North Carolina – Republicans
The Last Thing Pat McCrory Needed
All last year Democrats hammered away at Pat McCrory saying, Disclose, disclose, disclose – demanding McCrory disclose the clients he worked with at the Charlotte law firm of Moore and Van Allen. Apparently, no one gave a toot and, after the election, the Governor may well have thought and he’d heard the word disclose…
Read MoreMean Hallways
The word that keeps popping up when people describe the atmosphere at the legislature is “mean.” “Everybody you pass in the halls is either somebody who screwed you or somebody you hate,” said one aide to a Republican leader. “It’s all about revenge, Republicans getting even for all those years out of power,” said…
Read MoreA Wobbly Kind of Conservatism
Thom Tillis said he was running for Senate and as soon as he got the words out of his mouth Greg Brannon, the Libertarian doctor who’s also running, let fly with a broadside calling Tillis “yet another in a long line of career politicians eager to take the next step on the ladder of political…
Read MoreRollback Backlash
Looking at the Great Republican Rollback, Democrats are tempted to attack on every front: taxes, Medicaid, teacher pay, jetty ban, Jordan Lake, Child Fatality Task Force, Rural Center, Racial Justice, voter ID, jobless benefits, campaign financing, etc., etc. Focus, people. In politics, to say 10 things – or even two things – is…
Read MoreGood Ole Boys
The newspaper set out to land a Democratic shark. And landed a Republican whale instead. The roots of the News and Observer story run back 26 years – to when Jim Martin was Governor. Back then the Democrats in the legislature decided, instead of letting Martin pass out what’s euphemistically called ‘Economic Development Grants,’…
Read MoreJim Holshouser
They don’t make Republicans like Jim Holshouser anymore. Big pay raises for teachers? Statewide kindergartens? Coastal Management Act? Rural health centers? Expansion of the state park system? More African-Americans and women in government? Help for black business enterprises? They’d throw him out of the party today. Actually, they did in 1976. As Rob…
Read MoreMaking Legislators Look Reasonable
The Democrats have gotten plenty fired up about the ‘Moral Monday’ protests down at the state legislature – even an old war horse like Gary, catching a whiff of grapeshot in the air, rode to the sound of the guns, defending the protestors from a broadside by Governor McCrory. But, in another way, all…
Read MoreThree Great Powers
Right now there’re three great powers in Republican politics in Raleigh: The Governor, the House, and the Senate. Now the Governor’s pretty easygoing – the kind of fellow who, when he can, will go out of his way to avoid a fight. Even when he disagrees with folks, he’s not inclined to say much…
Read MoreWho Spent the Most?
The other day the News & Observer wrote a long report comparing the State House and State Senate budgets – but who, other than a certified budget expert with a PhD, could figure out the welter of numbers? The newspaper wrote – in great detail – about who spent money on what: How the…
Read MorePat Ducks, Blames Obama
Maybe it’s the heat, the humidity or just that it’s June. A reporter gets arrested. Senator Tom Goolsby has 60s flashbacks. Governor McCrory sees “outsiders” when they’re not there. The Democratic Party debacle deepens. But the flap over the Governor’s game of catch – and his spokesperson’s bizarre statement – still stand out in…
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