General
Not So Super
You could feel the air go out of the entire state of North Carolina. Panther Nation was more deflated than Tom Brady’s footballs. The best offensive moves of the night were by Beyonce, not Cam Newton. Now Cam’s getting knocked down as much as he got raised up the last two weeks. Did he chicken…
Read MoreA Devilish Mess
Sometimes it’s the little things that trip a fellow up. Last year, Governor McCrory called a routine meeting so two of his supporters could sit down with state officials to discuss their contract with the Department of Prisons. But then right in the middle of the meeting one of the Governor’s supporters, Graeme Keith, Sr.,…
Read MoreChill, Democrats
Republicans may nominate the most despicable and unacceptable imaginable candidate for President – a crude billionaire so loathsome he could deal the GOP its most crushing defeat since 1974 – and Democrats are going at each other’s throats over Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders? Judging from the growing bitterness and snide sniping on social media,…
Read MoreA Ray of Hope
For years I’ve thought of the people who vote in Republican Primaries as the salt of the earth – as old-fashioned, common sense patriots who might get bamboozled by a politician now and then but who in the end, blessed with a kind of inerrant compass, spot the varmints. But when this year’s Republican Primaries…
Read MoreKhomeini Smiling
Back in 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini took over our embassy in Tehran we “froze” $400 million in Iranian cash. The cash sat there, frozen, until last week when two things happened: Iran released four American hostages. And the President announced we were giving Iran back the $400 million plus $1.3 billion in interest. The Republicans…
Read MoreTempting Trump
The Washington Republicans, trapped between a rock and a hard place, asked themselves, Who can we make the best deal with –Trump or Cruz? And that was all it took. The ole Master Dealmaker couldn’t resist. Flinging all his anti-Washington rhetoric out the window he got up at a rally in Las Vegas and announced,…
Read MoreThe Great White Hope
As we get to the real voting, it gets real clear that Donald Trump’s candidacy comes down to the lowest common denominator of American politics: race. Like any great scam artist, Trump has come up with a way of putting the best face on the ugliest impulses. He first seized the stage as an anti-Obama…
Read MoreThe Great Debate
Last night at the Republican debate all seven candidates might have taken aim at Donald Trump and blasted away and Trump’s decision not to attend might have backfired. Instead, they stood up there in a row sounding (expect, perhaps, Chris Christie) like seven Washington politicians – attacking each other. And handed Trump a gift.
Read MoreIn praise of (some) polls
You can count on two perennial stories at this stage in the election cycle: (1) stories about the latest polls and (2) denunciations of all the stories about the latest polls. Frank Bruni wrote in The New York Times (“Our insane addiction to polls”), “I’d say that we’re in a period of polling bloat, but…
Read MoreThe early bird…wins the election
From President to state legislature, every campaign is debating this question right now: When do we start? Specifically, when do we start attacking – or “contrasting with” – our opponent? Eighty percent of campaigns will follow the counsel of the loudest and scaredest voice in the room, which is usually: Wait. That voice says, “It’s…
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