Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Strong 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,…
Steve 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…
Two 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…
Mr. 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…
Yesterday 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…
Ken 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. …
Like ‘em or not, hand it to legislative Republicans: They’re off to a fast start. A veteran legislative reporter told me yesterday it feels more like the harried end of a session than the beginning. And the Republicans have set about doing what they promised to do: cut spending, cut rules and regulations,…
WRAL’s Cullen Browder reported last night that Governor Perdue “shrugged off” a Washington Post’s blog that she’s the most vulnerable Democratic governor in the country. She has two good reasons to do so: the legislature and Barack Obama. Her reelection chances won’t really come into focus until we clear the carnage and count…
Senator Bob Rucho’s rant on the Senate floor last week probably reflects the humiliations he suffered when Democrats ruled the legislature with iron hands. It also reflects the overreach that is the biggest threat to the Republican’s current majorities. As in: “Hang on, it’s going to take us a little time to recover…
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…