Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Twenty-four years ago newly elected President Bill Clinton had a ‘Disapproval’ rating of 51%, and Democrats lost the next election in a landslide. In 1994 Republican gained 54 seats in Congress. President Trump has a ‘Disapproval’ rating of 58% – 7 points higher than Clinton’s – but, like most people, Republican politicians shrug, That won’t…
Republicans won four straight elections campaigning against Obamacare – it was that unpopular. But, now, they’ve laid out their own healthcare plan and guess what: Voters favor Obamacare over the Republican Plan by 2 to 1. Who’d have thought it was possible? Can no one in Congress…fix anything?
Because he’s a Democrat who won in a state that Trump won and Republicans rule, Roy Cooper is getting national attention. Last month it was The New York Times. This week it’s Politico (“Can Roy Cooper Show Democrats How to Win Again?”), which proclaims: “North Carolina’s governor is unveiling an audacious plan to oust his…
Because this is journalism today. And The News & Observer’s owners are desperately searching for a way to survive. So the rumor is that a lot of big names are leaving the N&O. And a lot of big changes are coming. The biggest change: Reporters will be evaluated by their clicks. By how many online…
Only a rare politician can resist it and no politician can cure it;—I first laid eyes on it twenty-six years ago when Jack Hawke asked me to drive over to Republican Headquarters for a meeting with a dozen legislators; an hour later standing around a conference room table covered with maps a legislator – enthusiastically…
I take a summer blogging break, and what happened? Everything. And nothing. Our reality-TV President got in a TV/Twitter fight. He insulted Mika’s looks. He called Morning Joe “psycho.” And he fantasy-slammed CNN. Then he went to Europe, dropped out of the Paris climate agreement and lost us more friends around the world. Except Putin.…
They’re mad. They’re livid. They’re out for blood. One angry Republican said, “We got them the House, we got them the Senate and even the White House and they still can’t get it done. If we leave Ryan and McConnell in charge, nothing’s going to change.” That was the gist of the newspaper story but…
I haven’t seen this much howling and gnashing of teeth since I can’t remember when: Mention the word Russia and The New York Times and the Washington Post start hopping up and down and Anderson Coopers turns steely-eyed while, over on the other side of the aisle, Tucker Carlson turns downright snarky. The liberals are…
Most times the roots of blindness – whether it’s blindness due to pride or meanness or fear – run down into the clay-footed soil of human nature but the other day Peggy Noonan spotted an odd phenomenon. Noonan wrote: “News bias now is in part a financial decision.” Back in the old days the New…
The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…