North Carolina – Democrats
Mike Easley Dancing the Two-Step
There is nothing quite like a newspaper headline to get a political reaction from Governor Easley. Via his minions at the Department of Transportation, the Governor hired a $2.5 million consultant to do a study of DOT, then didn’t require a written report (that way there’s no messy list of DOT foibles for the press…
Read MoreWhere’s the Beef
State Treasurer and candidate for Governor Richard Moore wants to dump Governor Charles Aycock’s name from the Democrats Annual Vance-Aycock Dinner. Governor Aycock (1900-04) is decidedly politically incorrect. He was a leader of the ‘red-shirt’ campaigns that disenfranchised black voters. But he was also the first in a long line of North Carolina’s education governors…
Read MoreMayor Meeker Gives a Lecture
With no opponent to keep him busy this election Mayor Meeker is feeling his oats. Monday night he trooped over to the County Commissioners to give them a lecture. About spending. The Mayor’s philosophy on spending tax money is simple: Spend it. Spent it all. Spend it as quickly as possible. It, apparently, didn’t bother…
Read MoreKeep Your Head in the Heat of Battle
In campaigns, the worst wounds are often self-inflicted. Witness two A+ political operatives I know who made D- mistakes last week. Julie White, who works for gubernatorial candidate Richard Moore, got caught using a state computer to request public-records info on Lt. Beverly Perdue. Plus, as the News & Observer’s Under the Dome has chronicled,…
Read MoreArson?
What I want to know is which fool â walking around Dare County â torched Marc Basnightâs restaurant? That would be akin to burning down Don Corleoneâs olive oil business. At first when I read the News and Observer headline â âSBI Blames Arson for Fire at Basnightâs Caféâ â I thought (for one second)…
Read MoreVeto Shifts the Balance of Power
The media focused on how Governor Easley avoided suffering his first veto override on the tiremaker-incentive bill. But the real story is how fundamentally the veto has changed the balance of power in Raleigh. I blogged before that the veto, which Jim Hunt got passed in 1996, was Hunt’s gift to Easley. Both Jack Betts…
Read MoreMoore’s Health Care Offensive
One of our loyal blogger/readers passed along a link to Richard Moore’s website about George Bush denying health care to kids. He also noted that Moore ran a banner ad on the N&O’s webpage drawing visitors to the site. And he observes: “This is a hard-hitting site about denying healthcare to kids. Looks like Moore…
Read MoreIn Defense of Incentives
All the candidates for Governor – Democrats and Republicans – now say they support Governor Easley’s veto of the Goodyear incentives bill. Are incentives that politically radioactive? I’m not sure they are. But the supporters of incentives are doing a damn poor job of making the case. The way to win the argument is to…
Read MoreCorporate Democrats, Unite!
Another sign that North Carolina Democrats aren’t taking the increasingly anti-corporate tone of the national party is a fundraiser Richard Moore is holding in Raleigh this month. The host is John Kane, of North Hills fame. (Now that Moore has come out against incentives for Goodyear, maybe Kane can lobby him for his parking-deck subsidy.)…
Read MoreBrave New World of the Gubernatorial Veto
I blogged not long ago about the veto being Jim Hunt’s gift to Mike Easley – and all future Governors. Now – with Easley’s veto of the Goodyear-incentives bill – we begin to see what veto power really means. Brave New World, Chapter One: So much for being a lame duck. Easley may be ineffective…
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