Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Dems Aren’t Dead
Democrats shouldn’t minimize our problems. Nor should we exaggerate them. The New York Times, in an article headlined “Six Months Later, Democrats Are Still Searching for the Path Forward,” said the party’s standing “has plunged to startling new lows — 27 percent approval in a recent NBC News poll, the weakest in surveys dating to…
Who Is This?
At 16 he was arrested using marijuana. As a teenager he got kicked out of two boarding schools. When he was 29 he got arrested for heroin possession. Driving through upstate New York he saw a dead bear by the side of the road, stopped, loaded the bear in his van, drove on to New…
New Day, New Leaders
I’m at the age (76) where conversations with old friends turn into “organ recitals.” Who has what illness or ailment? Who did your knee/hip/heart/shoulder/prostate surgery? How are Joe, Mary, et al getting along with their (fill in the blank)? No matter how sharp you are or what good shape you’re in, you start losing it…
Healing Wounds
Instead of going to college Joe Kent joined the army at 18; a Ranger, Green Beret, did 11 combat tours. Stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia he met Shannon Smith, also a soldier – they married, had two children. Five years later on a street in Syria an Isis terrorist walked toward four soldiers, ignited a…
Good Start
Governor Josh Stein has changed the climate in Raleigh. And brighter days may be ahead for North Carolina – especially for public schools and teachers. At Stein’s encouragement, House Democrats voted last night – by 27-20 – to approve House Republicans’ proposed budget. The Governor believes the final budget that comes out of a House-Senate…
Could Kamala Have Won?
The media/punditry obsession with President Biden’s age and health in the White House obscures a more important question: Could Kamala Harris have won anyway? Yes, says Stan Greenberg, a veteran Democratic pollster and analyst who worked for Bill Clinton. In fact, he argues in “Kamala Could Have Won” in The American Prospect, she was winning…
Signs of Wisdom
This, Trump posted, is what Burj Khalifa looks like. He showed a photo of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai lit up at night by red, white, and blue lights, like a flag. Knowing the queasiness Trump felt when sheiks flew in grander jets than presidents, Qatar gave him a gift – a new $400…
Donald of Arabia
Trump took an entourage of super-rich Americans to visit super-rich Arabs to do deals that will make them all richer. Back in Washington, congressional Republicans drew up a budget that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause more than four million people to lose health insurance and 8.6 million people to lose Medicaid coverage.…
Off-Year Elections
Chariots of Fire won the Best Picture Oscar…Joe Montana and the 49ers won the Super Bowl …Dallas was the top TV show…and, back in 1982, I ran head-on into my first off-year election. By then I’d worked in 3 campaigns – each ended well. In 1982, with Reagan in the White House, we set out…