North Carolina – Republicans
A 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 MoreBurr as Veep?
Maybe Senator Richard Burr sees himself as the best running mate for Mitt Romney. In an interview with WBT radio, he said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could use “a little more experience.” He called Kelly Ayotte out of New Hampshire a “longshot.” And he had faint praise for former Minnesota Gov. Tim…
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…
Read MoreGrabby GOP
Republican legislators may be anti-government, but they’re obviously not anti-grabbing government goodies for themselves. Ex-Rep. Stephen LaRoque ran a program that received federal money. Now he faces federal charges of money laundering and theft from the program. Among those who got money from him are two Republican colleagues: former Senator Debbie Clary and Rep.…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences
Republicans in the state legislature cut Planned Parenthood’s state funding by $125,000 but, to give the devil its due, in the blink of an eye Planned Parenthood turned a cut into a three-fold blessing by persuading the Obama Administration to give it $426,000 – as one Republican legislator said, I guess we can thank our…
Read MoreOne, Two, Three
One: Representative Stephen LaRoque was indicted. Two: Speaker Thom Tillis advised LaRoque to resign. Three: LaRoque didn’t. Four: Tillis appointed a bi-partisan committee to investigate. Five: LaRoque resigned. One. Two. Three. No deals. No double-talk. No dodging. Scandal over.
Read MoreDueling Polls
The Republican (Civitas) poll says Pat McCrory leads Walter Dalton 47-37. The Democratic (N.C. Citizens for Progress) poll says McCrory’s lead, once 12 points, has been cut in half – from 46-34 in April to 45-39 in July. So what does this really tell us? First, McCrory’s five-year campaign has given him an…
Read MoreWho’s Our Competition?
Pat McCrory and Walter Dalton are debating whether North Carolina lost its competitive edge. The question is: Who are we competing with? And is competition just about taxes? Rob Christensen’s N&O story Sunday asked whether we’re still a “Dixie Dynamo.” But some people who work in economic development think that’s too narrow. We’re not…
Read MoreThe Missing Cash
The Democrats’ treasure chest has vanished. Year after year in elections, Democrats like Jim Hunt and Marc Basnight had war chests brimming with cash. Bev Perdue defeated Pat McCrory last election by outspending him by $7 million. But now the Democrats’ larder is empty. Phil Berger’s outraising Martin Nesbit (Basnight’s Senate heir) seventeen to one…
Read MoreOver the Cliff
Given the fiscal cliff facing states, maybe it’s not a bad time for Democrats to let Republicans own Raleigh. Speaker Thom Tillis says Republicans already “own” North Carolina’s economy. If Pat McCrory wins and they keep the House and Senate, they’ll have sole ownership of the state budget. The State Budget Crisis Task…
Read More