The Brawl

The last time delegates sitting in a convention picked a candidate for President was 48 years ago. Those days are gone – now conventions mirror Broadway productions. In Milwaukee, country singers sang, rappers danced; in Chicago, Pink sang, Oprah spoke. But back in 1976, Gerald Ford led Ronald Reagan by a handful of votes at…

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Odd

Doing an interview on Fox Trump told Brian Kilmeade it’s a little known fact that the press doesn’t want to talk about, but Biden ‘sent comrade Kamala to see Putin in Russia three days before the attack’ on Ukraine, added Putin ‘laughed at her – he thought she was a joke.’ After the interview Ainsley…

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 Policy, Schmolicy

The media says Kamala Harris has to answer their questions about policy. No, she doesn’t. Harris has said more about policy in the last month than Trump has in nine years. She talked about policy in her economic speech in Raleigh and her acceptance speech at the Chicago convention. She spoke to every issue: cost…

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Obama Cutting his Eyes…

Watching Obama speak last Wednesday night I had a flashback – back in 1984 when Senator Jesse Helms trailed Governor Jim Hunt by 25 points we attacked Hunt and attacked Hunt and got nowhere. Hunt ran his first TV ad: Standing in a field talking to farmers, oozing empathy, at the end of the ad…

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Kamala Harris, For the People

Kamala Harris accomplished three goals in her forceful acceptance speech. She told us who she is. She eviscerated Trump. She proposed a new way forward. All in just 38 minutes, one of the shortest acceptance speeches ever. Trump’s was 90 minutes – a tired, repetitious litany of gripes, grievances and whining. It’s striking what Harris…

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Trump Dishonors Valor

Donald Trump and JD Vance are coming to North Carolina to talk about national security Wednesday – a week after Trump disrespected and dishonored recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. CNN reported: “Trump was praising Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom while in office, during remarks at his…

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More Silly Politics

Just before the election in October of 2008, sitting in my office pollster John McLaughlin opened a poll, said Obama was leading John McCain in North Carolina. No Democrat had won a presidential election in North Carolina in decades. No black man had ever won a statewide race for senator or governor. I shook my…

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Which Road is Worse?

Sitting at a wide round table in a restaurant a local politician on a tear ended by saying Kamala Harris ‘is dumb as a rock.’ A tall thin man with a rectangular face sitting beside him, glanced at a lady sitting across the table lips pursed, curious, smiled. “Madeline?” Short thick dark hair with wisps…

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RFK Jr. Hurts Trump

Republicans may regret wanting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on North Carolina’s presidential ballot. Kennedy swims in the same swamp as Trump. He’s an anti-vaxxer and a one-man conspiracy machine. He’s a MAGA magnet. The Washington Post reports that polls show Kennedy “is pulling significantly more votes from Trump than Harris.” The Post said: “Since the…

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The Unexpected Strikes

For a year, from the night Trump announced he was running again, Biden’s unpopularity was the bedrock beneath Trump’s feet. He led in poll after poll. Until an unseen hand moved – and Biden got out. The ground shifted beneath Trump’s feet. Now poll after poll shows Trump trailing Kamala Harris. Last week, holding another…

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