Posts by Gary Pearce
Jeb! and the silver foot in his mouth
Anybody who has ever worked on campaign debate prep will recognize the coming train wreck in this New York Times story about Jeb! Bush: “In rigorous practice sessions that have crisscrossed the country in the past few weeks, Mr. Bush has been preparing pointed responses to Mr. Trump’s most frequent insults (he has called Mr.…
Read MoreSock the rich
In North Carolina, thousands rally for an aging lefty in his race against Bill and Hillary Clinton’s New Democratic Party. In Britain, Tony Blair’s New Labour Party picks an aging, even-leftier lefty for its new leader. What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here? What’s going on isn’t just on the…
Read MoreKarl Rove’s McKinley mania
Just as President Obama sends Mt. McKinley to the dustbin of history, Karl Rove writes a book extolling the virtues of President McKinley. Rove, who gave us George Bush, now gives us McKinley as the model for the modern Republican President. Rove’s book, The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters,…
Read MoreSave or delete Hillary?
Hillary Clinton’s aura of inevitability is colliding with the Clintons’ aura of inevitable scandal. What do we make of the email flap? We know that Hillary-haters will seize on any story to gin up controversy and “scandal.” We know that Hillary’s palace guard will blame it on a hostile media and a vast right-wing conspiracy.…
Read MoreSay it ain’t so, Joe
Don’t do it, Joe. Don’t run for President. A Biden candidacy has appeal. Democrats would have a happy-warrior version of Donald Trump, an authentic character who campaigns with joy, gusto and an unfiltered mouth. A warm, genuine human being who has seen tragedy and suffering, yet soldiered on. But he will lose. He will be…
Read MoreThe great Mt. McKinley freakout
At this point you suspect President Obama is just messing with Republicans’ minds: “How can I drive the crazies crazier?” You can see him relaxing on the Truman Balcony one evening, nursing an extra-dry Grey Goose martini and looking forward to his Alaska trip. Suddenly it hits him: “I’ve got it! I’ll change the name…
Read MoreTrump masters the media universe
Ever since FDR gave his fireside chats on radio, successful Presidents have mastered the dominant new media of their time. Donald Trump masters today’s media by providing what the media wants above all: constant controversy. JFK won on TV in 1960 and kept winning with live televised news conferences. Roger Ailes orchestrated Nixon’s win in…
Read MoreWhere Dollar gets his dollars
Do we want political consultants running our government? We got one: Rep. Nelson Dollar, the chief House budget writer. The N&O reported: “Dollar, 54, is a longtime political and public relations consultant who helps coordinate campaigns for fellow House Republicans and other GOP candidates. His firm, J. N. Dollar & Associates, booked nearly $150,000 of…
Read MoreA Democrat’s Dollar dilemma
A diehard Democrat faced a dilemma after reading about House budget leader Nelson Dollar in the N&O. “Should we be helping him?” she wondered. What caught her eye and caused her soul-searching was Dollar saying the Senate budget “makes it difficult to pay for…a 2 percent raise for state employees, additional money for teacher pay…
Read MoreBack to school
Seventeen years ago, our daughter went to her first day of kindergarten in the Wake County public schools. This week, she went to her first day as a student teacher in the Wake County public schools. Seventeen years ago, Jim Hunt had just been elected to his fourth term on a promise to raise teacher…
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