North Carolina – Democrats
A Bombshell
Yesterday, I was going to write about the election but, then, Federal Judge James Wynn dropped a bombshell – by ruling the current Congressional Districts are unconstitutional. The districts, he said, are a ‘partisan gerrymander.’ And have to be redrawn. Campaigns, in a way, are simple – they have one over-arching goal: To talk with…
Read MoreLegislative wrecking crew
There’s nothing this legislature can’t screw up. The Constitution, redistricting, congressional elections, judicial elections – and that’s just this week. A TAPster noted, “If you had to return to your auto mechanic to correct his screwups as often as our legislators return to fix theirs, you’d get a new mechanic.” Congressional elections are in chaos,…
Read MoreMcCready and McCain
Listening to Dan McCready got me thinking about John McCain. Right after I posted yesterday’s blog, McCain and Trump, I went to a lunch for McCready. He’s running for Congress in the 9th District. When you hear 9th District, you probably think Charlotte. But the district stretches east to Robeson and Bladen counties. McCready had…
Read MoreBlue Moon Elections: Who Votes
Two years ago, just before the election, when early voting started, a surprising trend appeared out of thin air. Fewer African-American Democrats were voting than had voted in the 2012 Presidential election. And the impact was profound. Before the 2016 election polls showed Richard Burr running even with, or a couple points ahead of, Democrat…
Read MoreBlue Moon
The first time I ever laid eyes on a ‘blue-moon’ election was thirty-six years ago, after Ronald Reagan was elected. What’s a blue moon election? It’s the first election after a new President takes office, when there’s not a Senator or Governor on the ballot running statewide. Back in 1982, Jesse Helms’ political organization had…
Read More“Beyond a reasonable doubt”
Do Republicans realize how big a club they’re giving Governor Cooper to beat them with this fall? Here is the most telling sentence in Tuesday’s decision by two members of the three-judge panel who reviewed the proposed constitutional amendments on separation of powers and judicial appointments: “…A majority of this panel concludes beyond a reasonable…
Read More“Both sides”-ism at the N&O
No, Colin Campbell, “both sides” do not “share in the blame” over “the last-minute legal tussle between Gov. Roy Cooper and the legislature over proposed constitutional amendments.” And the N&O fails its readers and its history by running Campbell’s “both sides” column where the newspaper’s editorial voice once rang clear, loud and true. No, both…
Read MoreIt’s not about Trump, stupid
“It’s the economy, stupid.” (Sign in the 1992 Clinton war room.) For Trump, it’s always about Trump. For his acolytes, it’s all about Trump. For Steve Bannon, 2018 is all about Trump (so he can get back into the game, the news and the money). Democrats, don’t take the bait. Voters, real people, have strong…
Read MoreA tale of two party leaders
A sharp-eyed TAPster noticed a big difference between two potential 2020 opponents: Governor Cooper is rewriting the book on how to lead and strengthen a party, helping raise nearly $6 million into NCDP through Break the Majority to support legislative candidates statewide and break the Republican supermajority. Break the Majority is giving Democrats the financial…
Read MoreBert Bennett
In his terse, clipped way, Bert Bennett once summed up perfectly why we’re Democrats and why he helped elect Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt: “Sanford and Hunt had the right attitude: human dignity, based on ethics and work and not color or background or money.” Rob Christensen’s N&O profile today caught the essence of Bert,…
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