Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
But We’re Ready For Our Close-up
Pennsylvania is over – finally. I’m sick and tired of Chris Matthews telling me how smart “Eddie Rendell” is. So now North Carolina is the biggest state left. Bill Clinton is back today. Hillary and Barack are coming. The New York Times, the networks, the bigfeet and the bloggers are scoping us out for colorful…
Obi-wan and the Chameleon
Imagine this. Obi-wan Obama the zen-master sitting Buddha-like, voice a calming balm, is giving an interview. Interviewer: What about the war on terrorism? Obi-wan: We can save the planet. Interviewer: What about the war in Iraq? Obi-wan: We can end a war. Interviewer: What about corruption and rising unemployment and soaring gas prices and…? Obi-wan:…
Being Mike Easley
I read in one of the newspapers awhile back (I can’t recall exactly which one) the governor likes to leave Friday for his beach-home, return Monday, and in between spend as much time (after hours) as possible on his hobby, woodworking in the basement of the Governor’s Mansion. Don’t get me wrong, one of the…
Delete This Fight
When he gets back from Italy, Governor Easley needs to end this no-win email war with the media. The fight has poisoned his relationships with the media, especially The News & Observer. It led to a lawsuit. And he’s been put on the defensive. The longer this goes on, the more distractions he will face,…
In Defense of Negative Ads
Let’s suppose you agree with Bev Perdue’s sudden conversion to campaign ads that are all positive, all the time. You believe candidates’ ads should be about themselves and never, never, ever even so much as mention their opponents. Now let’s suppose you are an adviser to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for the fall campaign…
Bert Coffer
Dr. Bert Coffer of Raleigh, who died last week, was one of the finest people I ever met in politics. I feel that way even though Bert was one of Jesse Helms’ best friends and strongest supporters. I got to know Bert working on a health-care issue several years ago. He was a friendly, unassuming…
Political Forgiveness
Representative Joe Boylan has gotten himself in a big mess. A year ago Joe passed out on the House floor and said it was a bout of flu and dehydration. Which sounded fine. And made sense. But, then, the newspapers reported Boylan, who’s married, had made “a drunken pass at a female legislator” in a…
Negative, Positive and Accurate
Bev Perdue’s campaign manager is filling Internet Inboxes with messages from people praising Perdue, pounding her on the back, for renouncing negative ads. In one email he quotes Priscilla and Kathy and Donna as gushing, “Way to go… you very well may have earned my vote… Mr. Moore’s negative ads have totally turned me off.”…
Hillary’s Blues
A political campaign, by nature, is born in chaos. Think of it this way: In twelve months Barack Obama has created the equivalent of a mammoth $200 million corporation, employing hundreds of people who’ve, mostly, never worked together before. Add to that fierce competition and you can see why most campaigns become not well-oiled machines,…