North Carolina – Democrats
The Central Cause of His Life
Horror of horrors, John Edwards is back in the newspaper the second day in a row. This time he has flown all the way to San Francisco to find a safe haven to debate Karl Rove. One thing Edwards is not doing is taking any risks by talking to the press. (I guess the National…
Read MorePoliticians Being…
Sometimes politicians just can’t help being politicians, which, most times, means they can’t help gilding the lily or coloring the truth, even when they don’t need to. Kay Hagan is dropping her lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole. Want to guess why? For the good of the people of North Carolina. Now, why couldn’t Hagan just say,…
Read MorePerdue’s Fresh Start
Governor-elect Bev Perdue is wrestling with two public images. One is the picture in Sunday’s N&O of her with Marc Basnight, with Basnight looming over her. The other is her vow election night to make a “fresh start.” Her speech was odd. She sounded tired, even touchy. She reprimanded the crowd for not listening. Clearly,…
Read MoreHe’s Back
What’s the definition of penance in modern American politics? We now know exactly. It’s three months without speaking into a TV camera. Three months ago, John Edwards confessed to an affair with a blonde aide, did one TV interview, then announced he’d said all he had to say about that and pulled up the drawbridge…
Read MoreEdwards Ten Years After
A young, fresh Democratic underdog upsets an older, entrenched Republican United States Senator. North Carolina Democrats take heart. Washington welcomes a promising new face. Today it’s Kay Hagan. Ten years ago this month it was John Edwards. Today Edwards gives speeches and the questions are pre-screened. Of course, the hosts insist, it has nothing to…
Read MoreJosh Stein and New Raleigh
No race shows more dramatically how Raleigh has changed than Josh Stein’s smashing 3-to-2 victory over Johnny Mac Alexander in Senate District 16. Alexander is prototypical Old Raleigh. He and his family are pillars of the city’s long-time business and social elite. He graduated from Broughton. He and his family have done great work at…
Read MoreChange
Carter and I spoke this morning to Leadership North Carolina about the political landscape today. The questions were interesting – and pointed: What do the Republicans do now? How will Bev Perdue govern and position herself for 2012? How will the state solve its fiscal problems? How will the feds pay for Medicare and Social…
Read MoreSummation
Well, the hollering and screaming is over and instead of being amazed by the antics of politicians we can go back to the normal everyday rhythms of life that get disrupted every four years by an election. What went wrong for Republicans here in North Carolina? What didn’t go wrong is happier to contemplate: Half…
Read MoreWinners and Losers 2008
Campaigns end abruptly. One day you’re going 90 miles an hour, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. All of a sudden Tuesday night it’s over. On Wednesday you bask in the glory if you won or bathe in your friends’ condolences and reassurances if you lost. Then BAM! The exhausted and spent winners…
Read MoreWhat Happened
Three factors carried North Carolina for Hagan, Perdue and – maybe – Obama. It is a mistake to ascribe the result to any one of the three alone. First was the public’s rejection of George Bush because of the economic crisis. In a sense, 2008 was just a continuation of the 2006 election cycle. Voters…
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