General
The Great Turnout Freakout
Back in the olden days, there was just Election Day. None of this Early Vote stuff. Every Election Day, in every campaign I worked in, first thing in the morning, The Great Turnout Freakout would hit. The calls would start early: “Turnout is incredible! It’s higher than ever here! We’ve never seen longer lines!” “Our…
Read MoreWe all hate yard signs
Republicans and Democrats agree on something! There is a bipartisan consensus that yard signs are a waste of campaigns’ time and money. And an eyesore. I’ve never had more response to a blog than to my yard-sign rant. Jack Cozort, former State Court of Appeals Judge, wrote: “When I ran, I wanted enough yard signs…
Read MoreEight days a week
Take a deep breath. It will be over in eight days. And it will be a long week. It’s fitting that the longest, meanest and ugliest election in history comes on the latest date possible, November 8. Just to prolong our agony. Now the future of the republic rests with the fickle five percent or so…
Read MoreThe Last Eight Days
Back in June, Gary wrote about an odd phenomenon: How, in the Presidential election, the candidate who dominated – who received the most press – dropped in the polls. It was as if voters thought, I dislike them both but the one I dislike most is the one I see most. Watching the Sunday morning…
Read MoreJust Fade Away?
Down in an office building in San Antonio there’re over a hundred Internet gnomes working day and night to elect Donald Trump; until now they’ve been flying below the radar screen but the other day they opened their doors and invited Bloomberg News inside and the result was a story that sent a tremor rolling…
Read MoreI hate yard signs
Most any political pro worth his or her salt will agree: Nothing in a campaign consumes more time, energy and discussion – to less avail – than yard signs. Candidates obsess about them. So do their families. And their strongest supporters. But no voter in the history of our democracy has ever seen a sign…
Read MoreSic transit gloria mundi
That’s Latin for “Thus passes the glory of the world” – or, “Worldly things are fleeting.” But they’re not fleeting on roads and highways around the Triangle. There are just too many damn cars on the road. So Wake County is voting on a 10-year Wake Transit Plan that will: Triple bus service Start a…
Read MoreHillary’s finest hour(s)
Donald Trump’s worst brought out Hillary Clinton’s best. The finest moments in her entire political life came in the last debate when, clad in white like an avenging angel, she slew the Donald dragon for his sexism, stood up unapologetically for all women and schooled us men about the right and wrong way to behave…
Read MoreClutter
There’re two things about political ads a normal ‘Joe’ sitting at home watching TV could tell you that a lot of campaigns haven’t figured out – here’s an example: Americans for Prosperity just launched a new tv ad attacking Roy Cooper and like a lot of political ads it begins with a shadowy black and…
Read MoreJFK and me
Teresa Leonard’s Past Times feature in the N&O today took me back to a night in 1960 when, as an 11-year-old, I shook John F. Kennedy’s hand. The N&O reported on September 18, 1960: “A swarm of wet, cheering citizens almost mobbed Jack Kennedy in their enthusiasm as he entered Raleigh Saturday. “It happened at…
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