Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
I had resisted Beto-hype. I resist any hype about the next JFK-RFK-Obama. Then an old Democratic war horse (older than me, even!) called a few days before the election. He was watching Beto O’Rourke on MSNBC. “Check out Beto!” he enthused. “He’s our hope for 2020!” I still resisted, because the experts predicted Ted Cruz…
Read MoreThe Friday night before the election, walking to a table in a restaurant, I stopped to say hello to a lady I’ve known for years, and she asked, Well, tell me – what’s going to happen Tuesday? That was the question everyone was asking that week but, of course, there was no answer – so…
Read MoreGovernor Cooper has won the veto twice now. This year, he broke the Republican supermajority. More than 20 years ago, he helped pass the veto in the first place. Former Governor Jim Hunt reminded me of how that happened. Before 1995, North Carolina was the only one of the 50 states where the governor didn’t…
Read MoreYesterday I described how, when President Trump goes on a tear, Democratic activists go a little crazy and morph into mirror images of Trump only on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Just before the election Trump tweeted, I’m a nationalist, ok? I’m a nationalist. Then at a White House press conference a PBS…
Read MoreThe Judge had two things to say about Trump: “He’s a con man. And he’ll cause a constitutional crisis by Christmas.” The Judge grew up and still lives in his hometown in Eastern North Carolina. He’s been in politics and the law all his life. He’s seen a lot of politicians and a lot of…
Read MoreWe knew George Holding’s race for Congress would be close a year ago and, three months ago, George actually trailed in the polls by three points – then a month before the election the unexpected struck. When an election’s over it’s human nature for people to say, I did this, or, I did that –…
Read MoreBeto O’Rourke’s strong race in Texas has Democrats buzzing, about Beto and the state’s changing politics. For insight, I turned to my politically astute brother-in-law in Texas, Tillman Cooley. He allowed me to share this note, which he wrote to his grandkids: All my life I have generally voted Republican. I live in a very…
Read MoreYes, Governor Roy Cooper was a big winner in the 2018 elections. He also was the big reason for Democrats’ big wins – in the legislature, in the courts and against the Republicans’ power-grabbing constitutional amendments. There are two lessons here. First, never underestimate a Governor’s ability to energize and mobilize his party. Second, never…
Read MoreDemocrats should be smiling big today, in North Carolina and across the nation. They should be optimistic about 2020 and beyond. Above all, there are now checks on Trump in Washington and Republicans in Raleigh. Trump now faces Speaker Pelosi, a Democratic House and investigative bloodhounds instead of toothless lapdogs. Governor Cooper has a real…
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The tumult and the shouting dies; The Captains and the Kings depart: Still stands Thine ancient…
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Bert Bennett of Winston-Salem, the legendary political godfather to Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, had a…
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This is bad. Bad for America and for the world. Bad for women, for immigrants, for…
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