North Carolina – Republicans
All in One Week
She said Yes. Then No. Then Yes, again. Four years ago, running for Congress, Renee Ellmers told voters she was a nurse who had “held the hands of new born infants.” Yes, she said, she was Pro-Life. Then, last week, she said No to banning abortions after twenty weeks of pregnancy. The idea,…
Read MoreChasing Pat from the Left
The liberal folks over at ProgressNC let fly with a broadside at the Governor about his ethics, then let fly again with a press conference and, by then, they had the folks at the Charlotte Observer so stirred up they let fly with broadside of their own asking, Was Pat McCrory fibbing then, or is…
Read MoreChasing Pat from the Right
After being blasted by the liberals (for hiding conflicts of interest) Governor McCrory ran head-on into a second broadside from the opposite direction: Tired of Medicaid wrecking havoc on its budget the State Senate served notice on the Governor his time is up – he’s had his chance to fix Medicaid and failed so the…
Read MoreSilence of the Rams
Is there something in the water in Chapel Hill that keeps University big shots from giving straight answers? The same lockjaw that keeps the UNC-CH athletic-academic scandal on the front pages has now spread to the Board of Governors. The board’s non-speak/double-speak non-explanation of why Tom Ross was forced out leaves only one logical…
Read More0-3 Start for Pat?
On their first day in session, legislative leaders sent a message to Governor McCrory: We’re back, and we’re in charge. McCrory has talked about three things in recent weeks: He wants more money for economic incentives, he may want to expand Medicaid and he wants a Dix deal with Raleigh (not Charlotte). In…
Read MorePass McCroryCare
Here’s an idea for Democratic legislators, one that could be good politics and good for North Carolina: Help Governor McCrory pass his plan for Medicaid expansion. After meeting with President Obama at the White House last week, McCrory said he argued for flexibility to develop a “North Carolina plan.” But, as Carter noted during…
Read MoreThey Walk the Line
John Boehner, Jeb Bush and Pat McCrory took their first steps this week along a Republican Party fault line that offers peril for each of them – and peril for Democrats if they succeed. Boehner had to fend off a conservative challenge to his reelection as Speaker. Two dozen right-wing Republicans abandoned him. Lucky…
Read More2015 Questions
No predictions or resolutions! Instead let’s ask the big questions for 2015 for the state’s big three political forces: Governor McCrory, Republican legislators and Democrats. For Governor McCrory, will 2015 be about policy and politics, or about personal ethics? As we tuned out for the holidays, he was eyeball-to-eyeball with the capital media, AP…
Read MoreJumping Out of the Frying Pan…
Gary has a point in his column (below) ‘Pat and Jesse’: Pat McCrory’s fight with the Associated Press isn’t like Jesse’s long-running battles with the media. In Jesse’s eyes, the media was biased. It didn’t like his conservative philosophy. Plus, as Senator John East once said admiringly, Jesse was a brawler. Part of him…
Read MorePat and Jesse
During Governor McCrory’s attack on the AP, one observer compared it to Jesse Helms’ legendary battles with the media. Now, Carter knew Jesse a lot better than I did. But I see a big difference. Jesse attacked the media because he wanted a political fight. McCrory attacked the media because he doesn’t want…
Read More