Issues
ObamaScare
Win or lose in the Supreme Court, President Obama has already lost in the court of public opinion. Polls show that two-thirds of Americans want at least some of Obamacare repealed. If he loses the election in November, he’ll always wonder why he staked his presidency on an idea he opposed in 2008: the…
Read MoreThe Ironies of ObamaCare
A gun store in eastern North Carolina uses its electronic billboard to run a mix of hard-right political messages and gun-sale pitches. One message reads: “Work harder. Millions on welfare depend on you.” When it comes to health care, the billboard could read: “Work harder. Millions without insurance depend on you.” But therein lies…
Read MoreContemplating Your Navel
Back in 1976 when Ronald Reagan was running in the North Carolina Primary, Arthur Finkelstein (Reagan’s pollster) hammered into my head the importance of time in campaigns, saying a hundred times, Campaigns have three resources: People, money and time. You can hire more people and raise more money but you can’t make one second more…
Read MoreSaluting Walter Jones
Nothing explodes on Twitter like a real or perceived gaffe. Just yesterday, we had Mitt Romney’s Etch-a-Sketch, the John Locke Foundation’s controversial image of President Obama and Walter Jones’ “Uncle Chang.” “Uncle Chang” did have the ring of offensiveness. It was also baffling. So I had to see what the notoriously unpredictable maverick congressman…
Read MoreThe Right Fight
This is the debate North Carolina Democrats want: Did the Republican budget cut jobs? It’s the debate we want going hot and heavy when federal funds dry up and school districts across the state lay off teachers next fall, right before the election. And it’s a debate challenge Governor Perdue should accept. Take…
Read MoreThe New Face of Journalism
Mark Binker is not necessarily a pretty face. But he’s the face of where journalism is going in North Carolina. And that looks like good news. Binker is former capital reporter for The Greensboro News & Record. He has left to work for WRAL-TV. That’s a story right there. TV political/governmental news used…
Read MoreAnother Agenda Item for Paul Coble
Since Paul Coble doesn’t have George Holding’s money, he has to find other ways to get his message out: like meetings of the Wake County Commissioners. So far they’ve taken up same-sex marriage and the UN’s attempt to control our lives. Now it’s voter ID laws. Coble needs to take up another issue:…
Read MoreAmendment Politics
Why did President Obama announce he’s against Amendment One? Because African-American voters strongly support it. Since African-Americans lean so strongly Democratic, an oft-overlooked fact is that they are the most church-going, religious and even evangelical voting blocs in a religious, church-going state. And polls show they strongly oppose same-sex marriages. The recent Elon…
Read MoreNegative Attacks
Every day we move closer to the primary in May more punches and elbows are thrown by politicians. Now, in politics there are three kinds of negative attacks. There’s ‘The Blunder’ – this attack is so outrageous (and untrue) it backfires and destroys the attacker. People take one look at it and say,…
Read MoreWhat Will Be the 2008 Game Changer?
You can be certain of one thing about the 2012 election: The thing that will decide it hasn’t happened yet. At this point in 2008, nobody had heard of Sarah Palin. And nobody expected the economy to nearly collapse in six months. The possibilities are endless: war with Iran? Another disaster in Afghanistan?…
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