North Carolina – Democrats
Josh Stein: Freshman Phenom
Josh Stein is the hottest freshman from Raleigh since John Wall. I’ve known Josh for more than a dozen years, and I feel like I helped raise him in politics. So permit me to brag. The N.C.Center for Public Policy Research ranked Josh the most effective freshman in the 2009 General Assembly: 19th…
Read MoreHoist by Their Own Petard
You can’t have a temperance meeting in a bar. And a group that wants to reform lobbying and fund-raising can’t have a fundraiser sponsored by lobbyists. But that’s what the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform is doing. The result: Governor Perdue – who, hard as she tries, can’t satisfy the N&O…
Read MoreMartin Nesbit Floats Like a Butterfly
There is no political spectacle quite like watching a politician duke it out with a reporter; like when Charlotte Observer reporter Mark Johnson interviewed Senate Democrat Leader Martin Nesbit about cleaning up corruption in state government. Only Nesbit wasn’t punching. He was floating like a butterfly. Like Mohammed Ali. Johnson took the bull by…
Read MoreTerry and the SOBs
I spoke Monday night to the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club – which, I learned, also has women members. I talked about the two groups that have always competed for political dominance in North Carolina: the “Just Say No” crowd of Jesse Helms, Richard Burr and the Tea Party and the “Go Forward’ crowd…
Read MoreDC Cal?
One overlooked factor in the Democratic Senate primary: Did being the Washington pooh-bahs’ pick hurt Cal Cunningham? The DSCC heavies got behind Cunningham only after a long and frustrating courtship of Bob Etheridge. Cunningham got so frustrated he dropped out of the race, then got back in when Etheridge finally said no. So…
Read MoreAnother Odd Bit of Political Logic
With a new budget looming the Governor is once again off in hot pursuit of billions from the Obama Administration and, since the President’s a fan of Charter Schools, North Carolina’s Charter School parents saw their opportunity and took it. They went to a recent State Education Board Meeting and suggested to Chairman Bill…
Read MoreRusty Money
Tom Fetzer is so outraged about Rusty Carter’s illegal campaign contributions he called another press conference. Governor Perdue and Senator Basnight are so embarrassed they think it should be a felony. Soon Joe Lieberman probably will try to take away the citizenship of anyone who does such a heinous thing. Now, I…
Read MoreThe Runoff
Cal Cunningham obviously knew what was coming Tuesday. He knew he would trail Elaine Marshall, and he knew he would face immediate pressure not to call a runoff. So he didn’t wait. He called for the runoff that night. He was interviewed live on WRAL before 7 a.m. Wednesday. And he was buzzing around…
Read MoreBev Tackles Corruption
I meant to write this a couple of weeks ago when Governor Perdue issued her fourth proclamation to end corruption but got diverted. However, with the routines and rhythms of life returning to normal I’m picking up where I left off. Over at Democratic Headquarters, the Governor’s latest proclamation was greeted with pure joy.…
Read MoreHard-core
A Democratic consultant pegged it mid-day Tuesday: “This is a base-vote primary.” That’s why Elaine Marshall nearly won, Cal Cunningham disappointed and Ken Lewis did better than expected. It has to gall Cunningham that his DSCC backing got him just 27.3 percent, just 116,000 votes. Even more galling has to be the N&O…
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