Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
One legislative observer didn’t share my rosy view of Governor Perdue’s State of the State. In fact, her performance inspired him to think of a new mixed drink: The “Bevtini” Short glass Shaken, not stirring Bland, but bitter aftertaste You’re out after only one Clearly, this is someone with too much time…
Read MoreMy 107-year-old grandmother – yes, 107! – died yesterday. She was born the month before the Wright Brothers’ flight in 1903. She raised two children and outlived two husbands. She worked for much of her life and lived at home – and drove – until after she turned 100. She lived long enough…
Read MoreLegislative Democrats need to extend a laurel and hearty handshake to Republican Rep. Mike Stone of Sanford. Less than a month into the session, he has dragged his party into controversy over secrecy, special interests and pay-to-play – the very sins the GOP inveighed against in last year’s campaign. And I warned them. …
Read MoreStrong speech. Smart strategy. And Governor Perdue won her televised faceoff with Senator Berger. Today, Republicans should be asking: Did we misunderestimate her? She is criticized for not saying how she’ll pay for it all. But that’s good sequencing: The headline today is her cutting business taxes – as the N&O said,…
Read MoreSteve Daniels of WTVD last week broke the story about the FBI’s “political corruption probe” of Governor Bev Perdue some 15 years ago. But Daniels left out an interesting angle: his own. Daniels interviewed Frank Perry, whom he identified as a former FBI agent. But Daniels didn’t tell us that Perry is “director…
Read MoreTwo readers strenuously objected to WRAL’s decision (and WTVD’s apparent intention) not to televise the bloody ending of last week’s hostage-taking in Cary. The stations should have shown the hostage-taker being shot and killed, they argue. One, referring to WRAL’s owner, wrote: “Jim Goodmon’s parochial thinking is what will eventually cause the demise…
Read MoreMr. Speaker, didn’t you guys learn anything from the Democratic scandals of the last decade? Lesson 1: Don’t stiff-arm Andy Curliss and the N&O. Ask Mike Easley how that worked out. Lesson 2: Don’t have a closed-door “policy committee” meeting at the Legislative Building to hear from special-interest lobbyists. Lesson 3: Especially when you’re…
Read MoreYesterday I gave Republican legislators credit for a fast start. Today I wonder whether they picked the right fight to start with. Republicans say they were elected to cut spending. But Democrats denounced “the Republican job killing plan.” That’s “job killing” as in Obama’s “job killing health care reform.” Democrats already are getting into the…
Read MoreKen Lewis wants to make it clear: He’s not going to challenge Governor Perdue for the Democratic nomination next year. In an earlier blog, I wrote that some people had mentioned his name. But Lewis called me today to make it clear that he’s not interested and he’ll be supporting Perdue for reelection. …
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With a better General Assembly, Josh Stein could join Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford on North…
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Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful newspaper: The News & Observer. Everybody…
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The shouting, sign-waving and cane-wielding by congressional Democrats at the State of the Union isn’t a…
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