte Observer Monday about the election outlook. So, instead of having to organize our thoughts and actually write something, we’ll just post the following story by the Observer’s editorial board, “50 days out, here’s what political experts think (and predict!) about N.C.’s biggest races”: We’re less than 50…
Read MoreYou’re news, you lose
Here’s the harsh reality of 2016 politics, as demonstrated by Hillary Clinton last week and Pat McCrory over the past many weeks: If you lead the news, you lose in the polls. You’re news, you lose. In an angry, negative political environment, more media attention translates directly into more negative feelings from voters. The ongoing…
Read MoreApocalypse Soon
Pat McCrory just got slam-dunked by the ACC. His teammates are starting to switch sides. Tamara Barringer was the first legislator to undergo a deathbed conversion. More will surely follow. But a long-time veteran of the legislative sausage-making machine doesn’t expect much from the Jones Street crowd: “The latest HB2 shame on North Carolina will…
Read MoreWTF, Pat?
Now HB2 has gone too far. It’s interfering with our state religion: NCAA basketball. It’s one thing to lose the NBA All-Star Game or PayPal. But March Madness? And Potty Pat McCrory wonders why we’re still talking about this. Maybe because he keeps talking about it. He’s lurching. Defending HB2 one day, dropping it the…
Read MoreSick politics
Now Hillary Clinton has two problems: a treatable case of walking pneumonia and an incurable case of raging media fever over her honesty. See my blog “Hillary’s scars and secrets” last week. By all means let’s have more transparency on her health records – and on Trump’s. He’s an overweight 70-year-old man who never exercises…
Read MoreHail Mark Ezzell
Every great saga has a hero. The hero of the Wake County early-voting saga is Mark Ezzell. With persistence and persuasiveness, Ezzell, the lone Democrat on the Wake County elections board, prevailed in his effort to expand early voting here. He persuaded the GOP-majority state board to vote 3-2 to expand the number of voting…
Read MoreHillary’s scars and secrets
You watch the Commander-in-Chief’s forum, and you see clearly that Donald Trump is dangerously unfit for office. But the race is too close for comfort. Why? First, Hillary Clinton is a woman. It’s that simple. And it’s unfair. But it’s a fact. Second, she and Bill have been on the front pages of national politics…
Read MoreBigotry is losing big
Donald Trump has figured out, or been convinced, that Americans don’t want a bigot in high public office. Petulant Pat McCrory hasn’t learned that lesson yet in his reelection race. Trump’s “pivot” (actually more of a lurch) on race and immigration was an act of desperation. His new campaign team obviously told him he couldn’t…
Read MoreHillary will win the debates
The debates are Donald Trump’s last chance to turn the race around. No chance. Trump can’t even win a debate with himself. This week he was on two sides of the Mexican border – and on two sides of the issue. Clinton will cut him to pieces on national TV. The New York Times had…
Read MoreDonald Trump Illness
Rudy Giuliani said we should Google “Hillary Clinton Illness” and see what comes up. Well, let’s Google “Donald Trump Illness” and see what comes up. Aha! Terms like “psychopath,” “Narcissistic Personality Disorder (an exaggerated sense of self-importance)” and – thanks to a TAPster – “sociopathic projection…in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious impulses…
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