Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Well, now, I’ve taken to reading the Life section of the newspaper to continue to monitor the pulse beat of culture. Thursday there was an Ann Landers-type self-help column about religion written by a Methodist minister. The question she was asked by one of her readers was: “What’s the difference between a cult and a…
Two pairs of stories in today’s N&O capture the shifting state of politics nationally and in North Carolina. First, North Carolina. The front page spotlights $270 million going to the highway loop in Fayetteville, home of Secretary Lyndo Tippett and Senator Tony Rand. Then Under the Dome says Marc Basnight wants Governor-elect Perdue to name…
To most people – like Bill Clinton losing his party’s control of Congress in 1994 – one election is usually enough of a wake-up message. But Republicans are hard-headed – if madness is repeating the same mistake over and over with the same result we qualify. We shrugged off 2006, so history repeated itself in…
When folks lose elections they go into paroxysms of contrition – usually confessing to the wrong sins. And when they win, there’s a parallel temptation – they attribute victory to virtues that had little to do with their success. Now, mi amigo Gary surely has a point when he says Republicans are in danger of…
Here’s one way to look at the 2008 election: The Old White Guys who were running things got fired. There’s George Bush, the MBA Presidency and all his OWGs running the war and the economy. There’s Mike Easley. Bev Perdue spent the final weeks of her campaign promising “change orders” on day one to put…
Barack Obama is going to fill his Cabinet with a “Team of Rivals?” Like Lincoln. This is going to be one big mistake. Let me get this right: Obama is going to appoint people who disagree with his policies (which they will promptly torpedo) and, when they do, he can’t fire them because he’s established…
Bev Perdue’s gone back to being Miss Positive, setting up the Endowment for Positive Gubernatorial Campaigns – a $50 million trust fund – to pay for her next campaign for governor. But there’s one catch: To get his share of her fund Perdue’s Republican opponent must pledge not to criticize her: No negative ads. Now…
Richard Nixon and Strom Thurmond ginned up the Southern Strategy in 1968. For 40 years, Dixie gave the Republicans an almost insurmountable edge in the Electoral College. The GOP won seven of the next 10 presidential elections. Now Republicans are trapped by their history. The only counties where Republicans gained in 2008 were in Appalachia…
John Drescher’s column in the N&O Saturday – “The fair sex? Not in politics” – was on the money. His money shot: “…based on the recent campaigns, it’s hard to claim that women are more ethical and fair than men.” He cited Liddy Dole’s “godless” ad – “the national cheap shot of the year.” He…
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…
A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…