Republicans do believe in government spending!

Sometimes politicians just have to rise above principle. Like Republican legislative leaders who have come to love spending taxpayers’ money – for goodies that help them politically. The Republican civic religion is that government is the problem and no problem can be solved by throwing tax dollars at it. Unless it’s a baseball stadium or…

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The Great GOP Benghazi Bungle

After suffering one of the worst summers in the history of presidential races, Hillary Clinton just wrapped up one of the best weeks in the history of presidential races. Thanks to the House Benghazi Committee. Last week she won the Democratic debate. Then Joe Biden decided he couldn’t beat her. Then she did something John…

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Ryan and Biden bidin’ their time

Paul Ryan and Joe Biden are playing high-stakes poker. Who will hold and who will fold? Biden still isn’t decidin’ whether to run for President. But he’s taking shots at Hillary Clinton just as she’s getting a poll bump from her debate performance. And Biden seems to be rewriting history on what he told President…

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Hillary versus The Donald

This will be The Greatest Show on Earth. Or maybe a sign of the End Times. It will pit the yin and yang of American politics, the alpha and omega, Wonder Woman versus Captain America, Good versus Evil (whichever side you’re on). The only thing they have in common is our obsession with their hairstyles.…

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Tine’s time-out

Boweaver is a yellow-dog Democrat. He was wound up at breakfast about retiring Rep. Paul Tine of Dare County. Tine, who switched from Democrat to Unaffiliated and joined hands with House Republicans this session, has announced he’s not running again. He maintains he was undaunted by the prospect of running as an Unaffiliated, because he…

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Mad Republicans

Republicans are fighting mad. At each other. The Republican presidential contest is an insult-comic festival. The US House Republican caucus is cannibalizing itself. Republican members of Congress from North Carolina are knifing each other in the back. And front. Republican legislators are fighting with the Republican Board of Governors over the next UNC President. Governor…

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Ross rolls out

Thirty hours after Roy Cooper’s announcement and just as the Democratic presidential debate was ending, Deborah Ross announced for US Senate. If she and Cooper do as well the rest of the way as they did their first day, Democrats will be celebrating in 13 months. Her announcement video was strong. It introduced her, “rooted” her…

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Hillary and the 4 Dwarfs

So now we can look forward to the Clinton-Trump debates next fall. On stage with Hillary last night were Grumpy (Sanders), Grumpier (Webb), Sleepy (O’Malley) and Dopey (Chafee). She pretty much mopped the floor with them, which happens when you’ve played the game at this level before. Clearly, only two Democrats can stop her now:…

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Roy rolls in

Some political pros believe that nothing in a campaign consumes more time and energy and produces less value than the announcement. But Roy Cooper showed Monday how a well-designed and well-executed announcement can launch a campaign on the right trajectory. Not least of all, Cooper got several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of free TV time…

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Elevator Queen

Mandy Locke’s series in the N&O pretty well tells us Cherie Berry’s approach as Commissioner of Labor: She gets her name on elevators, and workers get the shaft.  

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