North Carolina – Democrats
Maybe I Was Wrong
A few weeks ago, watching the Obama campaign’s energy, I predicted he would win North Carolina in a blowout, maybe by 20 points. A few months ago, watching the aggressiveness of Richard Moore’s campaign, I thought he might upset Bev Perdue. Today, Primary Day, looks different. It’s a reminder that – being exercises in human…
Read MoreHunt Torpedoes Moore
When WRAL asked former Governor Jim Hunt about this year’s Democratic governor’s race it was like old times. Hunt opined about the virtues of positive campaigning: Candidates ought to say what they’d do. What they stand for. How they’d move North Carolina forward. (It was like a flashback to thirty years ago.) Then the governor…
Read MoreRace Cards
Talk about being the center of the political universe. North Carolina was it Tuesday. Barack Obama’s press conference on Jeremiah Wright could turn out to be the pivotal event of the presidential campaign. Unfortunately, that event – and two others the same day – was all about the issue that forever taints our politics: race.…
Read MoreMoore’s Klan Bomb
Richard Moore needs a bomb to blow up Bev Perdue’s lead. But the problem with a bomb is that it can go off in your hands. That appears to be what happened with his Ku Klux Klan ad. The ad was a reach to start with. When voters hear, in effect, that Perdue voted with…
Read MoreBev Survives
While the political world focused on Pennsylvania Tuesday, Bev Perdue’s supporters gave a sigh of relief. She survived the live TV debate with Richard Moore. Her campaign has gone to great lengths to minimize her unscripted appearances – in debates and with the media. Her handlers’ lack of confidence is palpable. Moore was surprisingly mild…
Read MoreBut We’re Ready For Our Close-up
Pennsylvania is over – finally. I’m sick and tired of Chris Matthews telling me how smart “Eddie Rendell” is. So now North Carolina is the biggest state left. Bill Clinton is back today. Hillary and Barack are coming. The New York Times, the networks, the bigfeet and the bloggers are scoping us out for colorful…
Read MoreBeing Mike Easley
I read in one of the newspapers awhile back (I can’t recall exactly which one) the governor likes to leave Friday for his beach-home, return Monday, and in between spend as much time (after hours) as possible on his hobby, woodworking in the basement of the Governor’s Mansion. Don’t get me wrong, one of the…
Read MoreDelete This Fight
When he gets back from Italy, Governor Easley needs to end this no-win email war with the media. The fight has poisoned his relationships with the media, especially The News & Observer. It led to a lawsuit. And he’s been put on the defensive. The longer this goes on, the more distractions he will face,…
Read MorePolitical Forgiveness
Representative Joe Boylan has gotten himself in a big mess. A year ago Joe passed out on the House floor and said it was a bout of flu and dehydration. Which sounded fine. And made sense. But, then, the newspapers reported Boylan, who’s married, had made “a drunken pass at a female legislator” in a…
Read MoreNegative, Positive and Accurate
Bev Perdue’s campaign manager is filling Internet Inboxes with messages from people praising Perdue, pounding her on the back, for renouncing negative ads. In one email he quotes Priscilla and Kathy and Donna as gushing, “Way to go… you very well may have earned my vote… Mr. Moore’s negative ads have totally turned me off.”…
Read More