Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The words Mike Pence said were powerful but the way he said them was mild – he sounded like a man walking through a park, staring up at the sky, talking about a cloudy day. Pence told about Trump telling him to throw out Biden’s Electoral College votes on January 6: ‘President Trump demanded that…
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Rachel Hunt’s first ad in the lieutenant governor’s race is a striking statement about the power of the abortion issue in 2024 – and the stakes for women in North Carolina. It begins, “When Roe v Wade came to rural America, women woke up to a different world, a world with a bit more time.…
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For years Republicans believed free markets – not monopolies, not government – cured problems. It seems those days are past. UNC Healthcare – which owns hospitals and medical clinics across North Carolina – is controlled, owned, and subsidized by state government. And the State Senate just passed a bill to exempt it from anti-trust laws.…
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A reader emailed: “Doing nothing heroic, I served in naval intelligence. My service required a top-secret clearance. Each time I saw a top-secret document, I recall saying to myself: ‘No wonder this is top secret.’ Similar reaction when I saw documents classified ‘secret,’ also reflecting compelling reasons to protect their confidentiality. “Absorbing only what I…
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Jack Smith looked a bit like Abe Lincoln and talked a lot like Sgt. Joe Friday. We saw and heard him Friday afternoon for the first time. In just under three minutes and just over 300 words – strong, striking, sledgehammer sentences – the special counsel laid out his case. “Good afternoon. Today, an indictment…
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At breakfast, a friend who has worked with the legislature for many years wondered if there is any hope for bipartisanship. “There are so many leadership-development groups in North Carolina,” he said. “Could they all come together and develop a new cohort of leaders and legislators who can work across party lines?” Given how toxic,…
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Chris Christie’s doing something no other candidate’s dared do: Tackle the Donald head-on. It’s unorthodox. But routine political thinking isn’t working too well against Trump. So, who knows, unorthodox might work. Imagine Christie and Trump in a debate both throwing punches – it’d be worth watching just to see which one blinks. It may turn…
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When State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced in March that he’s running for Governor, he said, “Voters like candidates who attack problems, not people.” That didn’t last long. He must have figured out that, in Trump’s Republican Party, the whole point of politics is to attack people. And – shades of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and…
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The Donald just announced he’s got a grand idea – if elected he’s going to throw a whooping party like no one’s ever seen before to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. How long will Trump’s party last? A day? A weekend? No, a year. Will his party be in front of the Lincoln Memorial? The Statue…
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