Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Robert Escamilla is a 21st Century version of ‘Mr. Peepers.’ A bit shy. Awkward. Eccentric. And for eighteen years a diligent social studies teacher who received glowing reports from his superiors at Enloe High School. Until a few months ago, he had only one ripple on his resume with the potential to rock the waters…
Since Bill Clinton blew his sax for Arsenio Hall, presidential candidates have been using TV talk-show hosts. Now a TV personality is turning the tables. Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central says he’ll run in South Carolina’s primary – as a Democrat and a Republican. This is no joke – to the candidates. Colbert, who is…
Some Democrats are asking: Isn’t Richard Moore’s campaign too negative? Won’t he suffer a backlash for attacking Beverly Perdue? The answers are no and no. For nearly thirty years, since the onset of negative TV ads, I’ve heard the same arguments: “People won’t believe those attacks.” “Voters don’t like negative ads. You need to stay…
Merle Haggard of “Okie From Muskogee” fame has broken with the Republican Party. His reason: “they’re all about fear.” Fear of terrorists. Fear of illegal immigrants. Stirring fear – not inspiring hope – is the Republicans’ only hope for 2008. But I watched Democrats try to sell fear throughout the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was…
Speaking of Hillary, her opponents and detractors are growing more frustrated every day. Obama is losing the fresh luster he once had. And Edwards is reduced to arguing electability: that he’s the only Democrat who can carry a red state. But I don’t think Democrats are looking for freshness or electability. They’re looking for a…
Just about everything people read and hear about growth in Raleigh is bad: The School Board can’t cope with growth, the Water Company can’t cope with growth, the streets are clogged, the politicians say they have to keep raising taxes and borrowing money to pay for growth. Growth has caused such a myriad of problems…
Raleigh’s developer community is already looking for a political savior. Looking overseas, in fact. They’re talking up Jim Cain, currently U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. Their scenario is that Cain returns from his pressing foreign-policy duties in Copenhagen, runs for mayor and restores what developers call “moderation” to City Hall. Not so fast. Cain would have…
Republicans, a few years ago, were a force in City politics. But no more. Today, Democrats hold six City Council seats, one is held by an Independent who might as well be a Democrat and only one seat is held by a Republican. What happened? In the 1990’s Republicans were elected Mayor and to the…
Governor Easley emerges from the Mansion to tell municipal officials we’re facing a drought emergency, but he doesn’t declare a state of emergency. City officials say they’re already taking action. Raleigh’s City Council waits until after the elections to take up a ban on all outdoor watering. Meanwhile, the sprinklers and hoses keep running. And…
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…