North Carolina – Democrats
No to Senator No
Maybe I should be more forgiving when it comes to naming a building for Jesse Helms. Maybe I should let the past go, let bygones be bygones and let go of old grudges. No way. Helms was a racist. He was a gay-baiter. He was a hater. On television and in the Senate,…
Read MoreMansfield for Chair?
Eric Mansfield is emerging as a leading challenger to David Parker for state Democratic chair. The one-term state Senator from Fayetteville – and unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in this year’s primary – is sounding out Democrats about seeking the post. Mansfield’s boosters see him as a fresh face who can energize the…
Read MoreDid McCrory Flip-Flop on Dix?
Was Governor-elect McCrory for Governor Perdue’s Dix plan before he was against it? A well-wired TAPster says yes. The source – whom I’ve always found to be reliable and knowledgeable – said Governor Perdue ran her plan by McCrory and Art Pope before announcing it. She thought she had their support. But Senator…
Read MoreVenality
Tom sues Dick. Dick spends $2 million to elect Harry judge. Harry wins. And rules in Dick’s favor in the lawsuit. Sound rotten? Try this: The Democrats sue the Republicans to stop redistricting (and name Republican House and Senate leaders Thom Tillis and Phil Berger as defendants). The Republicans raise $2 million to elect…
Read MoreOut-Foxxed by N&O
I’m always flattered to be quoted in Under the Dome, but this time I’m flummoxed. Dome took note of only three of the four rising Democratic stars I spotlighted last week (See “New Democratic Leaders” below). Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was left out. Paranoid Charlotteans will not doubt take this as a sign that…
Read MoreNew Democratic Leaders
The party needs a new leadership pipeline for Governor. For decades, it was the Sanford-Hunt tribe. Then it was the Senate’s Basnight-Rand clan, which produced Easley, Perdue and Dalton. It was a good run, but has run dry. The party has talent in the legislature. But do the rising stars have the requisite political…
Read MoreGetting Rid of Tarbabies
Pat McCrory’s just captured the biggest tarbaby in North Carolina. State government has never been a paragon of efficiency but after twelve years of Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue and pay-to-play politics it’s become an unusually broad and deep quagmire. The state’s Medicaid claims processing contract is an example: Years ago when Mike…
Read MoreWhich Way for North Carolina?
The decision about Obamacare highlights the tension that will mark North Carolina’s politics the next four years. The tension stems from an election that saw the nation go in one direction (largely Democratic) and North Carolina in another (almost all Republican). When political partisans win an election, they tend to believe that an…
Read MoreA Home Truth
Back before the election I wrote a lot about the importance of money in campaigns and how the Democrats were in trouble because of a lack of it. The NC Free Enterprise Foundation has just published a report on campaign spending during the 3rd Quarter, which ended just before the election. There were a…
Read MoreDon’t Blame Etheridge
A TAPster takes issue with the blog criticizing Bob Etheridge for running against Walter Dalton: “I disagree with the argument that Bobby Etheridge caused Dalton’s defeat. If anything, the primary gave Dalton an opportunity to take his case to the public sooner rather than later. It is true that Perdue’s midnight decision put Dalton…
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