Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The election is slowly bumping and grinding to a close and it’s been a lot tougher ordeal for Democrats than Republicans – while Republicans have been cruising along riding the headwinds of Obama-disapproval, the same national tides have been pulling Democrats downward like a remorseless undertow. Plus, since Democrats control almost everything that moves in…
Clerk of Court races generally don’t generate a lot of sound and fury but the other day in Raleigh Republican Jan Pueschel sent out an email about her opponent – Democrat Lorrin Freeman (the incumbent) – that set sparks flying. Almost everyone knows the story of Demario Atwater, who murdered UNC student Eve Carson…
I wish I had a dollar for every time a Democrat has told me over the last decade: “We need something like a John Locke Foundation.” Democrats don’t, because they don’t have an Art Pope: somebody who puts his money – big money – where his convictions are. You know he’s made it…
A friend of mine who has done well as a lobbyist in Washington told me this story about the unintended consequences of campaign-finance reform. Congress decided that the integrity our democracy is threatened by lobbyists buying meals – even a cup of coffee and a sandwich – for members. So a lobbyist now…
Every now and then a fellow stumbles across a fact so eye-popping the moment he sees it he feels the ground shifting beneath his feet. The other day in the newspaper a headline blared in big black letters that North Carolina’s unemployment rate had dropped, which sounded like good news until I read (in…
Ten days before the election, we learn there is a federal investigation into Governor Perdue’s 2008 campaign. It drowns out her push on state government reform. Which I seriously doubt was going to solve her political problems anyway. The first thing I heard from Democrats: Why is George Holding still there? Would a…
The economy’s in tatters, fifteen million people are out of work, Obama’s stimulus plan’s a bust and in Raleigh state government’s got a $3 billion hole in the budget – but, not to worry, the Governor’s got a plan. She’s ready to make the tough choices. And she’s already announced the first step: SHE’S GOING…
A wise old Democrat I know offered this thought about the prospect of big Republican gains next week: “Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. This may not be too bad a time to let them have the ball.”
It has to be the most insincere and overused political phrase of the year: “I apologize if anyone was offended by what I said.” In other words, “you’re an oversensitive wimp to be upset about what I said but I’ve got to make some kind of apology to satisfy the media.” The latest:…
How do you get your news? Our statewide poll asked North Carolina voters what their primary…
Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote…
Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had…