North Carolina – Democrats
Political Stories: The New York Committee to Elect Jim Hunt
There comes a moment in a political campaign – if you’re fortunate – when for one moment the stars align and you can see with almost clairvoyant certainty exactly what the campaign is all about and how to win – that moment came for us in December of 1983: We knew Jesse’s campaign was about…
Read MorePolitical Stories: Finding the Key to Beating Jim Hunt
When you start a campaign 25 points behind but have a lot of money you start running ads early and we did – 20 months before the election. Now the folks who worked at the Congressional Club were ideologues. True believers. We saw the world in black and white. Us versus Them. Light versus Darkness.…
Read MoreA Better Governor Than a Candidate
Jim Hunt raised eyebrows during the campaign when he said Bev Perdue would be better at being governor than she was at being a candidate. It sounded like faint praise at the time. Now it seems prescient. Raleigh is amazed by Perdue’s deft performance since taking office. She is poised and comfortable in public appearances.…
Read MoreHead of the Class
Everybody agrees that North Carolina’s educational-governance system is dysfunctional. June Atkinson wants the legislature to give her real power. Some legislators want to do away with her job. Governor Perdue bypassed the whole byzantine system by creating her own schools CEO. You can’t blame Atkinson. She has been elected superintendent of public instruction twice.…
Read MorePolitical Stories: Jesse Sees a Second Poll
Nobody ever accused Jesse Helms of being naïve but he made a pretty serious misjudgment when it came to running against Jim Hunt â Jesse didnât think running against Hunt would be a cakewalk but he had the idea he was as popular (or more popular) than the governor and on top of that he…
Read MorePolitical Stories: Jesse’s First Poll
Like Billy Flynn in a Chicago courtroom Obama’s speech to Congress was all razzle-dazzle. It takes a silver tongue to spend a trillion dollars then say you’re against big government and get away with it. I don’t know who else could have done it. Surely not Bobby Jindal. Politics is pretty discouraging these days –…
Read MoreTurning Back the Hands of the Clock
Once upon a time North Carolina was considered the most anti-union state in the country; back then, nobody ever heard of a Democrat like Jim Hunt or Bob Scott supporting legislation to create more unions – but that’s exactly what Senator Kay Hagan is doing. So, what changed? It’s simple: Today Democratic voters see corporations…
Read MorePay to Play?
Tony Rand rolled out a sure-fire crowd-pleaser last week: limit the number of days legislators can collect their expenses. Voters love it. Good-government types extol it. Legislators can hardly vote against it. But some people question – privately – the wisdom behind it. Are shorter legislative sessions by definition better? In whatever your line of…
Read MoreFlacking for DOT?
Gene Conti’s pick of N&O veteran Ted Vaden as deputy DOT secretary for communications revealed three things: Conti (caveat: a good friend) will be a good secretary. He understands that DOT will benefit from some disinfectant and sunshine. The N&O, like many daily papers, looks like a sinking ship. The age-old media suspicion of “flacks”…
Read MoreWhat’s Happening in the Legislature?
Yesterday, reading a report in the paper about all the bills introduced I got the impression the state legislature is a hotbed of activity – so last night at dinner with a state representative I said, It looks like you all have been pretty busy. He frowned, I don’t know where you got that idea…
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