Issues
Senator Doug Berger’s World
Senator Doug Berger probably never dreamed anyone would run TV ads in his district telling his constituents how he voted to cut 20,000 elderly Medicaid patientsâ home care then, eight days later, turned around and voted to build a $25 million fishing pier at the beach — with a sixteen thousand square foot clubhouse and…
Read MoreStrange
Ironic news juxtaposition: Monday was the deadliest day in a year for America military forces in Afghanistan. Seven dead. And Robert Strange McNamara died. When McNamara became president of Ford and then JFK’s Secretary of Defense in rapid succession, all Washington marveled at the power of his intellect. Lyndon Johnson thought McNamara was so…
Read MoreThe New Ad Wars
Two “issue” ad campaigns caught my eye this week. They show where this kind of media strategy is going. One ad was about U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and the others, state Senator Doug Berger. When I first saw the ad about Hagan, I thought: She’s already running a campaign ad? It sounded just…
Read MoreNew Video
The Home and Hospice Care Association folks are giving State Senator Doug Berger a run for his money. Yesterday they aired a TV ad in his district. Today they put a video on the Internet. (View Ad Below) In his State Senate Committee Berger cut home care for 20,000 patients on Medicaid. The reason he…
Read MoreDeep Throat
My guess is hardly anyone reading this blog remembers when the movie Deep Throat came out 37 years ago – but there was an article about it in the paper last Saturday. Some sleuth has figured out that back in 1972 (when I was nineteen) the FBI moved heaven and earth to keep the…
Read MoreFollow the Money
That old Watergate adage may dictate the 2010 elections. Democrats – both in Raleigh and Washington – may follow the money straight to big-time mid-term defeats. Sometimes at the beach, two waves merge together to make a big wave that about drowns you. That may happen next year. Nationally, the NBC/Wall Street…
Read MoreBerger’s Blooper – Chapter III
Senator Doug Berger’s blooper is going on television. When Senator Berger passed a bill to cut the home care of 20,000 elderly Medicaid patients, he said he had a study that proved they weren’t eligible for care. Period. Well, it turns out, over a month ago the Department of Health and Human Resources told Senator…
Read MoreWhack the Lawyers
Richard Vinroot is right: How can the legislature tax the services of mechanics and hairdressers, but not lawyers? Of course, lawyers write the tax legislation. But Democrats are getting themselves into enough political trouble without being elitist, too. Governor Perdue is on her “Save the Schools – and My Poll Ratings” tour. Democrats in the…
Read MoreTobacco and 1994
Big Tobacco’s big defeat in Congress this month just goes to show that in politics there are no final victories. Turn the page back to 1994. That’s the year Congressman Henry Waxman hauled the top tobacco-company executives before Congress – lining them up and administering the oath like they were Mafia dons. …
Read MoreOpen Wide
When I was invited to talk about the state of N.C.State on this weekend’s Headline Saturday for WRAL and The N&O, I was prepared to get even more depressed about my alma mater. Instead, I left the studio this morning feeling good. The reason was the other panelist at the taping: Dr. Jim Martin,…
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