Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Barack Obama brought his health-care reform campaign to Raleigh just as polls suggest support is slipping for reform. As always, Washington and the media are poised for a rerun of history. They see the story in terms of the death of Clinton Care in 1994. But the story could turn out different this…
The capital press corps and several editorial writers have whacked Governor Perdue and the Democratic legislative leadership for not getting a budget done. But does anybody outside downtown Raleigh care? Obviously, other people in government care. Like local governments. And school officials who don’t know how many teachers to hire. But I…
Elaine Marshall is telling people she’s in the 2010 U.S. Senate race. That should give Cal Cunningham and Kenneth Lewis pause. She has two big advantages: stature and gender. Women have won three of the last five races for governor or Senator in North Carolina: Dole, Hagan and Perdue versus Easley and Burr. …
Please stop. Drop the grievance. Stop the bleeding. On just one day last week, NCSU’s chancellor said your grievance proceeding is taking up too much of the university’s time and attention, the Democratic Party coughed up $24,000 because of you and the NCSU band cancelled a trip to Ireland because of you. …
What do you do when your poll ratings are as bad as any governor’s in the country, somewhere down in Bush-Cheney territory? When you’ve been outfought and outfoxed by June Atkinson, for Pete’s sake? And when fellow Democrats are calling you a lame duck in your first year? Well, you could find something more…
Alright. Follow this: The Governor rips into the House and Senate Democrats’ tax increase – saying she cannot abide their raising taxes on working people. Then (giving Mark and Tony and Joe another rap on the nose) she lets fly, again, saying they also cut education too much. Of course that didn’t sit too…
Columnist Rick Horowitz may be the sharpest tongued liberal around. He probably doesnât mean much harm but sometimes when he writes he sounds like he has the disposition of a water moccasin. The other day in a column he called Dick Cheney âgreedyâ¦vainâ¦and scaredâ then panned Cheney for âdishing the dirt.â Now heâs aimed his…
Last week I blogged that Governor Perdue was doing a better job than her poll numbers suggest. But I’m starting to think she’s snake-bit. Her signature action, her big bold idea of appointing a state education CEO, got thrown out by a judge. Now Bill Harrison has graciously retreated from the battlefield. Predictably,…
The N&O’s banner headline today had to give Democrats heartburn: “The new plan: more taxes for all.” Democrats in the legislature have no choice. For all the Republican fulminating about waste, piers and crabpots, the only alternative to higher taxes is deep cuts in education and human services. Democrats just can’t do that. …
The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…