National Democrats
McCain-Nixon in ’08?
John McCain’s real running mate this year will be Richard Nixon – or, to be precise, the strategy that Nixon pioneered for Republicans in 1972: Make your opponent unacceptable to the Silent Majority. That’s the attack McCain’s Karl Rove-trained team has leveled against Barack Obama for weeks now. It is taking hold. Thirty-six years ago,…
Read MoreEdwards Vs. the N&O
The tension between John Edwards and The News & Observer goes back to the 1998 Senate race. During that campaign, John and Elizabeth – along with some of their Washington consultants and gung-ho young staffers – believed the N&O was treating them unfairly. They decided somebody should storm down to the paper’s offices, confront the…
Read MoreThe Verdict Is In
John Drescher’s letter to readers in today’s N&O makes it clear that John Edwards’ “confession” was a spectacular failure. Drescher, the executive editor, wrote to defend his paper’s coverage. But he concluded with this ominous note for Edwards: “Questions remain about who is the father of Hunter’s baby and whether Edwards knew about payments to…
Read MoreA Catch-22 for Obama
There are two race cards. One is a no-holds-barred, two-fisted, blunt-edged appeal to race that’s hardly ever seen anymore. These days only a desperate politician, or one bent on suicide, plays that race card. The other race card is more subtle. It can be as simple as a candidate having a campaign slogan like, “He’s…
Read MoreUpside-Down Election
The first campaign I worked in was Jim Hunt’s first race for Governor in 1976. Jimmy Carter was the Democratic candidate for President. He carried North Carolina, and we had the national political wind at our backs. That was the last time. Every presidential year since then, I have watched – and tried to help…
Read MoreJohn Edwards
John Edwards has told ABC News he had an affair with Rielle Hunter. It will be on Nightline tonight. Now, as I’m sure you have, I’ve seen folks get knocked down flat on their backs and get kicked while they’re still lying there. It’s just plain mean. Also, after all this hit the airwaves I…
Read MoreThe Crown Prince of Charlatans
One moment Barack Obama sounds like a wild-eyed liberal who’s out to “save the planet” from the icecaps melting – the next he’s turning around and coming out for offshore drilling. One moment John McCain sounds like a two-fisted independent and maverick – but at the same time down in the bowels of McCain Central…
Read MoreMcCain’s Only Hope
The low road is the only road to the White House for John McCain. So he’s riding it hard. Mr. Straight-Talk-Let’s-Clean-Up-Politics has shed the last shred of his old skin. He’s turned his campaign over to the Karl Rove snakes who slimed George W. Bush’s old enemies – John Kerry and, oh yes, John McCain…
Read More…And How to Beat It
The low-road strategy beat Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry. But not Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. And maybe not Barack Obama. Here’s why. Dukakis, Gore and Kerry reinforced – with their own performances – the portrait that Republican slime-masters drew of them. Lee Atwater painted Dukakis as a wuss. And Dukakis wussed out…
Read MoreI Know Nuthink
When the national Democratic Party poured a whopping $6.5 million into her campaign, Kay Hagan was shocked. Just shocked. She knew nothing about it. The millions of dollars that fell from the sky like manna from heaven were a complete surprise. But, now, Beverly Perdue has done her one better. After raising hundreds of thousands…
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