Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Those of us who remember November 22, 1963, must be a mystery to those of you who don’t. Why do we watch the same clips over and over? Why does it still affect us 50 years later? To start with, it was our first shared televised grief. TV was still new in 1963. It…
The other night Gary and I were invited to dinner with a dozen learned scholars who for some unfathomable reason were curious to hear us trace the roots of the demise of modern politics. And, of course, it was only a matter of time before I said the word ‘poll’ and as soon as…
How often does some well-meaning soul say, “Democrats and Republicans should put aside their differences and just do what’s right for the country.” That sounds perfectly reasonable. But it’s perfectly unrealistic. The differences are over what’s right for the country. And the differences are fundamental and unbridgeable. How, for example, would the two…
This poll might make Democrats wonder if Obamacare’s problems go way beyond the botched rollout, broken promise and bug-filled website. The Gallup Poll says that, by 56-42, Americans believer it is NOT the federal government’s responsibility “to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage.” Now, take this with a caveat. Gallup’s polls famously…
Up in the gilded halls of Congress the Tea Partiers went on a tear last month voting against Debt Ceiling increases and budgets that didn’t cut spending but the whole proposition of fighting it out with Obama seemed altogether too risky to the Pachyderm Republicans so after a fortnight they gave up the ghost and…
Judging from Obamacare, Democrats can’t make government work. Judging from the October shutdown, Republicans don’t want it to work. What’s a democracy to do? Obamacare is essentially an old Republican idea, hatched by the Heritage Foundation as an alternative to single-payer health insurance. It’s essentially Romney care. The idea is to put everybody in…
The row started, oddly enough, with a single email. Which got answered. And counter answered. Then, boom, there was a full scale war of emails going on (with me watching copies flying back and forth) that lasted two days. At first I thought my two friends were arguing over who to support in…
For all our disagreements, Carter and I agree on one thing: the value of polls. But we constantly have to explain why – and defend ourselves. Most recent was a delightful dinner discussion with a group of learned and accomplished gentlemen from Chapel Hill. For the first half hour, we were peppered by questions…
The poor Tea Partiers have been getting pounded from pillar to post by the Washington political bosses and reporters and I’ll grant there’s a streak of oddness in the Tea Partiers but they also possess virtues like fighting for lost causes and having the courage of their convictions and besides, when you get right…
The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…
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…