Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
A TAPster who has watched a succession of politicians tangle with the N&O was struck by Senate Leader Phil Berger’s letter to the editor Tuesday, especially the end: “Interestingly, the editorial opines that the state’s Legislative Building is a ‘hot-air factory where opponents of the Racial Justice Act seemingly will say anything …’ Clearly,…
I’m old-fashioned enough not to have much faith in these new ‘automated telephone polls’ that the Democrats at Public Policy Polling do, but you have to give them credit – those polls have turned their company into a P.R. juggernaut. They’re in the newspaper just about every day. Their latest poll on the Democratic…
Mitt Romney has to be the most phony-baloney politician in American history. If there was an Olympics for Flip-Flop, he’d hold the Gold. If he did yoga, he’d be a pretzel. He is the Mickey Mantle of Political Switch-Hitting, the Oscar Robertson of Obfuscation, the unchallenged champion of the George Orwell Trophy for Double-Talk. …
Economic numbers are brightening a bit, so President Obama’s ratings are a bit brighter. But the most striking thing about the election climate nine months out is the darkness on the Republican side. Listen to them – and to what their words and their expressions say about their mood, their attitude and their vision…
I wonder, sometimes, if Obama believes what he’s saying? He ordered the Catholic Church to provide contraceptives to its employees;― the Bishops said No, outrage followed, and Obama realized he’s bitten off more than he could chew. So Obama announced he had a solution. The Church, he said, wasn’t going to have to provide…
A lot of times people ask me about political campaigns: How are they run? What matters? What doesn’t? In fact, most political campaigns are simple. More often than not they boil down to one fact: Who voters know. Because when a voter walks into a voting booth if he knows one candidate and not…
Bill Faison got a rude welcome to statewide politics. The N&O story about his ex-wife’s divorce allegations – published the day Faison filed – was like blitzing a rookie quarterback on his first play of the season. The divorce apparently dogged Faison’s race against David Parker for state party chair – and cost him…
One thing’s for sure: If Dan Blue runs for Governor it’s going to make the Democratic Governor’s Primary a lot more interesting. Interesting, first, because of mathematics. Because over 40% of the Democratic voters are African-Americans and Senator Blue would be the only African-American candidate. Interesting, second, because of history. Because Obama proved…
In some ways, no candidate is better positioned for the now wide-open Democratic governor’s race than Richard Moore. He’s a smart, charismatic candidate with enough personal resources to be an instant front-runner. Moore has strong credentials. He was Governor Hunt’s Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety. He was state Treasurer for eight years.…
Carter Wrenn and I are moving to Substack. That’s where you’ll find our blogs in the…
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…