North Carolina – Democrats
What Would Jim Hunt Do?
I’m frequently asked what Governor Hunt would do in Governor Perdue’s situation – since he faced the first Republican House majority 16 years ago. Here’s what he did: Got what he could. Then picked a fight. Of course, much was different then. Democrats still held the Senate. Hunt’s approval ratings were in the…
Read MoreWorlds Apart
Call it Colbert World versus Fox World. That’s where the WakeCounty schools debate is happening today. This kind of division is nothing new in North Carolina politics. Go back to 1950: It’s been a 60-year war between conservatives (“racists,” as their opponents call them) and progressives (“socialists,” as their opponents call them.) …
Read MoreCarter’s Advice to Perdue
Now that the trial lawyers are listening to Carter, maybe Governor Perdue should too. He posted a blog last week, “Perdue Upside Down,” about her political dilemma. He concluded: “Perdue has a choice: She can ignore her other problems and set to work convincing voters that, whatever her flaws, her Republican opposition is…
Read MoreA Voice of Sanity
Well, I predicted it Monday (“Commence Firing”). And while overheated political rhetoric may not necessarily lead to violence, violence certainly leads to overheated political rhetoric. Sarah Palin says it’s a “blood libel” to criticize her for placing Democrats — including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — under crosshairs during the 2010 election and talking about…
Read MoreOur Governor
The Reckoning
Unlike some Democrats, I’m not in despair about the Republican Party’s new power. It’s not just that I’m glad the GOP will share some – or bear all – of the blame for unpopular cuts. Rather, it’s time we finally decide how much government we want – and how much we’re willing to…
Read MoreNot Everybody Loved Marc
A veteran of the legislature’s hallways and byways took exception to my sympathetic and OBX-centric view of Marc Basnight. Even the Charlotte Observer gushed, “It’s a testament to his place in N.C. politics that even his political adversaries spoke glowingly of him.” Here’s the legislative vet’s dissenting view: “Leaders from other areas of the…
Read MoreMarc of OBX
Let others talk about what Marc Basnight did for the university system, clean water, open records, the Democratic Party, etc., etc. Those of us who love and live on the Outer Banks have selfish reasons to thank him. When Governor Hunt put Marc on the Board of Transportation in 1977, getting to Nags…
Read MoreThe Wait Is Almost Over
We’ve waited nearly 30 years, but it’s finally here. Thirty years ago this month, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. He said government was the problem, not the solution. He promised that – finally – someone would really, really cut government spending. We’ve waited. And waited. And waited. Reagan didn’t cut anything big. Nor…
Read MoreHomeless Blue Dogs?
The N&O front-pager about “North Carolina’s three conservative Democrats” – Congressmen Heath Shuler, Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre – asks whether there’s a place for Blue Dogs in today’s Democratic Party. For perspective, I turn as always to my work on Jim Hunt’s biography. (I can’t help it; I spent four years on it.…
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