North Carolina – Democrats
The United Nations Dictates to the N.C. House?
This is a peculiar twist. The ACLU and anti-torture activists want the Governor, the Attorney General and just about everyone else – including the Johnston County Commissioners – to investigate Smithfield based Aero Contractors, which provides charter flights to the CIA. No one – including the Global Transport Authority – has taken them up on…
Read MoreJim Black: What Can Republicans Do?
With only 52 votes Republicans don’t have much voice in choosing Jim Black’s successor as Speaker of the House. But here’s a suggestion: Challenge the Democrats to elect a new Speaker who is not part of the current House leadership. Why? Because a ‘fresh face,’ without ties to the current leadership, can best clean up…
Read MoreA Kind Word for Jim Black
Speaker Jim Black did not invent the political system that embroiled him in the scandals that led to his announcement, yesterday, that he will not seek an unprecedented fifth term as leader of the State House. Instead he inherited the system (the press calls it ‘pay to play’) just as other Democrat and Republican leaders…
Read MoreBackstage Politics: The Legislature and Waste Dumps
Four waste disposal companies propose to build mega-dumps in North Carolina and haul, literally, mountains of garbage from New York, Massachusetts and other states here and dispose of it. Democratic strategist Joe Sinsheimer has filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections against Representative Thomas Wright, which gives a glimpse of how the ‘backstage…
Read MorePresident Edwards?
The Washington-focused national press corps has anointed Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama as front-runners in the Democratic presidential race. They’re making a mistake overlooking John Edwards. Here’s what Edwards has going for him: Strong labor ties, which are important in the early Iowa and Nevada contests; A good glow left in Iowa from 2004, when…
Read MoreBlack’s Fifth Term?
The next time you look up tenacity in the dictionary you may see House Speaker Jim Black’s picture beside the word. Black’s been hauled before the Board of Elections, the Grand Jury, the federal courts and his nominee for the lottery commission was convicted of fraud but, despite it all, as improbable as it sounds,…
Read MoreThe Seat That Got Away
North Carolina Democrats had a good year, but it could have been better. Talkingaboutpolitics.com has learned (now, doesn’t that sound pretentious?) that Rahm Emmanuel’s vaunted Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee missed a chance to take out Robin Hayes. A group of North Carolina Democrats were poised to raise last-minute money for Democrat Larry Kissell’s campaign, if…
Read MoreFollow the Money
We may be about to get another glimpse into “backstage politics.” Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed House Speaker Pro-Tem Richard Morgan to testify before the grand jury. They want to ask Morgan about is a $100,000 donation “a small cigarette manufacturer” gave “a political group” he created in 2004 – a year after Morgan stopped legislation…
Read MoreJudges’ Verdict Is In: TV Beats Turnout
I’m singing one of my favorite songs again: Winning campaigns spend money on media, not turnout. And I have judicial proof in this year’s elections. There appeared to be little pattern in who won the judicial races, which are now officially nonpartisan. Democrat Sarah Parker won big. But Republican Donna Stroud edged Linda Stephens. Here’s…
Read MoreWill Walter Jones Turn Blue?
Will Democrat-turned-Republican Congressman Walter Jones turn back to the party of his father? That’s the rumor in Raleigh this week. Jones was a Democratic member of the State House and a Democratic Congressional candidate before he became a Republican and won his U.S. House seat in 1994. Before that, Jones worked for Governor Jim Hunt.…
Read More