General
McGovern, Helms and Hunt
For an epic election loser, George McGovern had a big impact on North Carolina politics. Like Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt. If not for McGovern’s landslide loss to Richard Nixon in 1972, North Carolina never would have had a Senator Helms. The Nixon tide swept Helms into Washington. It also brought a Republican, Jim…
Read MorePretty is as Pretty Does
I’d just finished breakfast and opened the newspaper when a dyed-in-the-wool yellow dog Democrat crossed the restaurant, sat down across the table and said, ‘That new ad of Paul Newby’s makes him look like a fool.’ He was talking about the Newby Super PAC ad – which has hound dogs braying in hot pursuit…
Read MoreGoldman’s Sacks
Debra Goldman seems to be an equal-opportunity 911 caller. She apparently has called the police now about two fellow board members. This on top of dozens of calls to her Cary home in recent years. If she gets elected State Auditor, the police may need to build a substation at her office. No wonder…
Read MoreNo Contrition in Sight Anywhere
The election in North Carolina has moved from old fashioned elbow-throwing into a more interesting topic – sex. When she lived in Pennsylvania Debra Goldman was a volunteer firefighter – then she moved to Raleigh, ran for School Board, won in the Republican sweep in 2009 and now she’s running for State Auditor. …
Read MoreThird Graders
It made all the newspapers: Last week Mitt Romney announced he’s pulling staffers out of North Carolina, where he now has a lead, to send them to Ohio where the race is closer. It was perfectly rational. Romney has a little breathing room in North Carolina so he’s moving few people to another state he…
Read MoreAn Example of the Unexpected
The other day Gary and I spoke at a luncheon and when Gary finished speaking he opened the floor for questions and, right off, a fellow stood up and asked, ‘So who’s going to win the election?’ It’s the question everyone’s asking and Gary gave him a great answer. He explained how in politics…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Scandal Response
If Pat McCrory is elected governor, he better get better at handling scandals. And he better hope that Debra Goldman and Chris Malone don’t get elected. McCrory’s statement yesterday started right. His spokesman said he would reserve judgment on the “convoluted situation.” He should have stopped there. But the spokesman went a bridge…
Read MoreSchool Board Not Boring
All this time we thought firing the Wake schools superintendent was a juicy story. Who knew? As the N&O’s Keung Hui wrote on his blog yesterday: “It’s not every day that one elected official accuses another of potentially committing a felony and then both tell police about their relationship.” Especially when both are…
Read MoreIgnore National Polls
National polls on the presidential race get a lot of media play, but they really tell us nothing about the race. This week, in fact, Obama adviser David Plouffe said the campaign doesn’t do any national polls. Why should they? The national popular vote doesn’t matter. Electoral votes matter. You can get 51 percent…
Read MoreMcCrory Tax Plan ‘DOA’?
Front-running Pat McCrory may be doing the smart thing politically, but may also be planting land mines for a Governor McCrory. Mark Binker of WRAL bore in with a story about Tuesday night’s debate that said: “McCrory didn’t describe how he would offset the tax cuts he proposes.” Binker reported this exchange: …
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