Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Back after Obama rolled into the White House and North Carolina turned into a ‘Blue State’ overnight Gary told me wryly, Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to blow it. Now that Republicans are leading in the polls Gary’s looking a bit clairvoyant but, on the other hand, it’s now Republicans who seem…
This is why Republicans won’t get far running against corruption in Raleigh. The Greensboro News & Record reports: “The State Board of Elections has asked Sen. Phil Berger to explain at least three dozen problems found with his campaign finance reports since 2004, ranging from a lack of information to apparently illegal contributions.” Berger’s…
Next year may be a Republican year, but politics is funny. Polls show Richard Burr getting little more than 40 percent of the vote against a generic Democratic opponent. One problem: No Democratic candidate has yet convinced the party he or she can beat Burr. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is making another run…
Governor Perdue finally got some good poll news. Public Policy Polling says her approval rating climbed out of the 20s. She’s at 30 percent, with 49 percent disapproval. But why? One theory: It’s because of her fight to keep in prison the 27 inmates the (Republican majority) Supreme Court wants to set free.…
A wise reader – and veteran Raleigh observer – offers this perspective about Senator Martin Nesbitt: “As you’ll recall, Nesbitt was one of Liston Ramsey’s key lieutenants when Liston was overthrown by a coalition of impatient Dems and opportunistic Repubs. Nesbitt was really bitter about what happened, and it probably sidetracked his career for…
Ideologues – left and right – see elections as referendums on philosophy. But voters – often as not – are looking for simple competence. Somebody to run government well: protect us from enemies foreign and domestic, encourage job growth, educate our kids, spend tax money wisely and sparingly, etc. Republicans lost in 2006 and…
When I was a boy I had a wire-haired terrier, a stray who showed up on the farm and made himself at home; one day walking past a woodpile the terrier spotted a barn rat and in the blink of an eye charged, ears tucked back, hair bristling; now, far as I know, that…
Laura Leslie of WUNC-FM – who does a great political blog – told a panel during last year’s campaign that she was sick and tired of men who liked Sarah Palin because she is “hot.” Sorry, Laura, but how else can someone so clearly unprepared for national office be taken seriously as a candidate…
Over the last several months Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Lanier Cansler at DHHS has handed out a couple of hundred million dollars in contracts – many of them no bid contracts – to his former clients from the days when he was a lobbyist. But, now, he’s done…
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…