Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
A reader and N&O critic says the N&O posted two different quotes on its website after Keith Hempstead of Durham sued the paper for cutting its news pages. Last Thursday afternoon, Executive Editor John Drescher said on the site: “We’ve had some really good papers recently, and they’re worth more than the 36 cents a…
Read MorePresidential races can turn in the summer. John Kerry got swift-boated. Al Gore got beta-maled. Bob Dole got Dick Morrised. George Bush Sr. got Peroted. Michael Dukakis got Willy Hortoned. Summer is the dead time when voters – millions of them – who haven’t paid attention start getting to know the candidates. Here is what…
Read MoreWell, I hope Gary’s dead-on right (see below) when he says John Edwards running for Vice President with Barack Obama is a fantasy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. But this morning didn’t help. My wife turned on Good Morning America and there Edwards was grinning like a Cheshire cat, gushing over Obama, sounding like a…
Read MoreThe silly season of the presidential campaign is officially open: a CNN blog suggested that Mike Easley or John Edwards might be Barack Obama’s running mate. Let us count the many ways neither makes sense. The apparent theory is that one of them could help Obama carry North Carolina or a Southern state. This myth…
Read MoreI was not going to blog any more about Jesse Helms. But my previous posts got so many people stirred up (see our Comments section) that I can’t help myself. My critics suggested I was being classless and disrespectful by attacking Helms so quickly after his death. Actually, I waited four days. He died Friday…
Read MoreA lot of people of my political stripe believe the N&O went overboard in its coverage of Jesse Helms’ death. One called it “hypocritical.” Another said the N&O is “atoning” for its coverage of Helms – which is nothing to atone for. Another said the paper is taking the “easy” way out. Most agree the…
Read MoreJesse Helms was the last of the old-time racist Southern politicians. He built his reputation on race-baiting. He won his elections with race-baiting. And he used his Senate office as a platform for race-baiting. So you won’t find me falling all over myself to find some redeeming quality in the man. This may surprise some…
Read MoreA friend told me that when Harvey Gantt was interviewed on TV about Jesse Helmsâ death the reporter â apparently looking to stir up a bit of controversy â asked Gantt something like, Well, what did you think about Jesseâs record on race? And Gantt said, Well, nowâs not the time to discuss that. My…
Read MorePicking up The News & Observer now is like running into an old friend who has been ravaged by cancer. It’s thin and sickly feeling. The editors promise us a lean and focused newspaper. I don’t want a lean newspaper; I want a fat one. And I don’t want focus; I want to stumble onto…
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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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