Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Longing for Jim Hunt
When it comes to managing North Carolina’s state government, the Easley Administration is beginning to sound like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. There’s been one mishap after another. The Department of Transportation wasted $30,000 on a ferry junket to watch the tall ships sail around Beaufort Harbor. The Department of Health and Human Service…
No More Stumbling
It looked for awhile like Fred Smith was doing some adroit foot work in the Republican primary, moving to Pat McCrory’s right. (Or, conversely, and more lethally, moving Mayor McCrory to the left). But, now, McCrory is doing some footwork of his own – moving just where Smith doesn’t want him on an issue Smith…
Politics in a Nutshell
There’s a good old-fashioned brou-ha-ha going on in the Democratic Governor’s primary. Beverly Perdue says – in her latest TV ad – Richard Moore’s Wall Street’s boy. That as Treasurer, he increased fees to Wall Street Money managers 600% — and the Wall Street tycoons paid him back with $1.5 million in campaign donations. Moore,…
Hitting the Foul Shots
The final weeks of a campaign are like the final minutes of a basketball game: If you’re behind, you start fouling. Richard Moore is fouling Bev Perdue – hard. But nothing flagrant; it’s part of the game. Cullen Browder at WRAL-TV asked whether Moore’s ad recalling a 1995 traffic accident involving Perdue – and the…
Higher Taxes for Raleigh
Well, the City Council has gotten serious about raising ‘impact’ fees – taxes on new homes and buildings – and there’s bad news for churches, schools, and people buying houses in Raleigh. For instance, The News and Observer reports the new tax increase will cost Wake Cross Roads Baptist church $20,256 – when it expands.…
Enter Rev. Wright
After being in the room with the boys during Senator Jesse Helms campaign in 1990, when the much ballyhooed (or infamous) ‘white hands’ ad was written, I’ve been telling myself, ‘Don’t you touch Reverend Jeremiah Wright with a ten foot pole.’ But, anyway, here goes. For several months I’ve been saying there’ll only be one…
Debate Lurkers?
We warn our kids to beware of who their online chat friends really are. Maybe the same caveat should apply to politics. Ryan Teague Beckwith writes in the N&O today about North Carolina’s first online debate – between Bev Perdue and Richard Moore. It’s sponsored by the BlueNC blog. Question: How do we know it’s…
YDs Are Hot Again
The Young Democrats haven’t been this hot in North Carolina for 30 years. Long ago, being in the YDs was a logical step into politics. Both Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt were state YD presidents – and used the office as stepping stones. But, with the decline of grassroots politics, the importance of the YDs…
Getting Personal
You know a campaign is getting rough when the consultants start attacking each other. As part of its effort to stop the NEA ads for Bev Perdue, the Moore campaign sent out emails with N&O clips linking the NEA to disgraced lottery-lobbyist Kevin Geddings and to Perdue adviser Mac McCorkle. The NEA helped pay for…