Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
A Call for Respect
Race and politics can bring out the worst in people – and the best. My daughter Maggie, 15, is a high school sophomore. Like her older brother, who has posted blogs here before, she is an ardent Democrat – and fan of Barack Obama. Since Obama won, she has heard some ugly things from her…
Summation
Well, the hollering and screaming is over and instead of being amazed by the antics of politicians we can go back to the normal everyday rhythms of life that get disrupted every four years by an election. What went wrong for Republicans here in North Carolina? What didn’t go wrong is happier to contemplate: Half…
Winners and Losers 2008
Campaigns end abruptly. One day you’re going 90 miles an hour, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. All of a sudden Tuesday night it’s over. On Wednesday you bask in the glory if you won or bathe in your friends’ condolences and reassurances if you lost. Then BAM! The exhausted and spent winners…
What Happened
Three factors carried North Carolina for Hagan, Perdue and – maybe – Obama. It is a mistake to ascribe the result to any one of the three alone. First was the public’s rejection of George Bush because of the economic crisis. In a sense, 2008 was just a continuation of the 2006 election cycle. Voters…
Never the Same
An excellent New York Times article today analyzed how 2008 has changed politics forever. And nowhere more than North Carolina. Let us count the ways: BATTLEGROUND: First the primary. When Obama won North Carolina, the late Tim Russert declared that he had won the nomination. Now we’ve had the heady experience of being one of…
Is It Over?
I’ve been skeptical about the vaunted Obama ground game. But now I believe it’s real. So real, this election may already be decided in North Carolina. Some 2.6 million people have already voted – 40 percent of the registered voters. Democrats outnumber Republicans 52-30. African-Americans are 27 percent of the total. Republicans have their famous…
A Ripple or a Wave?
With all the howling going on and the attacks being hurled back and forth on TV between the various campaigns it must be pretty hard for the last handful of undecided voters to figure out what’s true – but Elizabeth Dole may have given them one thing they are going to agree is not true.…
Thanks, John Kerry
John Kerry’s campaign to destroy the Democratic Party continues. It turns out Kerry was one of the organizers of the Kay Hagan fundraiser in Boston where the “Godless Americans” showed up. A tip of the hat to Democratic consultant Joe Sinsheimer for pointing out Senator Kerry’s continuing contributions to the party. And Joe was right…
The Forgotten Ad
Way back in April, Bev Perdue looked voters straight in the face and said she’d had it with negative ads. She was done. Finished. She was taking hers off the air. Ending negative politics meant more to her than being governor. “Win or lose,” she said, “It’s the right decision for me and for North…