General
Burn the Heretics!
After all these years, I find out that Carter Wrenn is a liberal. He had me fooled â working for Jesse Helms, where he ran ads calling Jim Hunt a âMondale liberal.â Even after we became friends and worked together on some non-political projects, he maintained the façade of a crusty conservative. Now…
Read MoreObama’s Gallantry, Romney’s Timidity
Near the end of the 1960 campaign, at the urging of civil rights aide Harris Wofford, John Kennedy called Coretta Scott King to offer his sympathy after Martin Luther King was jailed. Robert Kennedy exploded at Wofford: “You just lost us the election.” As it turned out, the call won JFK thousands of African-America…
Read MoreThanks, Rush
America’s biggest problem is the economy. So, of course, national politics plunges into culture wars – or, more like, sex wars. I guess it’s because Republicans in Congress and Rick Santorum just can’t resist the lure of legislating morality. And maybe it’s because people know more about sex than about the economy. …
Read MoreA Pass for Pols, No Voice for Voters
Maybe you think the legislature ought to cut taxes and spending a lot more. Or maybe you don’t like legislators requiring vaginal ultrasounds for women. Tough – for about 2 in 5 voters. John Frank of the N&O reported: “Nearly a quarter of the state legislature won re-election Wednesday without a single…
Read MoreCorrection
An eagle-eyed reader caught a typo on my blog “The Democratic Field” on the governor’s race. The first paragraph should have read: “Dan Blue’s decision NOT to run didn’t surprise many Democrats. They had seen him do this dance before.” I had left out “not.” As an old copy editor, I’m embarrassed. Not.…
Read MoreOld WASP Men
My cousin Spencer sat down, opened the newspaper, stared at the headline and landed in a world where old white WASP’s (like him) are dinosaurs. Being a historian by avocation Spencer set about studying the collapse of WASPdom; at first he figured immigration (not modern immigration but old-fashioned immigration back in the 1820’s and…
Read MoreIs Walter Dalton Dull? is That Bad?
In almost every any conversation about the Democratic governor’s race, somebody says something like: “Walter Dalton is a nice guy, but …. “ What follows “but…” is generally a variation of, well … “dull.” Not “dull” as in “not bright.” But “dull” as in “not exciting.” You’d think his name is Walter Dullton. …
Read MoreThe Democratic Field
Dan Blue’s decision to run didn’t surprise many Democrats. They had seen him do this dance before. Bob Etheridge’s decision to run did surprise a few. They think he is hurt by the “loser” tag, the “who are you?” video and consequent difficulties raising money. But he’s ahead in the polls, so why not…
Read MoreMore on Ayn Rand Grant
The John William Pope Foundation took issue with my recent blog “Reading Ayn Rand.” I’m always flattered that the Pope people read my blogs and think they’re important enough to take issue with, so I’m happy to post their comments. Note, however, that there is nothing here to change my basic point: The best way…
Read MoreWill NC Decide GOP Race?
I hope North Carolina Republicans get to do this year what North Carolina Democrats did in 2008: decide their party’s presidential race. Obama clinched the nomination when he won North Carolina’s primary, according to none less than the late Tim Russert of NBC. So I’m pulling for Rick Santorum to win tonight –…
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