North Carolina – Republicans
How Democrats Can Win on Voter ID
It’s shameful that Republicans believe their political future rests on voter suppression. But Democrats can turn this chicken shit into chicken salad. First they tell voters: “Republicans are doing all they can to make sure only angry old white men can vote. If you’re young, old, a minority or anyone who doesn’t look like…
Read MoreAnother Perdue Gift
Well, Governor Perdue’s stepped in another mess. She’s announced she’s going to sidestep the normal nominating process (she set up) to pick a new Supreme Court Judge before Pat McCrory takes office. Perdue explained how her plan made sense, saying, I can’t imagine that the person I select will be anything but the finest…
Read MorePerdue’s Last Gift
For Republicans it was like old times – just when they were getting into a funk because they won’t have Governor Perdue fumbling through press conferences anymore, instead of riding quietly in the sunset the Governor held one last press conference. And it was like manna from heaven. Senator Phil Berger (meta-phorically) let out a…
Read MoreNo to Senator No
Maybe I should be more forgiving when it comes to naming a building for Jesse Helms. Maybe I should let the past go, let bygones be bygones and let go of old grudges. No way. Helms was a racist. He was a gay-baiter. He was a hater. On television and in the Senate,…
Read MoreDid McCrory Flip-Flop on Dix?
Was Governor-elect McCrory for Governor Perdue’s Dix plan before he was against it? A well-wired TAPster says yes. The source – whom I’ve always found to be reliable and knowledgeable – said Governor Perdue ran her plan by McCrory and Art Pope before announcing it. She thought she had their support. But Senator…
Read MoreVenality
Tom sues Dick. Dick spends $2 million to elect Harry judge. Harry wins. And rules in Dick’s favor in the lawsuit. Sound rotten? Try this: The Democrats sue the Republicans to stop redistricting (and name Republican House and Senate leaders Thom Tillis and Phil Berger as defendants). The Republicans raise $2 million to elect…
Read MoreTea Party Pat?
Just three weeks after the election, Governor-elect McCrory is getting a taste of the story line he may be reading for a long time to come: Is he “Charlotte Moderate Pat” or “Tea Party Pat”? The first story comes from a national publication, Businessweek. The headline: “N.C.’s Gov.-Elect Shifts Hard-Right, From Transit to Tea…
Read MoreGetting Rid of Tarbabies
Pat McCrory’s just captured the biggest tarbaby in North Carolina. State government has never been a paragon of efficiency but after twelve years of Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue and pay-to-play politics it’s become an unusually broad and deep quagmire. The state’s Medicaid claims processing contract is an example: Years ago when Mike…
Read MoreWhich Way for North Carolina?
The decision about Obamacare highlights the tension that will mark North Carolina’s politics the next four years. The tension stems from an election that saw the nation go in one direction (largely Democratic) and North Carolina in another (almost all Republican). When political partisans win an election, they tend to believe that an…
Read MoreA Home Truth
Back before the election I wrote a lot about the importance of money in campaigns and how the Democrats were in trouble because of a lack of it. The NC Free Enterprise Foundation has just published a report on campaign spending during the 3rd Quarter, which ended just before the election. There were a…
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