National Republicans
Cities and Republicans
The biggest demographic problem for the Republican Party may not be Hispanics, but cities – and increasing urbanization. In 2012, Democrats won in cities, and Republicans won outside the cities. The more urban a state’s population, the more likely it voted for Obama. Unfortunately for Republicans – in North Carolina and nationally –…
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong with this Picture?
When I read in the newspaper that the House Republican Leadership had given four Congressmen the boot, kicking them off their committees, for not loyally voting with the leadership I thought, Those guys must have been voting with the Democrats – but then I read one of the four Congressmen was Walter Jones the most…
Read MoreWhen the Sky’s the Limit
Up in Washington, right after Obama won reelection, House Speaker John Boehner held a press conference to announce he’d seen the light and was ready to compromise and accept more tax revenues (which translated from political speak into plain English means higher taxes). Next the House Republicans set off in hot pursuit of…
Read MoreKicking the Can down the Road
It was like watching the rerun of a bad old black and white movie: Obama won reelection then, the next day, at a press conference in Washington John Boehner stood up and announced he was ready to compromise and accept new taxes â but only on one condition. Obama had to accept big spending cuts.…
Read MoreHow Democrats Can Win on Voter ID
It’s shameful that Republicans believe their political future rests on voter suppression. But Democrats can turn this chicken shit into chicken salad. First they tell voters: “Republicans are doing all they can to make sure only angry old white men can vote. If you’re young, old, a minority or anyone who doesn’t look like…
Read MoreFig Leaves
There’s a lot of talk up in Washington these days about compromise: President Obama’s ready to compromise and John Boehner’s ready to compromise but, so far, amid all the cooing no one’s laid a deal on the table so it’s hard to tell if Congressmen and Senators are going to say, Gosh, that compromise is…
Read MoreSorting Us Out
The 2012 election and its aftermath show how sharply – and bitterly – divided we are in America. Elections are no longer choices between candidates or debates about issues. They are holy wars between Red and Blue America. Ferrel Guillory at the UNC School of Journalism recommended an excellent book about this split:…
Read MoreSunday Talking Points
So this whole Libya flap is about what our UN Ambassador said on Sunday talk shows? That’s what has Senators McCain and Graham and the Republican Party in high dudgeon? Not security in Libya. Not what the American deaths portend for our role there. But talking points for a Sunday talk show. Let’s…
Read MoreRepublican Reality
Will Republicans’ Election Day encounter with reality put them more in touch with reality on global warming, evolution and whether women who are raped get pregnant? Don’t count on it. Denial is a powerful habit. In the election’s aftermath, it is clear that the Romney-Republican-Rove-Fox echo chamber fell victim to their own spin.…
Read MoreThe Howl
The waitress nodded to a slender fortyish brunette at the next table and said, ‘This is Gwyn, she’s a Republican’ – then Gwyn leaned across the gap between our two tables and said, ‘Just look at those Democrats, they didn’t win anyone’s hearts or minds this election – all they did was change who voted.…
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