Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
One Big Name mentioned as a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate should be taken seriously: Dennis Wicker. Wicker reminds me of Jim Hunt circa 1992. Wicker has grown since an election defeat eight years earlier. The lessons from that loss – plus his experience in the private sector – could make him a stronger candidate…
Read MorePresident Obama swept into the White House not riding a pro-Obama wave but riding an anti-Bush tide. Now, Bush is gone and after nine months of marching straight left Obama’s setting off tides of his own and his popularity is vanishing faster than any newly elected President since the dawn of the Age of Polling.…
Read MoreOne of the many brilliant (that means “Democratic”) readers of this blog has offered what could be a spot-on analysis of Obama’s new strategy on health care. I share it with you in full: “He has leaned back and relaxed and let Mitch McConnell and the screaming chorus shout and work themselves into a…
Read MoreSupporters of health-care reform better hope President Obama’s vacation gave him time to come up with some brilliant strategy. Because he’s losing control of the debate. The vaunted Obama message machine from the campaign is grinding its gears. They have not come up with a winning way to frame the debate. I thought…
Read MoreI spoke to the North Carolina Democratic Party’s annual Sanford-Hunt-Frye Dinner Saturday night. I talked about the “Go Forward” tradition in North Carolina politics, starting with Kerr Scott and running through Sanford and Hunt. We sat at Governor Perdue’s table, which gave me some pause given some of my blogs about her. But…
Read MoreThe commentariet says Ted Kennedy’s tactical skills will be missed in the health-care reform debate. What’s more likely to be missed is his roar. Democrats– including President Obama – lack a loud, clear voice to frame the debate. Like Kennedy did on Robert Bork. Like I heard him do at the…
Read MoreTed Kennedy was both an inspiration and political poison to North Carolina Democrats. We loved him because he was the last link to the glory days of John and Bobby Kennedy, the New Frontier, the Mercury 7 astronauts, the Peace Corps, “pay any price, bear any burden…” and all that. And his voice…
Read MoreGive Governor Perdue credit: She’s not a quitter. She has been a blur of activity since the legislature left. Launching a government-efficiency study. Riding a bus the first day of school. Asking for money-saving ideas. Sending out YouTube videos. Clearly, she has the energy to fight her way back. All she needs now…
Read MoreBill Friday surprised me in our UNC-TV interview when he asked me about the most remarkable characters I’ve met in politics. So I’ve given it more thought. I’ve come down to two people I met during Governor Hunt’s 1984 campaign against Jesse Helms. At different times that year, our campaign was advised by…
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It was a time, Tom Hanks wrote describing the end of the Middle Ages, when dukes…
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Planned Parenthood’s spending a ton of money – $10 million – to elect pro-abortion candidates in…
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The Republican legislature may not vote for Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s school plan, but North Carolinians…
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