North Carolina – Democrats
Two Views of the World
Gary is taking a break from blogging. Our guest blogger today is Nation Hahn. In recent weeks North Carolinians have heard two inaugural addresses. One, from Governor Pat McCrory spoke to “Unlimited Opportunity.” The other, from President Barack Obama, was a call for the “country’s reasonable majority” to act. For North Carolina Democrats,…
Read MoreNote to Democrats: Don’t Support Voter ID
Gary is taking a break from blogging. Today’s pinch-hitter is Thomas Mills. Pat McCrory and some of his Republican allies are now saying they are ready to compromise on voter ID. Compromise with whom? With super-majorities in the state house and senate, Republicans can pass whatever bill they want without any Democratic support.…
Read MoreJim Hunt’s Pope
Gary’s taking a break from blogging. Pinch-hitting today is a TAPster with a long memory: Re your blog posting about Art Pope (“The Budget Pope”): A lot of people either aren’t old enough to remember, or simply don’t know, that another wealthy Raleigh businessman was indispensable to Jim Hunt in that role. John…
Read MoreEric for Chair
I avoid political events. Been there, done that. But last night I dragged myself out in the rain and cold to hear Eric Mansfield, who’s running for Democratic Party chair. I don’t pretend to understand internal party politics. But here’s my opinion: A party with Mansfield as chair will be a party to be…
Read MorePatience
Sometimes the hardest and smartest thing to do – in politics as in life – is just to watch and wait. Some patience now will pay off in the long run for North Carolina Democrats. Governor McCrory already stumbled by giving his new Cabinet big pay raises. Dick and Jane at home get…
Read MoreWhere’s the Party?
As Carter notes in his blog below, the boom in outside political groups is eclipsing the traditional parties. You can see three recent examples in Raleigh. The big event Inaugural weekend wasn’t the traditional Junior League Ball or a Republican Party event. It was the Foundation for North Carolina (“F”-NC) fundraiser. Last week,…
Read MoreGrumpy
The Democrats in Raleigh are grumpy because Speaker Thom Tillis has set up a new nonprofit to be the ‘Voice of House Republicans.’ Now, like ‘em or not, Super PACs, IE’s, and 527’s are the new political reality – Obama had ‘em, Romney had ‘em, and now Speaker Tillis has one. The more curious…
Read MoreJohn Ingram
The late Insurance Commissioner was a populist, an eccentric, a scourge of insurance companies and – regrettably – a big reason Jesse Helms was U.S. Senator for so long. Elected commissioner in 1972, Ingram waged a 12-year crusade against auto insurance companies, claiming they gouged customers. “Fighting for You” was his mantra. But his…
Read MoreCliffhanger
We avoided the dreaded fiscal cliff, only to fall over the cliff of confusion. I was stumped when two Democrats asked: Do we like the deal – or not? Well, we’re told it will prevent a stock-market panic and double-dip recession. That’s good, right? The Tea Party and House GOP Taliban are…
Read MoreThe Real Reason: Another View
Carter wrote (“The Real Reason”) that “Democrats are having apoplexy” over Art Pope as Budget Czar because “Pope is dead serious about cutting government spending.” Well, that’s part of the story. The rest is that Democrats wonder whether he can cut government spending without hurting education (public schools, community colleges and universities), jeopardizing public…
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