Asleep at the Switch

As bleak as Governor McCrory’s job approval numbers were in the WRAL poll, that wasn’t the worst news. Consider how Republicans, Democrats and Independents feel about the General Assembly.                                                                                 Republican Voters                                             Approve 35%                                             Disapprove 38%                                               Conservative Voters                                             Approve 33%                                             Disapprove 37%                                               Independent Voters                                             Approve…

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Voter App

The Republican effort to suppress votes at Appalachian State University may have backfired.   More than 700 people voted yesterday at the Student Union polling place that the State Board of Elections tried to shut down. Now we know why the board didn’t want it.   An App student said, “It sends a clear message…

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Disapproving of Pat

    36% Approve 46% Disapprove   The WRAL Poll painted a bleak picture  of a Governor caught between a rock and a hard place.  As Mark Binker wrote, only a little over a third of the voters approve of the job Governor McCrory is doing.   But worse news lurked beneath the surface.  …

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Beneath the Headlines

Headline (two weeks ago): Thom Tillis on Life Support. Campaign Dying.    Headline (this week): Tillis Makes Miraculous Recovery. Campaign Surging.   Now, as a storyline, that’s just about unbeatable. It’s like Lazarus rising from the dead.   The problem is two months ago, two weeks ago, and today (in WRAL’s latest poll), Thom Tillis…

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An Empty Chair

I watched the ‘empty chair’ debate too (see Gary’s blog below).   And it brought back old memories. Of old foibles.             Years ago, in 1980, when John East ran against Robert Morgan he challenged Senator Morgan to a debate. And challenged Morgan to debate. And challenged Morgan to debate.   And Morgan said No,…

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Inside the War Rooms

In the state where President Obama had his closest win in 2008 and his closest loss in 2012, why wouldn’t the U.S. Senate race be tight as a tick?   Carter has posted a great series of blogs about the race (although he’s wrong on the education issue). My other favorite blogger, Thomas Mills, weighed…

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The Senate Race – 5

You have to give Kay Hagan credit: A year ago the Swing Voters were ready to roll down the track and vote her out of office – and for a year Hagan kept those voters out of Thom Tillis’ camp.   The one big change in the Senate race – Tillis’ rising unpopularity with Independents…

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The Senate Race – 4

After Hagan’s first round of attacks calling Tillis a Tea Partier, a few Swing Voters decided to vote for Hagan, a few decided to vote for Tillis, but most stayed Undecided. Ambivalently Undecided. They didn’t want to vote for Obama-Hagan. But they didn’t want to vote for Tillis either.   The bad news for Tillis…

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The Senate Race – 3

When Thom Tillis started his campaign his prospects looked promising. Obama wasn’t just unpopular, his unpopularity was a plumb line cutting through the electorate – you were either for Obama or against him and Kay Hagan was on the wrong side of the line.   Tillis, himself, back then wasn’t too well known but he…

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The Senate Race – 2

When I saw Kay Hagan’s first ad saying Thom Tillis was supported by the Tea-Party-leaning-Koch-Brothers I thought, Now, that’s odd – after all, the Koch Brothers weren’t on the ballot and no one cared a hoot who they supported.   But I was dead wrong.   Because it wasn’t the Koch Brothers who mattered –…

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