North Carolina – Republicans
The Preacher, the Politician and the Marine
Democrats were downright giddy when the Preacher beat the Politician in the 9th District Republican primary. Pundits immediately upped the odds for the Marine, Democrat Dan McCready. The Politician’s campaign consultant said the outcome showed November could be “brutal” for Republicans. Hold the confetti. Remember how giddy Democrats were two summers ago when Republicans nominated…
Read MoreRed sea in Raleigh
Not surprisingly, commentary on the teacher rally focused on teacher pay – and teacher politics. Namely, will the red tide that swamped the Legislative Building Wednesday swamp the Republicans in November and sweep in the Democrats? Both parties were ready. The Republicans covered their windows with selective numbers on their teacher pay record. They rolled…
Read MoreUnmitigated politics
Republicans thought they had Governor Cooper trapped on the Atlantic Pipeline mitigation fund. Now old Roy and his team are slum-dunking them – and exposing everything that’s wrong with this legislature. It started when the Governor’s Office got Duke and Dominion to put up $58 million for economic-development and environmental-protection projects in eastern North Carolina.…
Read MoreReality Show Politics
The state Democratic Party heard the Republican Party was making automated calls, had heart palpitations, and filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s office. The Consumer Protection Agency sent the complaint to the Republican Party – and asked for a response. When GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse read the Democrats…
Read MoreA Cautious Man and a Joint Committee
For years, whenever Roy Cooper passed on running for Governor, people would smile and say, Ole Roy — he’s just naturally cautious. The other day when Governor Cooper announced he’d granted the gas pipeline companies the state permit they needed the way he explained it sounded fine: We’d get a pipeline. Plus the companies would…
Read MoreDigging a Hole Deeper
Policy Watch broadsided Duane Hall, claiming he’d sexually harassed women; in a flash, Democrats from Roy Cooper on down demanded Hall resign from the legislature. Hall slipped, said he’d only kissed one woman who didn’t want to be kissed, then, a day later, said Policy Watch slammed him because he (a 50-year-old man) had once…
Read MoreOnce There Was a Time…
When President Trump nominated Tom Farr for the vacant federal judgeship in eastern North Carolina, Anthony Spearman, the head of the state NAACP, headed to Washington to disagree. But his pilgrimage took an odd twist when he compared Tom Farr to Adolph Hitler. Trump appointing Hitler? Pure political bluster. But fiction took on a life…
Read MorePolitics in the pipeline
A veteran Raleigh hand speculates about what’s behind the Republican shenanigans on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline mitigation fund: “The kerfuffle over the natural gas pipeline fund proves once again that nobody in Raleigh knows what they’re doing. Or does it? “On the surface, the Governor and his team appeared seriously naïve to think the mitigation…
Read MorePipeline politics
Power turns some politicians into bullies. Especially when they’re running scared. So it was with Republican legislators who embarrassed themselves trying to embarrass Governor Cooper’s new legislative liaison last week. They turned what could be a useful policy debate into a typical political sideshow. Typical. The ostensible issue was a $58 million mitigation fund the…
Read MoreWhat Makes a Wave Election?
What creates a wave election? Two things. Here’s one: In 1988, 1990 and 1992 Congressman David Price, a popular Democratic incumbent in a Democratic district, received over 100,000 votes in each election and won easily. Then, in 1994, a wave election came along that favored Republicans. Democrats didn’t vote and David Price received 76,000 votes…
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