North Carolina – Republicans
This Sounds Screwy…
Trailing by 734 votes, losing his Supreme Court race to Democrat Allison Riggs, Jefferson Griffin headed to court, contesting the election. Nothing wrong with that. Fifty years ago Jack Hawke – who went on to become Republican Party Chairman – ran for Congress, lost by 900 votes, headed to court. Tom Ellis, his lawyer, later…
Read MoreRiggs v Griffin
The nearly six-month fight over the North Carolina Supreme Court election has proven one thing beyond reasonable doubt: Allison Riggs is supremely better qualified than Jefferson Davis Griffin. No, his middle name isn’t Davis. But it fits. At UNC, Griffin was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and dressed up in a Confederate uniform for…
Read MoreTillis’ Fate
Senator Thom Tillis wants to have it both ways. He wants MAGA Republicans to think he’s a loyal Trump foot soldier. He wants swing voters to think he’s an effective, independent voice. But, no matter what he does, he can’t escape Trump. His political fate in 2026 is lashed to Trump’s like Ahab to the…
Read MoreChoking
At a hearing on the tariffs yesterday, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina demanded to know: “Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” Tillis knows the answer. It’s Trump. Here’s the question for Tillis: Will you stand up and stop him? Or will you choke?
Read MoreCarter Wrenn’s Political Trail
My blogging partner Carter Wrenn has written a revealing and engaging memoir of his years in politics – and the rise of the conservative movement in North Carolina in the 1970s and 1980s. His book – The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics – takes you inside the conventions, caucuses…
Read MoreThe Old Rebel
Jefferson Griffin is certainly consistent in his beliefs. In college, he celebrated the “Lost Cause” myth of the Confederacy. Now he champions the myth of his Lost Election. Griffin lost his race for Supreme Court, just as the South lost the Civil War. But he won’t accept his defeat, just as his Kappa Alpha fraternity…
Read MoreWake Up, America
A dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, locked down during COVID, he called, surprised me asking: ‘Ford beat Reagan in the first 5 primaries in ‘76 – how on earth did Reagan beat Ford in North Carolina?’ The day we lost the Vietnam War mothers and fathers who’d lived through World War II, watching Russian tanks roll into Saigon,…
Read MoreEducation Governor
With a better General Assembly, Josh Stein could join Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford on North Carolina’s Mount Rushmore of Education Governors. While the Governor set a bipartisan tone in his State of the State speech last night, he set out a clear challenge on education to Republicans who control the legislature. He challenged them…
Read MoreThe Best Way to Steal an Election
We’ve heard a lot about stolen votes – but here’s the best way to steal an election: Redraw a congressional district, take out the voters you don’t like, put in more voters do you like. If you stuff the district with Republicans, the Republican wins. If you stuff it with Democrats, the Democrat wins. The…
Read MoreTillis’ Choice
Senator Thom Tillis is a good politician. He may be good enough to preserve his image as a Serious Senator who works across the aisle AND avoid being primaried next year by Trump. He may avoid losing to Roy Cooper next November. But what a miserable, degrading path he must tread every day. He knows…
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