North Carolina – Republicans
McCrory Tax Plan ‘DOA’?
Front-running Pat McCrory may be doing the smart thing politically, but may also be planting land mines for a Governor McCrory. Mark Binker of WRAL bore in with a story about Tuesday night’s debate that said: “McCrory didn’t describe how he would offset the tax cuts he proposes.” Binker reported this exchange: …
Read MoreOdd Facts
The Associated Press reported a pair of odd facts the other day. In a headline the AP reported, “Obama using voter registration to stay close in NC” – then told how President Obama’s massive voter registration drive is helping him win North Carolina – by registering 250,000 new Obama voters. So far, that…
Read MoreJim Hunt Redux
Governor Hunt, my old boss, is like a veteran rock band that still rocks. He may be 75, but he’s still on his game. Even Pat McCrory is cozying up to him. Hunt gave a well-received speech at the Democratic Convention. Unlike a lot of speakers, he didn’t promote himself. He’s beyond needing…
Read MoreUnder Pat’s Skin
Walter Dalton’s feisty debate performance gave his campaign a spark and got under Pat McCrory’s skin. That’s a weakness that would hurt McCrory in the Governor’s office. If McCrory didn’t like Dalton’s questions and attacks, wait until the media gets after him. And that’s just a matter of time in a media culture that…
Read MoreHoping for a Crash
Here is a debate preview from a TAPster who combines the best qualities of Carter and me: namely, hating both parties equally: “Political dweebs everywhere will gather around their TVs Wednesday night for the much-anticipated debates between the North Carolina gubernatorial candidates and the Obama-Romney showdown. “The NC debate is meaningless. The two…
Read More“No Party” Wins
If you wonder which party is riding a voter registration tide, here’s your answer: Neither. More than half of the new voters in North Carolina are Unaffiliated. Since December 2011, some 266,000 new voters have registered in the state. Of those, 53.4 percent (142,209) registered as Unaffiliated. Slightly more registered Republican than Democratic – 61,903…
Read MoreLoose Lips
The downside of drawing safe districts is that you get unsafe candidates. Like Republican House candidate Debra Conrad, who told a group in Winston-Salem: “Unfortunately, the more money you raise and give to the speaker, the better committee assignment you get.” Her comments were reported in YES! Weekly by Jordan Green. They came Tuesday…
Read MoreRadical Extremists in the Suburbs
If Mitt Romney feels like he’s up to his hips in alligators – he ought to consider the alligators that have chomped down on poor Tony Tata. Two years ago, the newly elected Republican School Board made short shift of the old School Superintendent and hired Tata. Then the Democrats won the next election…
Read MoreTaking Out Tata
Even strong Democrats believe the Wake school board flunked this test. The board majority may have done the right thing, but they sure did it the wrong way. And Democrats may pay the price. It was a mistake to fire Tony Tata without first setting out a bill of particulars. You can’t fire a…
Read MoreRocking 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…
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