Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
An Activist’s Nightmare
Here’s an activist’s nightmare. He – or she – camps out on the lawn of the State Legislature in the June heat for 51 hours with a ragtag band of fellow demonstrators alongside a troop of plastic hogs, piles of artificial hog manure and a baby wading pool full of the real thing (to send…
Bloomberg’s Humbug
The last time a short billionaire with an ego to match his checkbook ran for President, he helped elect Bill Clinton. So I’m intrigued by Michael Bloomberg running in 2008. I’ll feel different if polls show he hurts Democrats more than Republicans, of course. But, really, Bloomberg’s whole message is a sham. Elect me, he…
Wait and Hope
What to do about the war in Iraq has the Republican presidential candidates tied in knots. They don’t want to get out, they don’t dare say to go in deeper and the surge isn’t working. So Republican policy boils down to three unstated words: Wait and Hope. Imagine this: A presidential candidate says, “Look, we’re…
Dole’s Dilemma
Talk about a dangerous place to be – how about Sunset Beach last weekend with the Trial Lawyers in town holding their annual convention – you could get sued for using the wrong fork at dinner. That aside, it’s a safe bet Congressman Brad Miller didn’t drive 200 miles to the beach just to sit…
Ambivalent About Brad Miller
Most Democrats are ambivalent about Brad Miller running against Elizabeth Dole – apparently including Brad Miller. Miller sounded ambivalent in his interview with The N&O’s Rob Christensen. He even said, “A lot of my closest friends are pretty ambivalent about it. They have mixed feelings, including my wife.” Well, Brad, that makes it hard to…
The You and I Tube Campaign
At a Wake County Democrats’ panel this morning, we were asked whether the Internet will make TV irrelevant in politics. My answer: look at Hillary Clinton’s new video about her campaign song. It led the morning news. It dominated CNN. CBS’ Bob Schieffer called it “genius.” The video gave Hillary millions of dollars worth of…
Rethinking Fred Thompson
Last week I trashed Fred Thompson as too lazy to run for President. Now a national Republican consultant whom I greatly respect tells me I dismissed Thompson too quickly. He says Thompson has what no other major Republican presidential candidate has: a political and cultural affinity with the hard-right conservative, even fundamentalist, base of the…
A Comedy of the Absurd
Five members of the School Board are up for re-election this fall and School Superintendent Del Burnsâ decision to cashier high-school teacher Robert Escamilla may land right in their laps. Mr. Escamilla teaches â or did teach until Burns demoted him â at Enloe High School. For twenty-four years, he has received good to exemplary…
The Bottom’s Out of the Bucket?
For thirty years rural voters have been the bedrock of the Republican Party. President Bush beat John Kerry in rural America by 20%. But, suddenly, according to a new poll (www.npr.org) rural voters are poised to vote Democratic. John Edwards and Barack Obama are as popular in rural communities as President Bush, John McCain and…