Power Plays

These aren’t lofty matters of principle. They’re raw, partisan power politics.
 
In Wisconsin and New Jersey, the battles are between Republican governors and public employee unions.
 
In North Carolina, the battles are over voter IDs and – soon – redistricting.
 
Even Democrats who don’t like public employee unions see unions – and their money – as essential to winning election and regaining the ground lost in 2010.
 
Here, the voter ID battle could decide whether North Carolina truly is a battleground in 2012. If the bill is enacted, the Obama campaign could decide the state is out of reach and spend money and time elsewhere – Charlotte convention notwithstanding.
 
On redistricting, some Democrats fear party leaders have their heads in the sand and aren’t girding for battle the way Republicans are: like hiring Kieran Shanahan to draw new lines for the WakeCounty school board.
 
Will it be a replay of the Democratic “wuss” streak that hamstrung the party in the 1980s, when it knuckled under to bare-knuckled Republican politics nationally and in the state?
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Gary Pearce

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Power Plays

These aren’t lofty matters of principle. They’re raw, partisan power politics.
 
In Wisconsin and New Jersey, the battles are between Republican governors and public employee unions.
 
In North Carolina, the battles are over voter IDs and – soon – redistricting.
 
Even Democrats who don’t like public employee unions see unions – and their money – as essential to winning election and regaining the ground lost in 2010.
 
Here, the voter ID battle could decide whether North Carolina truly is a battleground in 2012. If the bill is enacted, the Obama campaign could decide the state is out of reach and spend money and time elsewhere – Charlotte convention notwithstanding.
 
On redistricting, some Democrats fear party leaders have their heads in the sand and aren’t girding for battle the way Republicans are: like hiring Kieran Shanahan to draw new lines for the WakeCounty school board.
 
Will it be a replay of the Democratic “wuss” streak that hamstrung the party in the 1980s, when it knuckled under to bare-knuckled Republican politics nationally and in the state?
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Gary Pearce

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