North Carolina – Democrats
Cleta Mitchell is Worried
Two people from my political past are battling over college students voting. Cleta Mitchell wants to make it harder for them to vote. Daniel Gilligan wants to make it easier. Daniel was a student in a politics class I taught at NC State 20 years ago as an adjunct lecturer. (I think “adjunct” is Latin…
Read MoreNo Small Thing
My doctor used to be in a family practice owned by doctors. Then, I’m not sure how, the practice became part of UNC Health Care. It was like they told my doctor, You have to see a patient every twenty minutes. Now, wham, bam, thank you ma’am – you’re in and out. I told a…
Read MoreWe’re in Good Hands
Near the end of a Zoom meeting this week with Anderson Clayton and other new leaders of the state Democratic Party (and about 100 other people), I messaged the group: “AC, y’all are the best thing to happen to the party in a long time.” Clayton, the new party chair, and vice chairs Jonah Garson…
Read MoreI don’t care
The Tricia Cotham soap opera doesn’t interest me. Were Democrats mean to her? I don’t care. Did PAC donations play a part? I don’t care. Will a once-pro-abortion progressive find peace, love and joy in the Republican caucus? I don’t care. Things I do care about: the public-school crisis, the behavioral-health crisis, the gun crisis,…
Read MoreJosh and Mark
Years ago when Ronald Reagan ran for president against Gerald Ford most GOP party officials were unhappy – they didn’t like Reagan. That didn’t turn out to make much difference in the primary. Republican voters liked Reagan – so he beat Ford in NC’s primary. The other day I read an article in the newspaper…
Read MoreGetting to 55 percent
One of today’s sharpest political analysts, Simon Rosenberg, has mapped out a path for Democrats to get 55% of the national popular vote in 2024, up from President Biden’s 51.4% in 2020. And North Carolina is on Rosenberg’s map. He was one of the few who wasn’t swept away in 2022 by the Republican/media “red…
Read MoreMore On Wisconsin
More than a century ago, Wisconsin pioneered progressive politics in America. More than a decade ago, it pioneered regressive right-wing politics. This month, it may have signaled a sharp turn away from MAGA extremism – and lit a path out of the darkness for North Carolina Democrats. It wouldn’t be the first time Wisconsin and…
Read MoreBlue Wolves, Red Wolves
Voice frail staring into TV cameras Democrat state legislator Tricia Cotham painted a grim picture of her fellow Democrats the day she switched parties: When she didn’t toe the party-line, she said, blue wolves attacked bullying her, branding her a traitor; when she posted memes of an American flag, a pair of folded praying hands,…
Read MoreNo Quit
State Democratic Chair Anderson Clayton clearly felt she needed to buck up morale. She tweeted on Friday, “I understand folks feeling defeated by the news cycle this week. But hold on. Just hold on. As my fellow Democracy Defenders, the #TenneseeThree have said — this is going to ignite and awaken the people. And our…
Read MoreOn Wisconsin!
“Fight, fight, fight, we’ll win this game.” – From “On Wisconsin,” school fight song. While North Carolina Democrats seethed over a party-switcher, Wisconsin Democrats celebrated a landmark election victory. They elected a progressive, Janet Protasiewicz, to the Supreme Court by a ten-point margin. She will dramatically shift the court’s rulings on abortion, gerrymandering and 2024…
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