Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The Judge had two things to say about Trump: “He’s a con man. And he’ll cause a constitutional crisis by Christmas.” The Judge grew up and still lives in his hometown in Eastern North Carolina. He’s been in politics and the law all his life. He’s seen a lot of politicians and a lot of…
We knew George Holding’s race for Congress would be close a year ago and, three months ago, George actually trailed in the polls by three points – then a month before the election the unexpected struck. When an election’s over it’s human nature for people to say, I did this, or, I did that –…
Beto O’Rourke’s strong race in Texas has Democrats buzzing, about Beto and the state’s changing politics. For insight, I turned to my politically astute brother-in-law in Texas, Tillman Cooley. He allowed me to share this note, which he wrote to his grandkids: All my life I have generally voted Republican. I live in a very…
Yes, Governor Roy Cooper was a big winner in the 2018 elections. He also was the big reason for Democrats’ big wins – in the legislature, in the courts and against the Republicans’ power-grabbing constitutional amendments. There are two lessons here. First, never underestimate a Governor’s ability to energize and mobilize his party. Second, never…
Democrats should be smiling big today, in North Carolina and across the nation. They should be optimistic about 2020 and beyond. Above all, there are now checks on Trump in Washington and Republicans in Raleigh. Trump now faces Speaker Pelosi, a Democratic House and investigative bloodhounds instead of toothless lapdogs. Governor Cooper has a real…
Whatever happens tonight, the fight begins anew tomorrow. Trump and Trumpism are not temporary aberrations that will magically disappear. If Democrats have a good day, we go to work on 2020. And maybe some Republicans will get courageous and challenge Trump. If Trump and the Republicans have a good day, you can imagine what’s coming…
Regardless of their owners’ politics, dogs overwhelmingly agree that the time change is a bad thing. Our dog Ringo is strongly opposed. Every year we go through this. Yesterday afternoon it started at 4 o’clock. Ringo (lip quivering and tail wagging): “Time to eat!” Me: “Not yet. You have to wait an hour.” Ringo: “What?…
X-factors are outside forces and events that can upend elections and are beyond the control of candidates and campaigns. Think James Comey’s announcement in the waning days of 2016 that the FBI was again investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails. This year’s X-factor is Trump. But is he magic – or toxic? Clearly, 2016 has him intoxicated.…
In Trump’s America, every day is Halloween. His political MO is fear. He sees ghosts, goblins and boogeymen everywhere. His rallies stoke fear and loathing. He can’t even sustain a forced show of empathy for mass-shooting victims; his Twitter finger itches to get back to picking on somebody or just picking at scabs. He’ll never…
A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…
A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…