Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
What Goes ARound Comes Around
In 2000, George and Jeb Bush relied on Katherine Harris, Florida’s Secretary of State, to recapture the White House for the Bush family. That made Katherine a hero with Republicans and anathema to Democrats. She rode the notoriety right into the U.S. Senate race in Florida this year. But her behavior has been so wacky…
The Most Unpopular Man in North Carolina
Few would argue (with the exception of the members of the House Democratic Caucus) with the proposition that Jim Black, after a year of ‘pay to play’ scandals, is now the most unpopular man in North Carolina. A series of hearings, investigations, and exposes has left the heretofore sure-footed House Leader battered and bruised. But…
The Battle of the Sexes
Scientists at the University of Chicago and the University of California have reached a startling conclusion. A woman can tell a man’s testosterone level, whether he’s a one night stand or a potential husband, and how much he likes infants by simply looking at his photograph. After the scientist showed a battery of young women…
Pay to Play
Democrats in the State House Committee say they want to ban political contributions from lobbyists to legislators. That’s fine. But don’t be deceived. They are not trying to end ‘pay to play.’ In fact, what they are doing will hardly slow Marc Basnight or Jim Black down at all. The House Democrats are being clever.…
Soul-Searching Democrats
The Democratic Party is undergoing one of its periodic paroxysms of soul-searching. It’s not a pretty sight. The soul-searching has long been bubbling in the blogs. It bubbled onto the front page of The New York Times this week. But it’s nothing new. The same battle has been going on between Liberal Democrats and Not-So-Liberal…
Response – Whose Money Talks Loudest?
There’s a difference in Art Pope spending ‘his millions’ and how the Black/Basnight Political Machines continue to hold an iron-grip on the North Carolina Legislature. Pope is spending his own money. What he is doing does not cost taxpayers a cent. He’s not trying to get a state contract or a bill passed to help…
Whose Money Talks Loudest?
It will be Art Pope’s millions against the Basnight/Black “machines” this fall. That is, unless Speaker Jim Black’s train derails because of bad publicity and threatening investigations. The legislative races will be a contest between two different ways of raising the big chunks of cash it takes to win a majority in the State Senate…
More Pay to Play
How deeply is ‘pay to play’ ingrained in the culture of the Democratic Party?Let’s take a look at the upcoming Democrat race for Governor in 2008. Three candidates are already raising war chests and State Treasurer Richard Moore leads the pack. The News and Observer reports Moore has raised over 42% of his money from…