North Carolina – Democrats
Fighting to Lose
Instead of exploiting the Tea Party’s war on Establishment Republicans, Randy Voller seems set on replicating it in the Democratic Party. Behind this week’s chaos is a history of hostilities between some party activists and what they see as the Establishment Enemy: elected officials in Raleigh and consultants who help elect them. It goes…
Read MoreTaking Them to School
Jim Hunt still drives Republicans crazy. Governor McCrory and GOP leaders scheduled their pay-raise rollout in Jamestown just as Hunt’s Emerging Issues Forum was starting in Raleigh. They wanted to steal the spotlight. But they just spotlighted their own shortcomings. Just as Hunt was saying ALL teachers should get a raise, McCrory & Co.…
Read MoreBig Casino
It sure seems like Wallace Cheeves down in Greenville, South Carolina has had his share of ups and downs. Right out of college, Cheeves went to work for the video ‘poker king’ of South Carolina. Then he went a step further and opened his own video poker company – which went out of business when…
Read MoreThanks, Randy
Democrats should be feeling good today. Then Randy Voller comes along. First, tens of thousands of people march in Raleigh. Their numbers show the depth of anger at Republicans in Raleigh – and the potential impact in November. Then Governor McCrory and Republican legislative leaders reveal two things: They’re scared that voters will…
Read MoreYes, Clay Aiken
Your first reaction was probably the same as mine. Clay Aiken? The singer? For Congress? Then I met him. He’s the same person you meet in his announcement video. He’s smart, serious and genuine. He clearly has thought deeply about policy matters. He has a unique voice that is a breath of fresh air in…
Read MoreMcCrory 2.0
From a message point of view, the rollout of McCrory 2.0 was a mess – and a missed opportunity for the Governor. McCrory might have heeded his “mentor” Jim Hunt and called for a sustained three-year effort to raise teacher salaries to the national average. Instead, he vaguely promised some kind of pay raise…
Read MoreInvasion from Our South
A TAPster who spent years working in economic development shares this: “The most astonishing news last week (other than the daily calamities at DHHS) was the invitation we received via email to attend a fundraiser in Raleigh for the governor of South Carolina. Yes, the head sandlapper is coming to Raleigh to raise money…
Read MoreMLK Day and 1984
My blog below on the 1984 Senate race prompted a TAPster to note that the Martin Luther King holiday was a big issue that year. Jim Hunt led Jesse Helms in early polls, but Helms turned the race around in late 1983 when he filibustered on the Senate floor against a national holiday honoring…
Read MoreTillis’ 1984
Thom Tillis is walking the same tightrope that Jim Hunt walked in his U.S. Senate race 30 years ago. But Tillis’ balance is even more precarious. Tillis today, like Hunt then, has to appeal to the broad November electorate and also pacify an extreme faction in his own party. Hunt’s problems came from…
Read MoreThe Next Ted Cruz?
The newspaper reporter asked if North Carolina’s Senate Primary was going to be the next litmus test of the Tea Party’s political muscle – and as fast as he could Greg Brannon’s campaign spokesman said ‘Yes’ then added the Primary was just like Senator Rand Paul’s election in Kentucky in 2010 and Senator Ted Cruz’s…
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