Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Over the last month I’ve watched stories converge for three politicians I’ve known: Jim Hunt, Mike Easley and John Edwards. First I published my biography of Hunt, and we made a 10-stop book tour. Then Mike Easley was convicted of a felony. Then John Edwards reemerged after Elizabeth’s death. Toward the end of…
Governor Perdue’s Cabinet reorganization demonstrates the advantage a governor always has over a legislature. While Republican legislators organize themselves and talk about what they plan to do, she can act. In the context of a near-$4 billion hole, her plan may not look huge. But her changes look good; even Republicans praised them.…
The Southern Pines Pilot opined optimistically: “During the years in which they were out of power, GOP legislators long argued in vain for taking redistricting out of the hands of the General Assembly and turning it over to an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. Now, maybe that can finally happen.” Ha! As an…
A wise Raleigh hand told me about a capital-city event this week that was unique in all his years: a show of real bipartisanship. Two veteran House members – Republican Danny McComas and Democrat Pryor Gibson – cohosted a reception in the Capitol for new legislators. Most people came, of course, to see…
A friend wondered why Elizabeth Edwards’ life and death transfixed so many people. Maybe it’s the American fascination with the lives of the rich and famous – especially when they are marked by so many triumphs and tragedies. For her they were, in order: the death of a child, her husband’s meteoric rise in…
Twenty-seven year old Jeremiah Love – who’s schizophrenic – was murdered in a Rest Home by another schizophrenic who attacked him swinging a metal cane at his head like a baseball bat. In another Rest Home across the state a forty-three year old schizophrenic beat a sixty-seven year old patient to death in an argument…
President Obama sent two signals about 2012 on today’s front page. First, he’s going to contest North Carolina. Second, he’s going to run the same way he ran the first time, even if it drives die-hard Democrats crazy: as an adult trying to rise above a Washington filled with immature partisans. Despite…
By not indicting Governor Easley, Joe Cheshire says, District Attorney William Kenerly proved Easley’s innocent and not just innocent but a victim too. The Governor, Cheshire says, has been ‘trashed’ by the villains in the press. And he has a case: The newspapers report the Governor’s done everything from swapping developers permits in exchange…
Erskine Bowles said his deficit-commission’s recommendations would help start an adult conversation in Washington. So the first thing the Senate does is extend tax cuts, which we can’t afford, and unemployment benefits, which we also can’t afford. Both make wonderful sense. But voting for popular things without paying for them is what got…
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…