North Carolina – Republicans
MAGA-gator
Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote at PoliticsNC that, “In January 2011, State Senator Phil Berger and then-State Representative Thom Tillis entered the North Carolina political stage at the same time. As Republicans took control of the legislature for the first time in more than…
Read MoreToo Long
“For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade…. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.” – General George Patton. Like Liston Ramsey and Marc Basnight before him, Phil Berger…
Read More2 Votes!
Because of just 2 votes, North Carolina politics will be consumed – and the General Assembly will be paralyzed – by recounts and court battles over the Phil Berger-Sam Page election. This could take even longer than the six months it took to settle the 2024 state Supreme Court race between Jefferson Griffin and Justice…
Read MoreWhy is Cooper Up by 10?
As Paige Masten wrote in The Charlotte Observer, our statewide poll showed Roy Cooper twice as far ahead in the U.S. Senate race as did another recent poll. She noted, “In the latest poll, conducted by Change Research, Cooper leads Michael Whatley, the likely Republican nominee, by 50% to 40%. A poll released last month…
Read MoreTrump Falls, Cooper Leads, Stein is Strong
We’re all drowning in polls, but still thirsting for reliable data about North Carolina voters this crucial election year. So, four of us (see below) did our own poll – an in-depth online survey of 1,069 North Carolina voters about Trump, the 2026 and 2028 elections, and a broad range of issues. We found: Trump’s…
Read MoreWillie Horton, the Sequel
Republicans are running an old play against Roy Cooper – the “Willie Horton blitz.” The play worked when Lee Atwater, “Poppy” Bush’s hatchet-man, ran it against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. It didn’t work when Jim Gardner ran it against Governor Jim Hunt in 1992. I get why Republicans are doing it now:…
Read MoreTalking About Politics on WUNC
Carter Wrenn and I were on WUNC’s Due South this week talking about the decline of civil discourse – and how two adversaries became friends and blogging partners. You can listen here. We told how we met negotiating rules for the debates between Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms. “There was ice in the room,” Carter…
Read MoreBlow-up
Trump thought he’d win political points by inciting protests and violence in Minnesota. But the brutality and overreaction of ICE stormtroopers is backfiring on him. Resistance is rising – among the American people and even among Republican politicians. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis called for “a thorough and impartial investigation” into the shooting Saturday of…
Read MoreTillis Takes on Trump
Thom Tillis’ last year in the Senate could be his finest hour. He can keep up the great tradition of North Carolina Senators standing up to a criminal President. Fifty years ago, Senator Sam Ervin took on – and helped take down – Richard Nixon over Watergate. Five years ago, Senator Richard Burr voted to…
Read MorePower Politics
The six Governors seated in a pew at Jim Hunt’s funeral last month are of different parties, philosophies and personalities. But all of them battled the General Assembly over power. They were Josh Stein (2025-now), Roy Cooper (2017-2025), Pat McCrory (2013-2017), Bev Perdue (2009-2013), Mike Easley (2001-2009) and Jim Martin (1985-1993), whose two terms came…
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