Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Hillary versus The Donald
This will be The Greatest Show on Earth. Or maybe a sign of the End Times. It will pit the yin and yang of American politics, the alpha and omega, Wonder Woman versus Captain America, Good versus Evil (whichever side you’re on). The only thing they have in common is our obsession with their hairstyles.…
Follow the Money
It’s hard for a Washington politician to explain away a $300 million snafu but it’s even harder for a Raleigh Bull Moose without the opportunity to learn dissimulation first-hand by watching the masters in Congress. From the first day Phil Berger rapped the gavel his hand-picked Medicaid Czar, Senator Ralph Hise the Mountain Statistician, made…
Tine’s time-out
Boweaver is a yellow-dog Democrat. He was wound up at breakfast about retiring Rep. Paul Tine of Dare County. Tine, who switched from Democrat to Unaffiliated and joined hands with House Republicans this session, has announced he’s not running again. He maintains he was undaunted by the prospect of running as an Unaffiliated, because he…
Controlling the Money
It was modern politics at its noisiest with shouting and arm waving and bark-peeling emails flying through the ether but even by modern standards the State Republican Party blasting the Republican Leaders of the State House and Senate Leader was odd. Last spring just about every Republican Leader from Pat McCrory to Phil Berger endorsed…
Mad Republicans
Republicans are fighting mad. At each other. The Republican presidential contest is an insult-comic festival. The US House Republican caucus is cannibalizing itself. Republican members of Congress from North Carolina are knifing each other in the back. And front. Republican legislators are fighting with the Republican Board of Governors over the next UNC President. Governor…
Clay Feet
Governor McCrory isn’t one of those politicians who lusts after power; he’s more like a genial movie star or an actor who walks onto the stage, speaks his lines, listens to the applause then moves on to the next act. The Bull Mooses in the State Senate do lust for power. They bulldoze the Governor.…
Ross rolls out
Thirty hours after Roy Cooper’s announcement and just as the Democratic presidential debate was ending, Deborah Ross announced for US Senate. If she and Cooper do as well the rest of the way as they did their first day, Democrats will be celebrating in 13 months. Her announcement video was strong. It introduced her, “rooted” her…
The $300 Million Hole
There’s not a soul in the state who can match a Senate Bull Moose when it comes to bragging he’s a true conservative – that he’s more conservative than the Governor or any politician around. But then the Bull Mosses slipped. From the day the Senate came to town Phil Berger’s Medicaid Czar, Senator Ralph…
Hillary and the 4 Dwarfs
So now we can look forward to the Clinton-Trump debates next fall. On stage with Hillary last night were Grumpy (Sanders), Grumpier (Webb), Sleepy (O’Malley) and Dopey (Chafee). She pretty much mopped the floor with them, which happens when you’ve played the game at this level before. Clearly, only two Democrats can stop her now:…