Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
A TAPster reminds me that Tuesday’s primaries reinforce the three rules of politics: Rule 1: Money talks. Rule 2: Never forget Rule 1. Rule 3: There are no other rules in politics. When Bob Etheridge conceded Tuesday night, he said he didn’t like raising money, but he sure enjoyed visiting 45…
Read MoreI question Mary-Ann Baldwin’s sanity. But I hope she gets elected state Democratic Party chair. The party desperately needs someone who can raise hell, raise money and referee all the players this fall. One of the worst political rumors I heard this week – and that covers a lot of ground – is that…
Read MoreFour years ago, the May primary thrust North Carolina into the national spotlight. An unexpected surge of new voters clinched the Democratic presidential nomination for Barack Obama. The tide raged on into November. It lifted Democrats to one of their biggest election victories in decades. This year, we’re back in the spotlight. This time,…
Read MoreIf a newspaper is going to be a ‘Fact Checker’ it ought to take the time to do the research to get its facts straight. A few days ago the News and Observer reported Paul Coble ‘has voted to issue’ millions of dollars in new Wake County bonds (debt) but added, But those bonds…
Read MoreYes, the gay-marriage amendment has “revealed generational and urban-rural divisions,” as The News & Observer reported Sunday. But, as is so often true in North Carolina politics, the fundamental divide is over religion. Note how often supporters of the amendment say or write something along the lines of one bumper sticker: “It’s in the…
Read MoreIt looks like the prosecutors put a pretty big hole in Edwards’ boat last Thursday: For months Edwards has been arguing the million dollars he took from ‘Bunny’ Mellon and Fred Baron wasn’t a campaign donation because he spent the money to hide his affair from his wife and not voters. But Thursday two…
Read MoreHouse Speaker Thom Tillis spent last week catching hand grenades – first his Chief-of-Staff landed on the front page of the newspaper for having an affair with a lobbyist then a second Tillis aide confessed to a peccadillo with another lobbyist; — both aides promptly resigned (at Tillis’ request) then the press asked Tillis the…
Read MoreA Democratic TAPster offers the thoughts below on how quickly things change in politics: “Just a few days ago Stuart Rothenberg had a column in Roll Call pondering whether President Obama and the Democrats have made a big mistake focusing on North Carolina as part of the 2012 campaign strategy. Given what has come…
Read MoreEver since what one observer called David Parker’s “televised suicide bombing,” I’ve been pondering his infamous press conference performance. Especially: Who told him that would be a good idea? The answer, apparently, is no one. I’m told that he talked to no one on the party staff, sought out no one’s advice. …
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Curmudgeonly Cajun James Carville says Democrats just need to “roll over and play dead” and wait…
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Trump raised tariffs. Said tariffs are beautiful. The next day, about facing, said automakers didn’t have…
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A legend in politics, with a sneaky streak but a kind heart, Paddy sat down in…
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