Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
After Hagan’s first round of attacks calling Tillis a Tea Partier, a few Swing Voters decided to vote for Hagan, a few decided to vote for Tillis, but most stayed Undecided. Ambivalently Undecided. They didn’t want to vote for Obama-Hagan. But they didn’t want to vote for Tillis either. The bad news for Tillis…
Read MoreFrancis DeLuca at Civitas took issue with my blog about their polls (“Cooking Numbers at Civitas.”) He tweeted (@fxdeluca): “@jgaryp thanks for the follow! But don’t appreciate your comments about Civitas polling! #youknowbetter.” Here’s what I know. When the late Jack Hawke was at Civitas, he worked hard to give their polls credibility. But…
Read MoreWhen Thom Tillis started his campaign his prospects looked promising. Obama wasn’t just unpopular, his unpopularity was a plumb line cutting through the electorate – you were either for Obama or against him and Kay Hagan was on the wrong side of the line. Tillis, himself, back then wasn’t too well known but he…
Read MoreStop the presses. I have something nice to say about Governor McCrory. Unlike his Republican colleagues Thom Tillis, Phil Berger and Dan Forrest, McCrory said he will respect and obey the court decision on gay marriage, even if he doesn’t like it. Good for him. But why? I asked a couple of…
Read MoreWhen I saw Kay Hagan’s first ad saying Thom Tillis was supported by the Tea-Party-leaning-Koch-Brothers I thought, Now, that’s odd – after all, the Koch Brothers weren’t on the ballot and no one cared a hoot who they supported. But I was dead wrong. Because it wasn’t the Koch Brothers who mattered –…
Read MoreSome perspective on the breathless reports that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is pumping another $6.5 million into Thom Tillis’ campaign: What does that buy, and what does it get you with still-undecided voters? On the buy, it gets you about half what it would get you if you had bought the time weeks…
Read MoreMonths ago, back when she started her campaign, Kay Hagan faced a knotty problem: She was going to get the Democratic base vote; her opponent was going to get the Republican base vote; but the Swing Voters didn’t like President Obama and, so, were on track to vote Hagan out of office. Now, theoretically,…
Read MoreI miss Jamie. I miss her smile, her laugh and the parties she threw. This campaign season, I’ve missed her political smarts and fundraising skills. A lot of candidates could have used her. So this weekend I’ll join a lot of people – many who knew her and miss her and many who didn’t…
Read MoreIf you think about it DENR’s proposal was pretty odd. Last winter, when tons of water from a coal ash pond poured into the Dan River, there was consternation and gnashing of teeth. The U.S. Attorney started investigating. The Governor ordered every coal ash pond cleaned up. The legislature said Amen. Then, with…
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