Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The low-road strategy beat Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry. But not Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. And maybe not Barack Obama. Here’s why. Dukakis, Gore and Kerry reinforced – with their own performances – the portrait that Republican slime-masters drew of them. Lee Atwater painted Dukakis as a wuss. And Dukakis wussed out…
When the national Democratic Party poured a whopping $6.5 million into her campaign, Kay Hagan was shocked. Just shocked. She knew nothing about it. The millions of dollars that fell from the sky like manna from heaven were a complete surprise. But, now, Beverly Perdue has done her one better. After raising hundreds of thousands…
John Edwards’ political career began after the death of his first child. Will it end after the birth of another child? A once-strong Edwards supporter posed that question the other day. She, like other supporters, is nervous about the “love child” story. Edwards said it’s “tabloid trash.” That’s not enough. If the story is not…
The Ruby Slippers have been Kay Hagan’s gimmick – a way to say Elizabeth Dole is really from Kansas, not North Carolina. Memo to Kay: Put the slippers back in the closet. Negative attacks don’t work when they appear personal or irrelevant. The slippers are both. And negative attacks backfire if the shoe fits you…
Imagine this: A pollster-guru-political whiz sitting in McCain’s headquarters turning pages, staring at statistics, searching to find someone in America who is less popular than George Bush stops, looks up and says two words: “Paris Hilton.” The young Republican males sitting across the table — who have cut their teeth in the ‘voters are idiots’…
An older Democrat asked me how to get younger votes who are excited about Barack Obama to vote a straight Democratic ticket. Thanks to past Democratic legislatures, the ballot makes this hard. You have to vote for Obama, then go to a separate place to vote a straight ticket. That was a good idea when…
Not long ago a School Board member railed at the Wake County Commissioners by saying they were about to destroy world-class schools in Raleigh. Well, the County Commissioners can stop trying. The No Child Left Behind Act has done it for them. Now, I know No Child Left Behind is not the most popular program.…
Since Obama disposed of Hillary it’s become clear that in order to crush him McCain must resort to The Big Negative. Obama’s got too much momentum and money and charisma for McCain to waltz into office by way of a friendly popularity contest. Well, Wednesday the old admiral – or the old crowd that’s moved…
Like gas prices nationally, crime could be the surprise issue in the North Carolina governor’s race this year. The rolling gang fight at Triangle Towne Center last weekend gives Raleigh residents pause. Charlotteans wonder what took us so long. Break-ins – thought to be gang-related – plague even the best neighborhoods there. Pat McCrory has…
Carter Wrenn and I are moving to Substack. That’s where you’ll find our blogs in the…
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…