North Carolina – Democrats
No Southern Accents?
The Washington Post said last week that the one group largely unrepresented in Obama’s key team is Southerners. As Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, surprise!” The story didn’t mention that the official voice of the White House will have a Southern accent. That’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who grew up in Alabama, went to N.C.…
Read MoreBully Pulpit
The rumor this week has been that Governor-elect Perdue will appoint her Cabinet Friday. Other rumors have it that she’s still having trouble filling some key positions, like DENR and DHHS. Dumping the whole load at once is a different media strategy from past Governors. Most rolled out their appointments one by one. Each secretary…
Read MoreBurr: Run Scared
A year ago Democrats couldn’t dredge up a candidate against Liddy Dole – now they’ve got ‘em coming out of the woodwork to take on Richard Burr. Burr has a litany of problems. For instance, he’s not nearly as strong a candidate as Mrs. Dole and he needs to get that fact clearly in focus…
Read MoreSenate 2010
After the election, people would ask me: “Aren’t you glad the campaign is over?” Hell, no. I miss it. I miss the wall-to-wall attack ads. I miss the overheated blogs. I miss the sound and fury. Now all we have to talk about is policy and personnel. Yawn. So let’s get on with the 2010…
Read MoreBasnight to the Rescue
Well, the parole system is broken and according to the News and Observer all kinds of parolees have been running around unsupervised and literally killing people – so which political party is howling bloody murder and up in arms to solve the problem? The Democrats. Senate Leader Marc Basnight, it turns out, is about the…
Read MoreCoequal Branches of Government?
Andy Jackson would roll over in his grave. I just read Jon Meacham’s new biography, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Meacham shows how Jackson saw himself not just as the executive head of government, but as the true voice of the people. He, not Congress, would chart the nation’s course. What would…
Read MoreObama’s First Crisis
Joe Biden warned us that Barack Obama would be tested. We just didn’t realize the test would come within six weeks and would come from crooks at home, not terrorists abroad. The “pay to pick” scandal in Illinois is getting so much attention we’re all going to learn how to pronounce Gov. Blagojevich’s name. Republicans…
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong With State Government?
Back during Jim Hunt’s first stint as Governor, his patronage man was a wily old fellow from Pilot Mountain named Joe Pell, who became legendary. Joe’s job was to get state jobs for Hunt’s friends and supporters around the state. One day Joe was having breakfast at Finch’s with a county sheriff who had supported…
Read MoreHeman Clark
The News & Observer noted that Heman Clark, who died last week, was a lawyer, prosecutor, judge and Cabinet secretary. At 93, he was one of the last links to the Terry Sanford era in politics. But I’ll remember Heman most for an evening of kindness to my then-11-year-old son. It was in 2000, when…
Read MoreRechanneling WRAL
News that long-time sportscaster Tom Suiter is retiring at WRAL-TV takes long-time viewers back. Back to what some of us view as the Bad Old Days at the station. The N&O noted that Suiter, from Rocky Mount, was brought to the station by Jesse Helms, then WRAL’s executive vice president for news – and nightly…
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