North Carolina – Democrats
The Meltdown
Governor Perdue’s is having the political equivalent of a meltdown;—yesterday a liberal pollster wrote that she is now more unpopular than any Governor he’s polled in the country. Her job approval is lower than Congress’s; in six months her popularity’s fallen further than President Bush’s did in seven years. The meltdown is so complete she’s…
Read MorePerdue So Far
Cullen Browder at WRAL asked me to rate Governor Perdue’s first six months in office. I think she’s doing pretty well. Give her a B. An A if she would take a stronger role in resolving the budget. She took over the ship of state in a hurricane: a bad economy and the…
Read MoreSenator Doug Berger’s World
Senator Doug Berger probably never dreamed anyone would run TV ads in his district telling his constituents how he voted to cut 20,000 elderly Medicaid patientsâ home care then, eight days later, turned around and voted to build a $25 million fishing pier at the beach — with a sixteen thousand square foot clubhouse and…
Read MoreBig Spenders
Polls suggest that President Obama is losing independents who are concerned about federal spending and rising debt. In North Carolina, Governor Perdue and Democratic legislators fear the political consequences of the coming combination of budget cuts and tax increases. Democrats don’t need to panic yet. The honeymoon had to end, and Obama had to…
Read MoreCrab Pots
This afternoon an email flies in over the transom: The states broke and Governor Perdue’s been forced to call for a $1.6 billion tax increase. An hour later another email flies in over the transom: The Department and Health and Human Services has just had to make an emergency appropriation for ‘items needed by…
Read MoreThe New Ad Wars
Two “issue” ad campaigns caught my eye this week. They show where this kind of media strategy is going. One ad was about U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and the others, state Senator Doug Berger. When I first saw the ad about Hagan, I thought: She’s already running a campaign ad? It sounded just…
Read MorePerdue in Command?
Back when Lauch Faircloth was a Democrat in Jim Hunt’s Cabinet (pre-1984), he liked to say a governor had to have “command presence.” Governor Perdue’s poll numbers may be low because the public does not see that quality in her today. Speaker Joe Hackney had what struck me as a might chilly reaction…
Read MoreLaughs
Two of the best lines I’ve heard this week re John Edwards and Mark Sanford: “The definition of narcissism is thinking you’d look good in a sex tape.” “Now we know why Mark Sanford rejected the federal stimulus package. He already had all the stimulus he needed.”
Read MoreNew Video
The Home and Hospice Care Association folks are giving State Senator Doug Berger a run for his money. Yesterday they aired a TV ad in his district. Today they put a video on the Internet. (View Ad Below) In his State Senate Committee Berger cut home care for 20,000 patients on Medicaid. The reason he…
Read MoreIt’s Only Tuesday…
Well, even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then; a year ago Republicans couldnât buy a break and now gifts are falling out of the sky â of all things, Mrs. Easley is going to contest her dismissal from NCSU. Itâs amazing: After her âwooden Indianâ press conference it seemed a safe…
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