Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
I Told You So
You could see this train wreck coming. Less than a week after Bev Perdue promised a positive campaign, the N&O headline says: “Mailer contradicts Perdue’s message.” It turns out the National Education Association “had already sent 10,000 glossy attacks on Moore to retired educators in North Carolina.” So Moore is holding a news conference this…
The Bubba Boost
My friend Bruce Thompson – a Raleigh lawyer and leading Clinton adviser here – thinks I’m reading the primary all wrong. (I predicted an Obama blowout.) Bruce believes Hillary Clinton will win here. He points to the crowds that came to Bill Clinton’s trip Down East last weekend – Bubba’s BBQ Tour. He told me:…
Perdue’s Meltdown – Chapter Two
Bev Perdue once called herself ‘the coal-mine’s daughter.’ And there was some truth in it. Her father once worked in a coal mine. But unlike Loretta Lynn’s father he ended up owning it. Several of them. Not long after Mrs. Perdue arrived in the State House – in 1986 – a cohort of her fellow…
The Mahatma Gandhi School of Political Theory
Politics is nothing if not full of surprises. First, the Governor’s office said Dempsey Benton fired Debbie Crane. For incompetence. Then Dempsey said he didn’t. And she wasn’t. That, of course, lead the newspaper reporters straight back to the Governor’s door, Who fired Debbie Crane? The governor’s chief-of-staff, Franklin Freeman, said the Governor had her…
Governor Easy
The News & Observer wrote last weekend what Raleigh insiders have been saying for the last eight years: Mike Easley is – as Senator Tony Rand said – “weird.” Actually, Rand didn’t say Easley is weird. He said his working style is weird. But a Governor is his working style. The Governor says measure me…
Chutzpeh
Richard Moore – in his official role as state Treasurer – gave a company owned by a couple of his contributors the inside track to sell dental and vision insurance to state retirees. (He also gave his contributors company, free, a list of state retirees – but wouldn’t give the same list to their competitors).…
Perdue Gets In a Huff
Well, Beverly Perdue has had enough of negative ads. She’s pulling hers. In an e-mail – unless it’s a hoax – she’s announced for the good of the state she’s pulling her negative ads and it’s all hearts and flowers from now on. Richard Moore must be counting his lucky stars. Maybe Mrs. Perdue had…
Cameras in the Sewer Pipes
A lot of folks thought maybe the City Council had been out in the sun too long when it up and out of a clear blue sky voted to ban garbage disposals. Well, it turns out taking on the housewives of Raleigh is a lot tougher assignment then vilifying developers. The ladies of Raleigh have…
Bev’s Blunder
Bev Perdue’s positive-ad ploy is a blunder that could cost her the nomination. It sounds good today. But she will regret it. Especially if she ends up giving a concession speech the night of May 6. A candidate who unilaterally disarms usually loses. Moore will keep pummeling her with the ads that closed the gap.…