Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
I’ve been in politics longer than Clay Aiken has been alive (38 years vs. 35), but he took me to school this week. Everything I’ve learned tells me that if (A) you’re massively outspent by your opponent and (B) he runs three or four ads to your one and (C) one of those is…
Read MoreA group of politicians called Justice for All North Carolinians have had an ad on TV slamming liberal Judge Robin Hudson for ‘siding with child molesters’ in a Supreme Court decision. Now if that sounds like a little political fact twisting – it is. Here’s what happened: The state legislature passed new laws…
Read MoreA reader notes the irony of Republicans rejecting Common Core because it’s from Washington, or “Big Government” or President Obama. The implication is that state- and local-level thinking is by definition better. He points out: “The irony is that the GOP resists Washington’s direction while its leaders in North Carolina warmly embrace the political…
Read MoreIn the last week or so before the election, in the midst of conniving to win the Republican primary for Congress, young Phil Berger (and his Super PAC) whacked one opponent as a liberal, another as a wild-eyed big spender, and a third as a secret agent who’s too cozy with Chinese textile firms. …
Read MoreSelling the state helicopter may make dollars and sense, but Governor McCrory is totally missing the Helicopter Coolness Factor. Nothing says cool like that sleek bird swooping down from the sky someplace far from Raleigh. Crowds gawk, school kids go gaga and cameras go click. When the copter comes, Big News is happening. …
Read MoreThere’s been a lot of political foolishness going on over in Greensboro and I’ve been watching it pretty closely, working with one of Phil Berger Jr.’s opponents in the Republican Primary, Bruce VonCannon. The other day Berger’s Super PAC broke bad and issued an edict: Voters, they said, ought not to trust Bruce VonCannon to…
Read MorePaul Tine is a rare and endangered species: a centrist Democrat who represents a Republican-leaning district in the N.C. House. The Democratic Party needs him – and more like him. I met Paul for the first time at a fundraiser this week. He’s young, smart and candid. I know his district, House 6, which…
Read MoreI received a response from Art Pope to my blog yesterday (“Rich and Ruthless”). He said: “Feel free to post this to your web site.” I am happy to reprint it in full below, and I thank Art for responding – and for reading: It is a rough game, but it has not cost me…
Read MoreDemocrats contemplating a comeback need to contemplate this. The Republican Party is spending at least $650,000 on “a blistering attack” against Justice Robin Hudson of the state Supreme Court. Democrats need to face a sobering reality: They are up against a rich and ruthless opponent, one who will spend any amount and say anything…
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State Representative Joe John, who died today, looked something like a friendly but fierce bulldog. He…
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Some of my friends didn’t watch Trump’s inauguration. One went to church. One went to every…
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The Democratic Party needs to get tougher, and that’s a job for Democratic women. Sydney Batch…
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