North Carolina – Democrats
Enough is Enough
Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had enough?” The same slogan is enough for Democrats in 2026. “Had enough” of Trump’s chaos, cruelty, corruption and incompetence? “Had enough” of his lying? And, now, “had enough” of war and rising prices? A columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer,…
Read MoreFaith in Politics
Jim Hunt would like James Talarico winning the Democratic primary in Texas. Like Talarico, the late Governor was a man of deep faith. He was a churchgoer all his life. He and Carolyn Hunt were at Wilson’s First Presbyterian Church nearly every Sunday. They sang in the choir. When the Governor started his Smart Start…
Read MoreStein’s Clout
Governor Josh Stein had a good day Tuesday, and there’s good news for him in our statewide poll. (See more about the poll below.) He gets positive ratings. And voters trust him more than they do the Republican General Assembly. Stein and former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper are the only two of more than a…
Read MoreToo Long
“For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade…. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.” – General George Patton. Like Liston Ramsey and Marc Basnight before him, Phil Berger…
Read More2 Votes!
Because of just 2 votes, North Carolina politics will be consumed – and the General Assembly will be paralyzed – by recounts and court battles over the Phil Berger-Sam Page election. This could take even longer than the six months it took to settle the 2024 state Supreme Court race between Jefferson Griffin and Justice…
Read MoreWhy is Cooper Up by 10?
As Paige Masten wrote in The Charlotte Observer, our statewide poll showed Roy Cooper twice as far ahead in the U.S. Senate race as did another recent poll. She noted, “In the latest poll, conducted by Change Research, Cooper leads Michael Whatley, the likely Republican nominee, by 50% to 40%. A poll released last month…
Read MoreTrump Falls, Cooper Leads, Stein is Strong
We’re all drowning in polls, but still thirsting for reliable data about North Carolina voters this crucial election year. So, four of us (see below) did our own poll – an in-depth online survey of 1,069 North Carolina voters about Trump, the 2026 and 2028 elections, and a broad range of issues. We found: Trump’s…
Read MoreWillie Horton, the Sequel
Republicans are running an old play against Roy Cooper – the “Willie Horton blitz.” The play worked when Lee Atwater, “Poppy” Bush’s hatchet-man, ran it against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. It didn’t work when Jim Gardner ran it against Governor Jim Hunt in 1992. I get why Republicans are doing it now:…
Read MoreTalking About Politics on WUNC
Carter Wrenn and I were on WUNC’s Due South this week talking about the decline of civil discourse – and how two adversaries became friends and blogging partners. You can listen here. We told how we met negotiating rules for the debates between Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms. “There was ice in the room,” Carter…
Read MorePower Politics
The six Governors seated in a pew at Jim Hunt’s funeral last month are of different parties, philosophies and personalities. But all of them battled the General Assembly over power. They were Josh Stein (2025-now), Roy Cooper (2017-2025), Pat McCrory (2013-2017), Bev Perdue (2009-2013), Mike Easley (2001-2009) and Jim Martin (1985-1993), whose two terms came…
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