North Carolina – Republicans
What Would Jim Hunt Do?
I’m frequently asked what Governor Hunt would do in Governor Perdue’s situation – since he faced the first Republican House majority 16 years ago. Here’s what he did: Got what he could. Then picked a fight. Of course, much was different then. Democrats still held the Senate. Hunt’s approval ratings were in the…
Read MoreGlory Days
For Republican legislators, these are the best of times. Thoughtful-looking, chin-in-hand, close-up photos on the front page. Admiring newspaper profiles. Crowded news conferences. Lobbyists lined up to see you. Donors lined up to give to you. Big offices to move into. Gavels to wield. Then, at noon tomorrow, boom! The big gavel comes…
Read MoreWorlds Apart
Call it Colbert World versus Fox World. That’s where the WakeCounty schools debate is happening today. This kind of division is nothing new in North Carolina politics. Go back to 1950: It’s been a 60-year war between conservatives (“racists,” as their opponents call them) and progressives (“socialists,” as their opponents call them.) …
Read MoreCashing In
Republicans who denounced corruption and pay-for-play in Raleigh are now racing to the trough. Like locusts, newly minted lobbyists and would-be influence-peddlers are descending on Raleigh. They brag of their access to the new legislative leaders, and they promise to deliver anything and everything to their clients. How many of them will still…
Read More“Idiot Bloggers”?
I’m sure Tom Fetzer wasn’t talking about Carter and me last weekend when he urged North Carolina Republicans to ignore “idiot bloggers.” But I’m sure he was talking about the idiots who virtually hijacked our blog last year with attacks on Fetzer and other candidates for GOP party chair. It got so bad…
Read MoreCarter’s Advice to Perdue
Now that the trial lawyers are listening to Carter, maybe Governor Perdue should too. He posted a blog last week, “Perdue Upside Down,” about her political dilemma. He concluded: “Perdue has a choice: She can ignore her other problems and set to work convincing voters that, whatever her flaws, her Republican opposition is…
Read MoreBurr for Veep?
Maybe there was more than I realized behind Senator Richard Burr’s vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Last week, I gave him credit for doing the right thing. But an astute Burr-watcher – not a partisan either way – noted that Burr took a different tack on what was arguably the key vote:…
Read MoreThe Wait Is Almost Over
We’ve waited nearly 30 years, but it’s finally here. Thirty years ago this month, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. He said government was the problem, not the solution. He promised that – finally – someone would really, really cut government spending. We’ve waited. And waited. And waited. Reagan didn’t cut anything big. Nor…
Read MoreGays and the GOP
Even Republicans are giving up gay-bashing. But, as always, and to paraphrase Rob Christensen, paradox rules North Carolina politics. In the last 10 years, North Carolina went from a Republican Senator, Jesse Helms, who bashed “queers” and “the homosexual lobby” to a Republican Senator, Richard Burr, who surprised people by voting to abolish Don’t…
Read MoreSchool Wars
General Tata better bring his helmet. The new WakeCounty schools superintendent is already taking incoming. He might be starting the job with half of WakeCounty mad at him. People who don’t like the board’s (sometime) majority welcome his selection like a poke in the eye with a stick: a Fox-commentating, Sarah Palin-admiring, conservative-blogging…
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