Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Since the Trojan Horse the divergence between appearance versus reality has been a motif in literature. The beast turns out to be a prince. The three witches tell Macbeth he’s safe until Birnham Wood moves to Dunsaine Hill. Which appears impossible. But happens. Today it could be Sound Bite versus Reality. And Reverend Jeremiah Wright…
When WRAL asked former Governor Jim Hunt about this year’s Democratic governor’s race it was like old times. Hunt opined about the virtues of positive campaigning: Candidates ought to say what they’d do. What they stand for. How they’d move North Carolina forward. (It was like a flashback to thirty years ago.) Then the governor…
Wachovia Bank just agreed to pay $144 million to settle a fraud case. (According to the newspapers it was alleged they allowed telemarketers to use Wachovia accounts to steal millions of dollars.) The bank did not plead guilty or admit guilt, which, in itself, is a commentary on our legal system. How can anyone agree…
Talk about being the center of the political universe. North Carolina was it Tuesday. Barack Obama’s press conference on Jeremiah Wright could turn out to be the pivotal event of the presidential campaign. Unfortunately, that event – and two others the same day – was all about the issue that forever taints our politics: race.…
Richard Moore needs a bomb to blow up Bev Perdue’s lead. But the problem with a bomb is that it can go off in your hands. That appears to be what happened with his Ku Klux Klan ad. The ad was a reach to start with. When voters hear, in effect, that Perdue voted with…
I’ll make two predictions about this election. One I’m sure about; the other, not so much. Not Sure: This could be a change election like 1960, 1968, 1980 or 1994 – with the impact felt for decades. Sure: The Democratic Party is growing increasingly anti-corporate. Only one thing can keep 2008 from being a watershed:…
So much for Bev Perdue’s no more negative attacks pledge. She just called Richard Moore, Jesse Helms – which is about as mean a charge as you can lay on a fellow in a Democratic Primary. Then, in case anyone missed her point, she added Moore (who attacked for her for voting, twenty-years ago, against…
That didn’t take long. The party of Lincoln jumped right into Jesse Helms-era race-baiting this week. And we found out just what a tough, strong, effective leader John McCain is. He can’t even get a state Republican Party to take down an ad. Or maybe his demand that the ad be pulled came with a…
While the political world focused on Pennsylvania Tuesday, Bev Perdue’s supporters gave a sigh of relief. She survived the live TV debate with Richard Moore. Her campaign has gone to great lengths to minimize her unscripted appearances – in debates and with the media. Her handlers’ lack of confidence is palpable. Moore was surprisingly mild…
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…