North Carolina – Democrats
A Republican coup d’état?
Is it possible that Pat McCrory and Republican legislative leaders are so arrogant, corrupt, crooked and power-crazed that they would try to overrule the people’s decision for Governor? Gerrymandering was one thing. Voter-suppression was another. Setting aside the clear outcome of the election, without even a fig leaf of legitimacy, to keep McCrory in office…
Read MoreHope?
The American people wanted change in the worst kind of way. And they got it. There are only two messages in politics: (1) “Time for a change.” Or (2) “Stay the course.” Hillary Clinton was a status quo candidate in a change year. Trump was change. And people were willing to blow up Washington to…
Read MoreNail-biter
In both of the last two Presidential elections, North Carolina was one of the two closest states. Here we go again. The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll shows Clinton up 2 here, Ross and Burr tied and Cooper up 3. The final New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll for North Carolina showed Clinton and Trump…
Read MoreThe Great Turnout Freakout
Back in the olden days, there was just Election Day. None of this Early Vote stuff. Every Election Day, in every campaign I worked in, first thing in the morning, The Great Turnout Freakout would hit. The calls would start early: “Turnout is incredible! It’s higher than ever here! We’ve never seen longer lines!” “Our…
Read MoreAdventures on CSPAN
You meet the most interesting people on CSPAN call-in shows. I did a 45-minute turn on Monday’s Washington Journal. We had callers from California, West Virginia, Oklahoma and exotic locales like Cary, Chapel Hill and Monroe. Now, I’m used to media interviews. The questions are usually about ads, polls, strategy and predictions. Not here. The…
Read MoreClutter
There’re two things about political ads a normal ‘Joe’ sitting at home watching TV could tell you that a lot of campaigns haven’t figured out – here’s an example: Americans for Prosperity just launched a new tv ad attacking Roy Cooper and like a lot of political ads it begins with a shadowy black and…
Read MorePat’s Cat 5 Storm
Regardless of what Hurricane Matthew does, Pat McCrory is struggling against high headwinds and a vicious riptide. That forecast track is clear in WRAL’s SurveyUSA poll (which has nothing to do with Greg Fishel). It’s not just that Roy Cooper leads McCrory 48-44. It’s that all the winds are blowing Cooper’s way. Half (51 percent)…
Read MoreCome again?
What’s up with Pat McCrory’s ad strategy? Under the Dome reported that he has a new ad “boasting of North Carolina’s economic gains.” In it, McCrory says: “When I entered office North Carolina had record unemployment, high taxes and huge budget shortfalls; it had been that way for years. Now, we have one of the…
Read MorePhil Berger and the Professors
It’s hard to find a more bull-headed fellow walking the earth than a UNC professor dead-set on upholding the virtues of political correctness: He’s 100% for diversity and 100% against discrimination right up to the moment someone disagrees with him. The other day the UNC Faculty Council gave the legislature and Senator Phil Berger down…
Read MoreAll That Mattered
A Washington Post reporter asked whether Republican legislators passed election laws to require voter I.D.s and limit early voting to keep African Americans from voting. Back in 2010, before Republicans redrew the State House and Senate districts, there were 98 Democrats in the State Legislature. After redistricting, there were 60. Before redistricting, 33 African-Americans…
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