North Carolina – Democrats
The Best Ethics Insurance
Pass any ethics law you want. Set up any ethics board you want. The best ethics protection remains The News & Observer. Getting a copy of the Easleys’ settlement statement at Cannonsgate (can there really be a –gate in this story?) is an amazing coup. As shown by Wade Byrd’s threat to sue the…
Read MoreOne Up on P.T. Barnum
As if Governor Perdue’s not singlehandedly doing enough to sink the Democrats next election (with her 25% Favorable to 50% Unfavorable) former Governor Easley is lending a hand. Not even P.T. Barnum pulled off what Easley ahs done: Going to a real estate closing to buy a half-a-million dollar lot with borrowed money…
Read MoreNo Tears for Ted
One of the great falsehoods peddled by Jim Hunt-haters – and repeated in a recent comment on this site – is that he cried after Ted Kennedy’s speech to the 1980 convention. Sorry, haters. It didn’t happen. I was there. Standing beside Hunt on the floor of Madison Square Garden during Kennedy’s…
Read MoreBev’s Money Dilemma
Governor Perdue has plenty of education-budget headaches – like whether local school districts are laying off teachers. Getting less attention is the near-panic among health and human-services advocates over draconian state budget cuts. Especially with North Carolina facing swine-flu fears, an aging population and serious mental-health needs. Budget reform – whatever that…
Read MoreSenator Wicker?
One Big Name mentioned as a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate should be taken seriously: Dennis Wicker. Wicker reminds me of Jim Hunt circa 1992. Wicker has grown since an election defeat eight years earlier. The lessons from that loss – plus his experience in the private sector – could make him a stronger candidate…
Read MoreBev Goes Forward
I spoke to the North Carolina Democratic Party’s annual Sanford-Hunt-Frye Dinner Saturday night. I talked about the “Go Forward” tradition in North Carolina politics, starting with Kerr Scott and running through Sanford and Hunt. We sat at Governor Perdue’s table, which gave me some pause given some of my blogs about her. But…
Read MoreYes Bev Can
Give Governor Perdue credit: She’s not a quitter. She has been a blur of activity since the legislature left. Launching a government-efficiency study. Riding a bus the first day of school. Asking for money-saving ideas. Sending out YouTube videos. Clearly, she has the energy to fight her way back. All she needs now…
Read MoreThe Fox and the Henhouse
Back in January when Governor Perdue made a healthcare lobbyist head of the Department of Health and Human Services it looked like she’d slipped and put the fox in charge of the henhouse. But the Governor shrugged it off, saying that whoever Lanier Cansler had lobbied for in the past, ‘He’s now owned 100% by…
Read MoreWhat to do this Friday Night
On Friday night at 9 o’clock turn off MSNBC and Fox and CNN and click over to Channel 4 and you’ll have a once in a lifetime experience: Gary’s being interviewed on Bill Friday’s program. This could turn out to be like having a front row seat at a movie about North Carolina politics.…
Read MoreA Woman’s Prerogative
My wife is an unusual woman. She sets her course, steers by it, only rarely changes her mind and her wisdom is such that almost always – with the exception being when she slipped and married me – everything works out fine. On the other hand, we’ve all heard the old saying, It’s a…
Read More