North Carolina – Democrats
Rocking for Rouzer
It’s a fad: Paul Ryan put his mother on TV, then David Rouzer put his grandmother on TV, then Tom Murray (who’s running for State House) put his mother in a TV ad. So which will folks say, ‘No one knows him better than his mother’ – or – ‘Does that mean he couldn’t get…
Read MoreDalton’s Hope
Watching the Dalton and McCrory TV ads, you see the opening that Dalton could exploit if he has enough time and money. McCrory’s ads are content-free. Apparently, he’s going to solve unemployment and $4 gas by drilling everywhere under our feet and off the coast. And he’s responsible for Charlotte’s success. How would he…
Read MoreDalton on the Job
Walter Dalton put out a strong, thoughtful and comprehensive jobs plan this week. It was long on good ideas, but – unfortunately – short on political punch. It illustrates the challenge Democrats face in a short-attention span age. Republicans have the virtue of brevity and simplicity, if not quality. Pat McCrory has a bumper-sticker…
Read MoreSilent Running
The convention gave President Obama a surge (possibly short-lived) in polls and fundraising. But he’s got another edge that won’t be short-lived: a “fired up and ready to go” ground game and the technology to make it go. The Obama campaign has spent years and millions upon millions of dollars building it. They have…
Read MoreSilent Running
The convention gave President Obama a surge (possibly short-lived) in polls and fundraising. But he’s got another edge that won’t be short-lived: a “fired up and ready to go” ground game and the technology to make it go. The Obama campaign has spent years and millions upon millions of dollars building it. They have…
Read MoreTerry
After Governor Hunt’s speech to the Democratic convention Wednesday night, a Facebook friend said it was “classy” for him to start by talking about Terry Sanford. I’m glad Hunt did it. What a shame it would have been if Terry Sanford hadn’t been honored at a Democratic convention in North Carolina. So pardon…
Read MoreThe Master
Bill Clinton gave this campaign three things it hadn’t seen so far: substance, civility and good old Southern country-boy wit and charm. It was a powerful combination – and a tutorial in political communications. Where Tampa Republicans spewed venom and vitriol at President Obama, Clinton treated his opponents with kindness, courtesy and respect. Then…
Read MoreThe Swing Voter
This blog is also posted on The Charlotte Observer’s DNC blog site. In case you missed it there’re two new polls this week but nothing’s changed. Republicans are still voting rocklike for Romney, Democrats are still rocklike for Obama, and if you want a portrait of a swing voter she’s a mother with young…
Read MorePicking – and Picking On – Charlotte
This blog is also posted on The Charlotte Observer’s DNC blog site. Over the past few weeks, a stream of state and national reporters asked essentially the same question: “Was it a mistake for Democrats to come to Charlotte?” Let’s set aside the existential question of whether it’s ever a mistake to come…
Read MorePolitics Imitates Film
I had just seen “The Campaign,” which appears loosely based on Fayetteville and the 7th District, when I saw a commercial for the real Democratic incumbent, Mike McIntyre. In the movie, Cam Brady (Will Ferrell, looking spookily like John Edwards) stands proudly for “America, Jesus and freedom.” McIntyre’s ad, which lasts an interminable…
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