Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Bob Scott has his flaws, but he had guts. The Scott legacy will be tarnished by Meg Scott Phipp’s imprisonment – and by the IRS investigation of Scott supporters when he was governor. But Bob Scott deserves a lot of credit for modernizing North Carolina – sometimes in the face of tough opposition. Like proposing…
Read MoreProfessor David Steinmetz of Duke Divinity School says it is a very good idea that President Obama invited both a minister in favor of gay marriage and a minister opposed to it to pray during his inauguration – the way he sees it Obama is helping heal the nation’s wounds, end divisions, and most of…
Read MoreIt may be the biggest myth in American politics: the well-oiled Kennedy machine. Well-oiled it was in 1960, when old Joe Kennedy was paying for it and running it through Bobby. But the machine has stumbled ever since, especially on the presidential stage. Bobby Kennedy’s run in 1968 got off to a bad start. He…
Read MoreHow did David Young suddenly emerge as the leading candidate for Democratic Party chair? Here’s the story from one party insider: Governor Perdue was supporting David Parker, a long-time party activist who has wanted to be chair for years. But Chairman Jerry Meek didn’t like being told what to do. He reminded the Governor that…
Read MoreLast week President Obama’s ‘favorable’ rating was an eye-popping 70% and after the last week of canonization it may now be 90% and rising. But there are shoals in the waters. Tuesday, during his inaugural, the president proclaimed, “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,”…
Read MoreI’d like to know if one day last week President Obama woke up and said, The day before I’m inaugurated I’m going to paint the walls in a homeless shelter to encourage public service. Or if, instead, someone in his campaign said, We’ve got a great idea for a photo-op – then invited the press…
Read MoreWhen John Edwards was running for Senate in 1998, the N&O did a story about how little money he had raised from the state’s business community – and how much then-Senator Lauch Faircloth had raised there. Sam Hunt, ex-DOT Secretary to Governor Hunt, was quoted as saying the road to the Senate ran through the…
Read MoreLet’s extend the Obama-Lincoln comparison. Carter finds it troubling. But it’s legitimate given their roots, their inexperience and their unlikely rise to the White House. Of course, we can’t know now whether Obama will be remembered as a great President – or an awful one. Certainly, expectations are higher for him today than they were…
Read MoreOf course I give President Obama (I love the sound of that) an A+ for his speech. As Carter said in his post, Obama may not match Lincoln as a President (who did?), but he comes close as a writer. Obama’s rhetorical skill is more than an exceptional way with words and a sensitive ear…
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Does a message about “workers,” “working families” and “working-class voters” really work for Democrats? Or does…
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I’ve resisted the temptation to rail every day about Trump’s cruelty, corruption and incompetence – and…
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Jeanette Hyde went from Miss Yadkin County to Madam Ambassador. Hyde, who died Monday at age…
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