General
The Same Old Republican Pledge
For the fourth consecutive decade, Republicans are “pledging” to cut taxes and cut spending. Ronald Reagan made the pledge in the 1980s. Newt Gingrich made it in the 1990s. George Bush made it in the 2000s. And now it’s back in the 2010 “Pledge to America.” Jon Stewart did a masterful job of…
Read MoreCall it Religion
The school board down in Johnston County has a problem: Every time fourteen-year-old Ariana Iacono walks through the door of her school with her ‘stud’ in her pierced nose she gets suspended – but she simply won’t give up. She goes home, serves out her suspension then demurely returns to school with the stud in…
Read MoreGary Responds to Carter
Well, Carter, to be fair, I didn’t call you “a bigoted skunk.” I’ve grown more mellow these days, and I try to avoid name-calling. Instead, I said your ad for Renee Ellmers was “an appeal to anti-Muslim prejudice.” I think that is a fair statement. “Sixty Minutes” had an interesting piece about the…
Read MoreThe Obama Voters
In 2004, George Bush beat John Kerry by 51-47 percent in the popular vote. Four years later, President Obama beat John McCain 50-49 among the same voters. A significant swing, but not huge. What gave Obama a landslide victory was the surge of new voters. Among people voting in 2008 for the first…
Read MoreThe Wrong Message
Gary, doggone it, itâs like âdéjà vu all over againâ â here you are [see below] attacking me for a TV ad. Canât a fellow even oppose the Ground Zero mosque without being called a bigoted skunk? And how did the folks opposing the mosque become the wicked, hard-hearted âdividersâ as opposed to the Iman…
Read MoreCarter’s ‘Victory Mosque’ Ad
Birds fly, fish swim and Carter Wrenn pushes the envelope to the edge. That’s what they do. Like him or not, Carter will boldly go where others fear to tread. He did it for Jesse Helms. He did it when he and Helms had a falling-out and Carter challenged the senator to disclose…
Read MoreJimmy Superior
Jimmy Carter’s latest gaffe – that his post-Presidency was “superior” to other ex-Presidents – struck me as deeply revealing. Carter’s work since leaving office 30 years ago has been both admirable and annoying – just like the man and his Presidency. If you weren’t there, it’s hard to realize what Carter meant when…
Read MorePolitics North Carolina Style
The state can’t afford to pay to care for mental patients, or elderly Medicaid patients who need in-home medical care; tuition is going up at the state universities and even though she raised taxes a billion dollars Governor Perdue is telling us we’re broke – so it comes as a surprise to hear state government’s…
Read MoreJFK, NC and Me
The N&O had a letter today and a guest column last week about John Kennedy’s campaign visit to North Carolina 50 years ago – September 1960. I had my own brush with history that day. Kennedy was campaigning with Terry Sanford, who was running for governor. Sanford had broken with most of the North…
Read MoreThe Republican Divide
In retrospect, the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District – Bernie Reeves versus Bill Randall – was a microcosm of what’s happening in the Republican Party nationally. It’s the Golfers versus the Grizzlies, the Country Clubbers versus the churchgoers, the K Street crowd versus the cul-de-sac crowd, the Establishment versus the pitchfork-carriers, the…
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