National Democrats
The Bubba Boost
My friend Bruce Thompson – a Raleigh lawyer and leading Clinton adviser here – thinks I’m reading the primary all wrong. (I predicted an Obama blowout.) Bruce believes Hillary Clinton will win here. He points to the crowds that came to Bill Clinton’s trip Down East last weekend – Bubba’s BBQ Tour. He told me:…
Read MoreSticking the Knife in Obama
On “Good morning America” Elizabeth Edwards told Diane Sawyer she – and John – are neutral in the Democratic primary – but then, in the next breath, she added Hillary’s health care plan is better than Obama’s. In one breath she says she’s neutral. In the next she sticks the knife in Obama. From where…
Read MoreHillary’s New Ad
It’s like there are two Hillary Clintons. There’s one I call ‘Hillary-the-mother.’ When she talks she sounds like a mother talking about her daughter. She’s likeable. And attractive. That’s the Hillary on display in her new TV ad. The other Hillary is Hillary-the-politician and, more often than not, she sounds like a shrill shrewish wife.…
Read MoreObama and the Pirates
There were two articles â one about Barack Obama and another Iâll tell you about in a moment â in the News and Observer the other day. Hereâs one paragraph from the story about Obama. He said, speaking in Indianapolis, âNo matter what the color of your skin, no matter what faith we practice, no…
Read MoreInspiration or Perspiration?
Hillary Clinton’s new TV ad in North Carolina plays to her Clintonian strength: I feel your pain. It’s a deliberate contrast to Obama’s appeal: the lift of optimism and hope. Clinton’s appeal is who can do the hard, gritty work of government. Just as Democrats are split, there is a vast gap between the candidates’…
Read MoreCzar Edwards?
For weeks there have been hints of bad blood between John Edwards and Barack Obama. The rumors include a face-to-face blow-up between the two, and possibly Elizabeth Edwards. Which may be why Edwards has not endorsed the opponent who seemed closest to him ideologically. Now Edwards seems to be edging closer to Hillary Clinton. When…
Read MorePoll Story Buried the Lead
The real news in The News & Observer/Charlotte Observer poll is that Hillary Clinton could pull an upset in North Carolina. You are forgiven if you missed it, because the N&O’s coverage obscured the head-to-head: Obama 32, Clinton 26 and undecided 39. The 22-paragraph story made only one mention – and that in the first…
Read MoreBubbas or Blacks
Rob Christensen may be right that the Bubba vote – male and female – will decide North Carolina for Clinton or Obama. That’s why the two old Bubba Buddies from their days together as attorneys general – Bill Clinton and Rufus Edmisten – have been campaigning together (a thought that gives one pause). But black…
Read MoreHitting the Foul Shots
The final weeks of a campaign are like the final minutes of a basketball game: If you’re behind, you start fouling. Richard Moore is fouling Bev Perdue – hard. But nothing flagrant; it’s part of the game. Cullen Browder at WRAL-TV asked whether Moore’s ad recalling a 1995 traffic accident involving Perdue – and the…
Read MoreEnter Rev. Wright
After being in the room with the boys during Senator Jesse Helms campaign in 1990, when the much ballyhooed (or infamous) ‘white hands’ ad was written, I’ve been telling myself, ‘Don’t you touch Reverend Jeremiah Wright with a ten foot pole.’ But, anyway, here goes. For several months I’ve been saying there’ll only be one…
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