Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
This is your chance, Chris Christie
The worse Donald Trump gets, the better his poll numbers get. Once again, he owns the national political debate because he goes where no one else dares to go. And when you go where even Dick Cheney and the South Carolina Republican Party chair won’t go, you’ve left the gravitational pull of Earth. It’s time…
Sillier and Sillier
Sunday, after the attack in California, President Obama spoke to the nation and laid out his best ideas to stop terrorism: War is still out. There is no way we’re going to use overwhelming force. It’s not in his make-up. And using the words Muslim Terrorist is still off the table. What’s in? Gun Control.…
Terror and the Oval Office
The political significance of President Obama’s speech last night wasn’t what he said, but why. Obviously, our famously no-drama Commander-in-Chief felt the seismic shift after the California killings. Weeks ago, he calmly assured us that ISIS (why does he say “ISIL”?) was “contained.” Last night, he sternly assured us he takes the threat seriously. Forget…
Watch the Video
Donald Trump’s coming to Dorton Arena tonight and reporters and pundits have been calling, asking, Isn’t Trump going to be the kiss of death for Republicans? That’s the ‘spin’ coming out of the Republican Establishment in Washington, where they’re telling Republican voters, ‘If Trump’s the nominee we’re sunk, Hillary’s in;’ and out of Hillary and…
Here we go again
As soon as you heard about the California shootings, you knew what was coming next: another political shootout over gun control, Muslim refugees, mental health, homegrown terrorism, etc, etc. Right after politicians sent out their requisite “thoughts and prayers” to the victims. And we should have all those debates. But first take some advice from…
The Winnowing Out Process
Ben Carson already knew the world was not a kind place but, unfortunately, unkindness reached out and struck him again: A quarter of his supporters abandoned him for Ted Cruz. In a poll in Iowa a month ago Carson led Donald Trump but now he’s dropped into third place – with Cruz (at 23%) and…
No holiday for campaigns
A year from now, either Roy Cooper’s team or Pat McCrory’s team will be sifting through resumes for the next administration. The losers will be polishing their own resumes. Right now, both teams are deep in the same two struggles: raising millions of dollars and wrestling for control of the debate. Soon, we’ll know whether…
A Turn of Phrase
After Paris when President Obama stood up and declared America had to summon up the courage to not ‘succumb to fear’ he sounded like Winston Churchill after Dunkirk – his words evoked echoes of long sanctified courage from General Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge to the Alamo to the surrounded…
Trump disease
Donald Trump is like a fever in the Republican body politic: a sign of sickness. A lot of Republicans are hoping and praying the fever breaks before the sickness infects the entire body. Trump has owned about a third of the Republican vote in polls since he announced. That one-third gravitated to him when he…