National Democrats
Who’ll Be Giving Thanks in 2012?
A year from now, Republicans or Democrats will be celebrating victory in the Presidential race. But a recent breakfast exchange suggests neither side is confident now: A Republican: “Romney is bound to get the nomination, and he won’t excite the Republican base. Obama will win, he’ll carry North Carolina, and he’ll pull Perdue in…
Read MoreObama Waltzing Matilda
The country’s up to our eyeballs in debt. Congress is on the verge of cutting defense spending $600 billion. And one way or another just about everybody in Washington is looking for ways to cut, cut, cut. Except one fellow. Barack Obama’s opening a new military base to defend… …in…
Read MoreNC’s Clout is Sky-High
Want to see how important North Carolina will be in the 2012 presidential race? Read this New York Times dive into how the Obama Administration backed down on tougher smog-ozone standards. Especially this: “One of the strongest appeals (against tougher rules) came from North Carolina, a state Mr. Obama narrowly won in 2008. The…
Read Moremajority-Minority Districts
Well, in a minor miracle, the Obama Justice Department said yes and put its seal of approval on the North Carolina Republicans’ new House and Senate Districts, then, before the ink was dry on the page, the North Carolina Democrats filed a lawsuit to stop the plan Obama had just approved. It’s an odd…
Read MoreCain’s Scrutiny
Twenty years ago, another presidential candidate who had been rising in the polls ran into a sex scandal. Bill Clinton survived. And went on to be President for eight years – Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky notwithstanding. So maybe Democrats shouldn’t get too high and mighty about the allegations against Herman…
Read MoreDems Have $$, Too
Now Republicans are whining about elections being for sale. A couple of weeks ago, Democrats were whining about Art Pope “buying” North Carolina. I suggested they stop whining and start winning by finding their own deep pockets. It looks like the deep pockets found them. John Frank reports in the N&O that…
Read MoreA Sure-Fire Way…
It’s a near-perfect metaphor: We’ve got Congress in debt up to its eyeballs and the President’s cutting the cost of government subsidized student loans. It’s classic. And unstoppable. Just before the election Obama’s going to make millions of new friends: He’s going to lower their student loan debts by increasing the government debts…
Read MoreDavid Brooks Is Wrong
A highlight of reading The New York Times on Tuesdays and Fridays is David Brooks’ columns. He’s intelligent, interesting and insightful. But he’s all wrong (“The Fighter Fallacy”) when he says President Obama is all wrong to come out swinging against Republicans. He can’t win that way, Brooks says. Yes, he can. …
Read MoreBirth of the Boaters
A Republican friend tells me that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is the GOP’s star of the future: the perfect 2012 running and/or perfect candidate for President in 2016. So – to go with the Birther movement that questions whether President Obama is really from around here – Democrats need to launch a Boater movement…
Read MoreDebating Debates
Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post opined that debates are “no way to pick a President.” I beg to differ. Her opinion is rooted in a media misunderstanding of what voters look for in debates. She wrote: “Now we judge a candidate’s worthiness for public office as much according to his stage performance as…
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