North Carolina – Republicans
Talking Impeachment
Is this a “Groundhog Day” sequel? Republicans talking about impeachment? Is it 1998 again? Dan Barkin had an intriguing article in the N&O about several Republican U.S. Senate candidates talking up impeaching President Obama. They fumed about Obama’s alleged high crimes and misdemeanors, not to mention being black, a Democrat and President anyway. Democrats…
Read MoreDown, Boy
Some Republicans probably would like to get Sen. Bill (Mad Dog) Rabon a rabies shot – or get him fixed, if you know what I mean. Rabon’s now-famous rant just shows that, in politics, the worst wounds are self-inflicted. Rabon diminished his own stature, put his bosses in an awkward spot and gave folks…
Read MoreSelective Openness
Don’t you suspect there’s an email to the effect of “Time for some voting problems for Democrats”? Why else would 13 Republican legislators try to quash subpoenas for any documents they have related to the “rationale, purpose and implementation” of the state’s new voter ID law? This, you recall, is the same crowd that promised…
Read MoreMcCrory 2.0
From a message point of view, the rollout of McCrory 2.0 was a mess – and a missed opportunity for the Governor. McCrory might have heeded his “mentor” Jim Hunt and called for a sustained three-year effort to raise teacher salaries to the national average. Instead, he vaguely promised some kind of pay raise…
Read MoreInvasion from Our South
A TAPster who spent years working in economic development shares this: “The most astonishing news last week (other than the daily calamities at DHHS) was the invitation we received via email to attend a fundraiser in Raleigh for the governor of South Carolina. Yes, the head sandlapper is coming to Raleigh to raise money…
Read MoreMLK Day and 1984
My blog below on the 1984 Senate race prompted a TAPster to note that the Martin Luther King holiday was a big issue that year. Jim Hunt led Jesse Helms in early polls, but Helms turned the race around in late 1983 when he filibustered on the Senate floor against a national holiday honoring…
Read MoreTillis’ 1984
Thom Tillis is walking the same tightrope that Jim Hunt walked in his U.S. Senate race 30 years ago. But Tillis’ balance is even more precarious. Tillis today, like Hunt then, has to appeal to the broad November electorate and also pacify an extreme faction in his own party. Hunt’s problems came from…
Read MoreThe Next Ted Cruz?
The newspaper reporter asked if North Carolina’s Senate Primary was going to be the next litmus test of the Tea Party’s political muscle – and as fast as he could Greg Brannon’s campaign spokesman said ‘Yes’ then added the Primary was just like Senator Rand Paul’s election in Kentucky in 2010 and Senator Ted Cruz’s…
Read MoreCan Pat Get Back?
Pat McCrory looked this week like a man urgently pushing the reset button. Like a politician who desperately wants to change course before he goes off a cliff. So first he talked about teacher pay. Then he praised Jim Hunt. Then he was at the airport greeting President Obama, then in the audience listening…
Read MoreDon’t Blame Jim Hunt
Jim Hunt should respond swiftly and strongly to the base calumny that Pat McCrory has cast upon his reputation. Speaking this week at the Hunt Education Institute’s Holshouser Legislators Retreat, McCrory – according to the N&O – “praised former Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt as a valued adviser.” McCrory was quoted as saying: “Jim Hunt…
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