North Carolina – Democrats
The Breaking Point
The other day Gary wrote “Why They Lie” about the election in 1984 when Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms were duking it out and how elbow throwing was acceptable in that campaign but outright lying was taboo – that was one line both Helms and Hunt feared to cross. Because they’d pay a price. …
Read MoreToo Good to be True?
It doesn’t take a great deal to turn a fellow’s head – a blonde whispering in his ear, unexpected praise from a stranger, a new sports car. Humility’s hard to come by and harder still to hold onto which, I guess, is one reason the Good Lord made the world such a difficult place to…
Read MoreJim Hunt and the Dropout Rate
I had to laugh when Republicans claimed credit for North Carolina’s high-school graduation rate topping 80 percent. And I have to stake a claim for Jim Hunt’s role. Over the last six years, the state’s graduation rate has gone up nearly 12 percentage points –from at 68.3 percent in 2006 to 80.2 percent. …
Read MoreRepublicans Embrace Clinton and Bowles
Forget the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Forget the attacks on Erskine Bowles when he ran for Senate. Republicans now desperately embrace Bubba and Bowles. Why? Because they can’t find a respected Republican to cite. Certainly not George W. Bush, who blew up the Clinton-Bowles balanced budget and gave us this recession. Instead, they…
Read MoreLegislators and Lobbyists
A veteran legislative hand and former lobbyist offers this perspective on how Raleigh has changed: “If you want to really understand today’s political world, understand how the politicians view the role of lobbyists. “Democrats see lobbyists as a source of information to help them make a decision. “Republicans see lobbyists as a…
Read MoreAn Odd Fact
Whenever the question of how to improve education in North Carolina comes up the Democrats are a paragon of consistency: The solution, they say, is to spend more money. Now, right or wrong, the Democrats are dead serious and whenever Republicans (who have a different idea about solutions to problems) don’t spend more on…
Read MorePopcorn Politics Part Deux
**Gary is taking a break from blogging and he asked a few Tapsters to post a few blogs. Here is another one a Tapster sent in: The biggest day of the 2012 political calendar is August 10. No, that’s not the start of the much-ballyhooed and underfunded Democratic National Convention, nor is it…
Read MorePopcorn Politics
**Gary is taking a break from blogging and he asked a few Tapsters to post a few blogs. Here is one a Tapster sent in: The rankings of the allegedly most influential lobbyists were released last week by the NC Center for Public Policy Research. This biennial joke was greeted by the usual…
Read MoreA Hard Fight
It started four years ago as an uneven fight: Five rural County Commissioners against a multi-national conglomerate with plants from Iceland to Arabia – so, losing ground, the Commissioners who’re Republicans turned to the Democratic Governor for help and got it in an odd way: The Governor helped but, at the same time, her Department…
Read MoreRinging the School Bell
One of Walter Dalton’s biggest challenges is winning Independent women voters in the Charlotte media market. How does he do that? Take them to school. Dalton can go after on education Pat McCrory two ways. One, McCrory will rubber-stamp whatever the legislature does to the public schools. Senator Josh Stein did a…
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