Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Fred Thompson on the Rise
There’s a new poll out from Public Policy Polling, the Democratic pollsters in Raleigh. There’s not much change in the Democratic or Republican primaries for Governor. Beverly Perdue and Bill Graham still lead as they have since last fall. (And, in the Republican primary, a whopping 60% of the voters are still undecided). There is…
Another Black Eye for the School Board?
Ten months ago, a local developer signed a contract to buy thirty-two acres in Wake County (for $2.5 million). He purchased the land on June 6. And sold it the next day for $3.3 million. In other words, he contracted to buy the land, then found a second buyer, then flipped it and made a…
Euphemisms
As just about everyone knows no one is more adroit than a politician when it comes to using a euphemism to hide bad news. The Mayor and his two liberal allies on the City Council – Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder – have a euphemism they’re using for raising taxes: Impact Fees (The News and…
The Affair dé Haircut
At first when the press (no doubt with help from his Democratic opponents) revealed John Edwards paid $400 for a haircut in Beverly Hills, Edwards blithely passed the buck saying his staff got ‘that guy’ to cut his hair. He didn’t know how much it cost. He didn’t even know ‘that guys’ name. Well, it…
Zigzags
John McCain may be right by removing four top staffers to resurrect his sagging presidential campaign. But it’s difficult not to suspect McCain’s deeper problem may be McCain. After the 2000 election, Senator McCain became a sort of maverick Republican in the Senate, co-sponsoring the Kennedy-McCain Immigration Bill, brokering deals with Democrats on judges and…
Black: 63 Months
This morning a federal judge sentenced former House Speaker Jim Black to 63 months in prison. But the scandals that have rocked Democrats in the State House may not be over. Monday federal prosecutors revealed that Black took $500,000 from a lobbyist and put the money in his campaign account in 2000. Of course, what…
Taking a Break
This blog will tilt rightward for the next two weeks, because we’re taking a family vacation to Italy, and I won’t be blogging. I’ve never been to Italy. So I consider this an experiment to see how I like a country that features universal health care, two-hour midday breaks and an average of 41 vacation…
Fundraising Revolution
Campaign finance reform is happening. Not because of new laws, but because of the Internet. That’s the real story behind Barack Obama’s phenomenal fundraising totals in the second quarter. A lot of the money came in online. He built a base of hundreds of thousands of small contributors – nearly all of whom can give…
Pick a Fight with a Blonde: Raise $500,000
Incensed, swept away by a wave of spontaneous outrage, Elizabeth Edwards picked up the phone and called Ann Coulter on ‘Hardball’ to give her a piece of her mind for smearing John (The News and Observer, 7-1-07). Now, I can think of a lot of things my wife might like say to the woman who…