Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Cooper’s cash coup
There’s no need for Roy Cooper’s campaign to spin this one, and no use in Pat McCrory’s campaign trying to spin out of it. Cooper is crushing McCrory in fundraising. There are only two ways to keep score in politics before Election Day: polls and money. The polls are close in the Governor’s race. The…
Trump Resigns
They may be fighting because they’re both from the same town and New York’s not big enough for the two of them but regardless of the root of their animosity there’s no doubt Donald Trump sets the New York Times’ teeth on edge. A few days ago the Times ran a front page story claiming…
Matters of life and death
A nation already deeply divided by race and politics is now divided more deeply by race, murder and retribution. Videos show police officers killing black suspects. Videos show the carnage as a black sniper kills police officers in revenge. We line up: Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. All Lives Matter. To invoke one or…
Both Vices
Donald Trump keeps saying, When I’m President I’m going to make the greatest deals you ever saw and I’ll be the greatest jobs President God ever created and When I’m President you’re going to be so happy but America’s jaded voters have been fooled by too many politicians to believe a line like ‘I’m going…
Grand Juries and Temptation
It’s pretty hard to convict a politician of corruption but a well-meaning soul over in the State House tried to change that by putting a provision in a crime bill to allow Grand Juries to investigate politicians in bribery and corruption cases. There was probably never a bill politicians were less likely to pass but,…
Going post-factual
Surveying the Presidential race and the Brexit vote, a smart young political pro observed this week, “We’re living in a post-factual world.” Facts and truth don’t matter. You can say what you want, and you can pick whatever facts, Internet rumors or just plain lies fit your opinion. Way back in the dark ages, when…
Checks and Balances
Federal judges in Richmond deciding school board districts in Wake County sounds odd but in another way it’s a bit of time-honored Americana. Make no mistake: Redistricting is raw politics. It isn’t a fight between right and wrong. Or two philosophies. It’s a power grab. And every chance they get both parties grab for…
Unforced errors
This election should be a slam dunk for Hillary Clinton. But turnovers are keeping the game too close. She is superbly qualified to be President. She has long fought on the right side of progress. Her opponent is one of the most despised, dreaded and dangerous men ever to run for President. But then (always)…
Dancing the Two Step with James Buchanan
We think our politics today is more screwed than ever before but here’s a quote from a politician during the age of horse drawn carriages: In 1860, President James Buchanan said, I don’t think states have a right to secede. But, if a state does secede, I don’t think the federal government has a right…