National Republicans

Lo and behold, Art Pope’s Civitas Institute did a poll that found that North Carolina voters agree with – wait for it, yes, Art Pope! – on who is to blame for the recession: government, not business, by 64-22.   But curb your enthusiasm. Look deeper.   Last week, the New York Times did a…

In North Carolina, the most in-demand Democrat on the campaign trail is my old boss Governor Jim Hunt.   Nationally, the most in-demand Democrat is President Obama’s old nemesis Bill Clinton.   In California, the next governor may be Jerry Brown, who was elected California’s youngest governor ever in 1974.   In Iowa, the next…

Time’s Joe Klein puts his finger on President Obama’s problem in an engrossing essay “Encountering Anguish and Anxiety Across America:”   “Even among his most passionate supporters, Obama is something of a political mystery. He doesn’t challenge the Republicans; he doesn’t fight back; he doesn’t even tout his accomplishments….The Obama mystery is compounded by the…

The election is slowly bumping and grinding to a close and it’s been a lot tougher ordeal for Democrats than Republicans – while Republicans have been cruising along riding the headwinds of Obama-disapproval, the same national tides have been pulling Democrats downward like a remorseless undertow.  Plus, since Democrats control almost everything that moves in…

Historians and politicos yearn for stable, predictable political eras.   Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote about the “cycles” of American politics – the Progressive Era, the Republican Roaring 20s, the Age of Roosevelt, etc.   After 2008, James Carville predicted 40 years of Democratic dominance.   After 2000, Karl Rove predicted a permanent realignment.   So…

I love polls. When I did campaigns, I spent hours digging through them. Numbers don’t lie, and they tell you what’s obscured in the political blather. The latest NBC-Wall Street Journal poll lays out clearly what’s happening in this election.  The headline is that voters prefer a Republican Congress over a Democratic one by 50-43…

D.G. Martin was interviewing Carter and me for “Who’s Talking” on WCHL radio when we began discussing the topic that soon will dominate political debate: WOWW – Where Obama Went Wrong.   Was it the policy or the politics (see “Blaming the Messenger” below)? Was it the economy? Was in getting in bed with Congress?…