General
A Poll: George Holding vs. Renee Ellmers
When George Holding first ran for Congress, I wrote a series of reports about how campaigns are built day to day. Now, four years later, George has a primary with Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and I’m going to do the same thing again. I should point out, at the beginning, I’m not unbiased. I worked with…
Read MoreClinton feels the Bern
Hillary Clinton may have a nearly 20-point lead in the latest PPP North Carolina poll, but she and Bernie Sanders are both fighting hard here – and coming here on the last day. Why? Because our delegates divvy up this way: 70 allocated by congressional district, 23 to the statewide winner and 28 “PLEOs” (party…
Read MoreBehind the bickering
Here’s an idea for the North Carolina Leadership Forum that Rob Christensen wrote about this week. The Forum is a group of prominent leaders from both sides of the political aisle. Rob described its mission this way: “Why not get North Carolinians of all political stripes together to have conversations, to better understand one another’s…
Read MoreTrump TV
We’re told Donald Trump’s appeal is “strength.” But twice this week unforgiving cameras showed what really lies beneath: weakness or even, shall we say, impotence. In Fayetteville, a white Trump supporter punched a black protestor. The attacker said, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Protest must be punished. Dissenters…
Read MoreA Poll: George Holding vs. Renee Ellmers
When George Holding first ran for Congress, I wrote a series of reports about how campaigns are built day to day. Now, four years later, George has a primary with Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and I’m going to do the same thing again. I should point out, at the beginning, I’m not unbiased. I worked with…
Read MoreA blogger’s confession
My name is Gary, and I’m addicted to blogging about Donald Trump. Lord knows, I’ve tried to stop. Every week, I tell myself: Stop writing about Trump. Ignore him. Blog about redistricting or the Democratic primaries or Cooper-McCrory or why Thomas Mills lost his mind and is running for Congress. But I can’t stop. It’s…
Read MoreGOP convention: a big deal?
Conventional wisdom seems to be that only a “brokered convention” can stop Donald Trump. Presumably, the party elders and wise men (no females allowed) would brush aside the results of these pesky primaries and caucuses and select one of their own as the candidate. A Romney, Ryan or McConnell. Really? Would delegates chosen in primaries…
Read MoreLocation, location, location
Where candidates go can tell you as much as what they say. Take the Clinton, Cruz and Trump campaigns in North Carolina this week. President Bill Clinton was in Raleigh Monday, at the City Market downtown. That’s the epicenter of the North Carolina Democratic Party today. It’s the gathering place for lawyers, new-economy entrepreneurs, urban…
Read MoreA Reckoning
I’m not sure why Donald Trump’s supporters loathe Washington Politicians;—Peggy Noonan says what’s going on is a struggle between people with power (Washington politicians and millionaires) and people without power: That sitting in penthouses and townhomes the powerful have been doing just fine through recessions and hard times while the people without power have been…
Read MoreSuper history
Super Tuesday and Superdelegates are coming through big for Hillary Clinton. For that she owes a big thanks to 1980s Southern Democrats, including Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford. Both “supers” were hatched in the ‘80s by the kind of moderate white Democrats, often from rural areas and small towns, who are scarce today. A Southern…
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