Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The Goodwin House Gets a Shakeup
If Anderson Clayton can infuse North Carolina Democrats with the energy, optimism and aggressiveness of her insurgent campaign for state party chair, 2024 can be a good year. The first vice chair, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick, also was ousted, by Jonah Garson. Kimberly Hardy defeated incumbent second vice chair Matt Hughes. Garson and Hardy…
Mired in the Muddle
We lost the Vietnam War, Reagan stepped forward, ran for President, and Establishment Republicans – who then ruled the GOP – beat him. Then Jimmy Carter beat them. Four years passed, Reagan ran again, whipped the Establishment Republicans, whipped Jimmy Carter, and we won the Cold War. The Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union collapsed,…
Bully Bill
The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” should be renamed the “Bullying Bill of Rights.” Yes, parents should be involved in their children’s schools. But any good in the bill the North Carolina Senate passed last week is outweighed by the harm to LGBTQ+ students. Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, (pictured) said, “no matter the intent, the consequence…
Erskine Bowles and the Community Woodpile
The best thing about blogging again is reconnecting with old friends. Like Erskine Bowles, who emailed to welcome Carter and me back. In 2004, I worked in Erskine’s unsuccessful race against Richard Burr for Senate. Erskine and I had a rocky relationship then. I pushed him to do things he wasn’t comfortable with, like running…
Can Democrats Go Country?
As North Carolina Democrats elect a state chair this weekend, three divides emerge: young/old, rural/Raleigh and grassroots/headquarters. Two contrasting candidates are 73-year-old incumbent chair Bobbie Richardson, who defends the party’s 2022 performance, and 25-year-old Anderson Clayton (pictured), who says the party should do more at the grassroots and in rural areas. One young Democrat texted…
State of the Union
Gary, on Talking About Politics, made a good point about Joe Biden’s State of the Union Speech: ‘Biden got the last laugh.’ Old-fashioned politeness – when you’re disagreeing with someone on the other side of the aisle – is a virtue. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s anger, jeering, offended people – and helped Biden. Political disagreements are…
Three Tribes
It’s an old story. In the Bible. Tribes battling in the Holy Land. Today, in our Holy Land, in Washington, three tribes rule: Democratic Politicians, their cousins Republican Politicians, and Showmen. Joe Biden’s the face of the first tribe; Kevin McCarthy’s the face of the second; Trump’s the face of the third. The first two…
The Crazy Party
Returning to reality after a week off, I was struck by this from The New York Times report on President Biden’s State of the Union speech: “Republican lawmakers shouted both ‘liar’ and ‘bullshit’ at parts of Mr. Biden’s speech, and no one appeared shocked.” No one was shocked? Has the Republican Party gone off the…
Choosing Between Evils
An old-fashioned conservative, seven years ago in the Republican primary John cheered for Ted Cruz, scowled at Donald Trump; then a quirky thing happened: That fall, staring at Trump and Hillary on a debate stage, having to choose between two evils he picked Trump and, in the next breath, in his eyes Trump was no…