National Republicans
Don’t Change…
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…
Read More9600 to 500
Every now and then a fellow stumbles across a fact so eye-popping the moment he sees it he feels the ground shifting beneath his feet. The other day in the newspaper a headline blared in big black letters that North Carolina’s unemployment rate had dropped, which sounded like good news until I read (in…
Read MoreUnstable Times
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…
Read MorePoll Tells the Tale
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…
Read MoreThe Obama Enigma
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?…
Read MoreWho’s the ‘Fruit Loop’?
What’s with this Republican obsession with gays? There’s state Rep. Larry Brown, who emailed legislators about “queers” and “fruit loops.” There’s Carl Paladino, the GOP candidate for governor in New York, who makes Brown look charitable. And there were all the gay slurs in the last race for North Carolina Republican Party chair. …
Read MoreHarbinger?
If the Republican takeover of the Wake County school board last year was a sign of what’s to come in this year’s elections, will this week’s train wreck on the board be a sign of what’s to come next year – in Raleigh and Washington? Campaigning is much easier than governing, as President Obama…
Read MoreThe Politics of Principle
Michael Barone of Fox News made an astute point about Obama at this week’s John Locke luncheon. He said Obama is a very different president from Bill Clinton: Clinton was “unencumbered by principle,” while Obama is an “ideologue.” Now, “ideologue” is a loaded word. You could also say “principled.” You could apply the…
Read MoreThe Main Attraction
Today’s N&O story by Jay Price and Mandy Locke captured a telling vignette from the competing political rallies by the “Spending Revolt” bus tour and Organizing For America: Both featured videos of President Obama. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a thoughtful Republican. He opined that the anger driving this year’s…
Read MoreThe Same Old Republican Pledge
For the fourth consecutive decade, Republicans are “pledging” to cut taxes and cut spending. Ronald Reagan made the pledge in the 1980s. Newt Gingrich made it in the 1990s. George Bush made it in the 2000s. And now it’s back in the 2010 “Pledge to America.” Jon Stewart did a masterful job of…
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