North Carolina – Republicans
GOP Mini-Me’s
The GOP 13th Congressional District race looks like a mini-version of the Republican presidential race. George Holding is playing the part of Mitt Romney: establishment conservative focusing on cutting spending and deficits (and ignoring the reality that Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush gave us the biggest deficits ever). Paul Coble…
Read MoreClick Button, File Form
A Republican filed to run for State House and no sooner had he filed than he was told he had to fill out a second form called a Financial Disclosure Report – so he went to the State Ethics Commission’s website and found the form then ran head on into a bureaucratic maze. When…
Read MorePlaying by House Rules
What would have happened two years ago if then-Speaker Joe Hackney had ordered Capitol police to clear away a group of Tea Party demonstrators on the second floor of the Legislative Building? Republicans no doubt would be in high dudgeon over such high-handed action. The Tea Party would be in a frenzy over “police-state…
Read MoreBroken Record
Pat McCrory hasn’t yet figured out how to deal with not having Bev Perdue to kick around any more. He said at his filing that he’s running against “broken government.” Well, who isn’t? As questions he got showed, “broken government” can mean the legislature as well as the executive branch. And McCrory…
Read MoreBerger and The N&O
A TAPster who has watched a succession of politicians tangle with the N&O was struck by Senate Leader Phil Berger’s letter to the editor Tuesday, especially the end: “Interestingly, the editorial opines that the state’s Legislative Building is a ‘hot-air factory where opponents of the Racial Justice Act seemingly will say anything …’ Clearly,…
Read MoreThe Dark Side
Economic numbers are brightening a bit, so President Obama’s ratings are a bit brighter. But the most striking thing about the election climate nine months out is the darkness on the Republican side. Listen to them – and to what their words and their expressions say about their mood, their attitude and their vision…
Read MorePolitics 101
A lot of times people ask me about political campaigns: How are they run? What matters? What doesn’t? In fact, most political campaigns are simple. More often than not they boil down to one fact: Who voters know. Because when a voter walks into a voting booth if he knows one candidate and not…
Read MoreMoore’s Choice
In some ways, no candidate is better positioned for the now wide-open Democratic governor’s race than Richard Moore. He’s a smart, charismatic candidate with enough personal resources to be an instant front-runner. Moore has strong credentials. He was Governor Hunt’s Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety. He was state Treasurer for eight years.…
Read MoreSince 1953
Congresswoman Sue Myrick generated a bit of excitement Monday in Charlotte, saying she’s not running for reelection; — excitement for Democrats as this time it’s a Republican (instead of Governor Perdue or Speaker Hackney and two Democratic Congressmen) who’s not running. Excitement for Republicans because now there’s an open seat in a district that has…
Read MoreTwitter Patter
Just before the game last night, Bob Etheridge – or @Etheridge4Gov – tweeted: “Who are you all pulling for in the big game tonight? Both UNC and Duke are good teams, it will be a close one – that’s for sure.” Someone shot back: “bob, gonna need you to take a stand on this…
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