Issues
Trouble in the Suburbs
Here’s one reason it looks like Donald Trump may cause Republicans heartburn this fall: 30% of the voters in North Carolina almost always vote for the Republican candidate and 35% almost always vote Democratic. Conservative Rural Democrats are the first (and smallest) group of swing voters and they’re a blessing to Republicans. They’re only around…
Read MoreAn Outbreak of Independent Candidates
Maybe it’s just an odd coincidence but two ‘Independent’ candidates are running and two more are on the cusp of qualifying to run and every one of them is in a ‘safe’ Republican district. House Majority Leader Mike Hager already has an Independent opponent (with no Democrat in the race) and Senate Republican Leader Phil…
Read MoreRe-Runs
Back during the Presidential Primary Donald Trump would go on a tear and give the Washington Insiders hell and watching him was enjoyable – but, now, watching Donald Trump berating Pocahontas the way he berated Lyin’ Ted and Little Marco is like watching the same TV program over and over again. I guess Trump would…
Read MoreLooking Back: The Master of the Deal
When George Holding took his final poll on the Wednesday before the election he led Renee Ellmers by almost 30 points. Then, three days later, on Saturday Donald Trump jumped into the primary with both feet – and endorsed Ellmers. In a way Trump’s move was a surprise: Ellmers had initially supported John Kasich and,…
Read MoreLooking Back: A Myth is Born
Since the election reporters have been writing stories explaining why George Holding won and Renee Ellmers lost – one of the first to weigh in was the News and Observer saying Ellmers lost because powerful conservative groups decided to make an example of her. The Club for Growth alone, the N&O reported, “spent nearly $790,000…
Read MoreLooking Back: The Mastermind
I imagine it happened this way: After the Republican Leaders in Congress went down to the White House and made the ‘Omnibus Budget Deal’ with President Obama they then called a caucus of Republican Congressmen to get the votes to pass it. The Leaders explained to the rows of Congressmen how the deal was not…
Read MoreUp on the roof
Last evening, a crew was putting a new roof on the house across the way. Three men worked steadily, climbing up and down a tall ladder and steeply pitched roof, hauling up shingles, hammering them in place and trimming the edges. On the ground, two women cleaned up, piling the trash into a wheelbarrow and…
Read MoreDon’t do it, Dennis!
I’m appealing to my old friend and comrade-in-arms Dennis Wicker: Don’t solve the HB2 crisis. It’s helping Democrats! Now, I feel bad saying this. Dennis is one of the finest and most public-spirited people in North Carolina. We lost out big time when we didn’t elect him Governor in 2000. Now he – and Art…
Read MoreCooper’s coup on HB2
Now Roy Cooper can say he’s protected more jobs against HB2 fallout than Governor Potty McCrory has. After Cooper met with the CEO, New Jersey-based Braeburn Pharmaceuticals decided to proceed with a $20 million, 50-job manufacturing and research facility in Durham County. The company had been reevaluating its plans because of HB2. Cooper can say,…
Read MoreA heady honor
This is a high point in my life. One of the people I admire most, D.G. Martin, put forward my name for a panel he suggests to resolve North Carolina’s HB2 crisis. D.G. wrote in a recent column: “I believe that a panel of people of goodwill representing both supporters and opponents of HB2 could…
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