Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
What Perdue and McCrory Have to Do
Tonight’s debate is a chance for Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory to step out of the shadows of the national party conventions and the U.S. Senate race. Time to fill in the picture of themselves – and their opponent. Their race is close, maybe even tied. They have eight weeks. Here are three things each…
Just One Catch
Under the Dome reports that political analyst Charlie Cook said at Elon University yesterday that: Obama’s extensive field operation in North Carolina will bring a higher percentage of young voters and black voters to the polls who will support other Democrats on the ballot, regardless of how closely tied the candidates are to Obama. “While…
Two Good Men
Let’s pause before we leap into two months of partisan rancor, as John McCain might say. The two parties nominated two remarkable men for President. And they come from two different Americas, as John Edwards might say. Obama represents the youthful, idealistic and tolerant values of a changing country. McCain represents the older values of…
Bombs Away!
That old bomber pilot John McCain dropped a blockbuster on both parties this week with his pick of Sarah Palin. He shook the Republicans back to life, and he shook up the Democrats. He also shook up the race. But it will take a while to figure which targets suffered the most collateral damage. If…
An Otherworldly Debut
Watching Sarah Palin’s speech, I could not help but think two things.First, I thought I was watching the rise of a great future star of the Republican Party. She handled herself well, and had a real fire and energy that the ticket previously lacked. Regardless of the outcome of the election, this is someone who…
Is Sarcasm a Winning Strategy?
This week’s Time says John McCain’s basic nature is sarcastic. That’s how he often deals with staff and reporters. Sarah Palin’s speech struck me that way: sarcastic. When Republicans nominate candidates who seem mean-spirited, they lose. Witness Goldwater in 1964 and Bob Dole twice – as Ford’s running mate in 1976 and himself in 1996.…
Sarah Palin
Last night, I got Mau Mau-ed on a radio interview by a Democrat who said, Donât be naïve. You canât really believe McCain knew Sarah Palinâs daughter was pregnant before he picked her? In fact, Iâm inclined to take McCain at his word. But, for one moment, looking at it through that Democratâs eyes, it…
Republican Meltdown
It’s an iron law of politics: Stay out of the way when your opponent is busy destroying himself. So Barack Obama is smart to lay low this week. John McCain’s VP pick shows us what kind of President he would be. He would make rash, risky and reckless decisions. Without waiting for the intelligence reports.…
Unfair to Criminals
Many a time I’ve given a reporter a quote that didn’t look so good in print. So I felt for Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin. The chair of the House committee on campaign finance law, she was expressing doubt about tougher penalties for crooked politicians in the N&O: “We also want to make sure we don’t…