Power Plays
February 22, 2011 - by
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 Wake County 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?
Power Plays
February 22, 2011/
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 Wake County 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?