Veep-watching

Democratic and Republican partisans breathed a sigh of relief last night. Neither Biden nor Palin ran the family car off the cliff. Democrats secretly worry that Palin’s regular-gal shtick might again ignite McCain’s campaign. His chances seem to rise every time he cedes the stage to her. Once again, she won Miss Congeniality. Miss Congeniality…

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Defending Perdue

I have quoted before the blunt response Bert Bennett always gave when people started analyzing election wins and losses. Bert, who was Terry Sanford’s campaign manager in 1960 and Jim Hunt’s political mentor, would say: “When you win, everything you did was right. When you lose, everything you did was wrong.” This year, Democrats are…

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Quick Hits

Sarah Palin puts me in mind of a quote by Goethe, who apparently followed American politics very closely: “Nothing is more frightening than ignorance in action.” Maybe one thing more frightening for Democrats is Joe Biden’s mouth. When it comes to shooting himself in the foot, Biden uses a machine gun. Tonight’s debate will have…

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Who Gets It?

I miss Bill Clinton. Not the bad Bill, who can’t bring himself to say a good word about Obama or a bad word about McCain-Palin. But the good Bill. The only person in politics who can talk both intelligently and empathetically about The Problem and The People. That’s what this Great Financial Crisis – Depression…

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Winners and Losers

While tonight’s debate could change everything, here are winners and losers in the wake of this week’s financial-political panic: Winner (for now): John McCain. Once again he stopped his precipitous slide in the polls. He put himself in the position to be the hero on the bailout, if it passes. Or to be the worst…

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Who’s the Democrat?

Pat McCrory’s ad has the same message as Barack Obama: It’s time for a change. Therein may lie Bev Perdue’s challenge. Public Policy Polling found that she is weak with Democrats around Charlotte. Question: Do they know she’s the Democrat and McCrory’s the Republican? Like Obama, McCrory is calling for change. Like Obama, McCrory is…

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Crash Politics

Rob Christensen compared this year’s election to 1992 – 16 years ago. I’d go back another 60 years – to 1932. Americans were in a panic about the economy. The Republican candidate for president was an experienced, respected veteran of Washington who believed the fundamentals of the economy were sound. The Democrat was a relatively…

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Two Ads

I’m still stuck on John McCain saying Barack Obama supports ‘comprehensive sex education’ for kindergartners. If McCain is telling the truth he’s convinced me – 100% – Obama does not have the judgment to be president. But if, on the other hand, it’s not true, he’s landed me in a conundrum. Because that’s a pretty…

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Democrats Feeling Better

Democrats have been more down than the Dow Jones Index since the Republican convention. But there is a definite uptick this week, with one exception. Here is my reading of the Democratic Election Mood Index (DEMI) as of today: The air is going out of the Palin bubble. Thanks, Tina Fey. Bad economic news is…

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Easley’s Farewell Gift

Down to his last four months in the governor’s mansion and looking ahead at his future beyond politics, Mike Easley has given his wife a five-year contract to work at North Carolina State University for $170,000 a year. Democrats are giving Sarah Palin the devil for trying to fire one Alaska state trooper – but…

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