New Slogan for NC?

The way things are going, Pat McCrory will have to change North Carolina’s new branding slogan from “Nothing Compares” to “Nobody Comes to NC.” While the Governor and his media minions are freaking out over the Hate Bill 2 media frenzy, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is making hay. This week Deal, a Republican, vetoed a…

Read More

McCrory lays an Easter egg

If you’re not mad at Pat McCrory about the pick-on-LGBT-people bill, try this: Over Easter, his administration has ordered state troopers to ticket people going 56 in a 55 mph zone or 71 in a 70 mph zone. Forget about drunk drivers, texting drivers and truly reckless drivers. Let’s crack down on old farts like…

Read More

McCrory caves to the bullies

Pat McCrory is like the schoolboy who knows it’s wrong for the bullies to pick on the weak kid. But instead of standing up, he goes along with the bullies. It is an absolute failure of moral leadership. Republicans can spin it how they will, but this is about picking on politically vulnerable people to get…

Read More

Womb Police

Republicans are right: Our freedoms and liberties are at risk from an overly intrusive, overreaching government. Like the Republican-controlled government in North Carolina that requires doctors who perform an abortion after the 16th week of pregnancy to send an ultrasound to state officials. That’s kind of creepy, when you think about it. Are the DHHS…

Read More

No holiday for campaigns

A year from now, either Roy Cooper’s team or Pat McCrory’s team will be sifting through resumes for the next administration. The losers will be polishing their own resumes. Right now, both teams are deep in the same two struggles: raising millions of dollars and wrestling for control of the debate. Soon, we’ll know whether…

Read More

Cooper’s critics get it wrong

Roy Cooper caught flak from the left when he said Washington should pause before admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees and make sure we balance humanitarianism with security. He’s right, and his critics are wrong. And it’s not a case of “he had to do it politically.” It’s the right thing to do. Period. It’s wrong for…

Read More

Feeling the heat

Governor McCrory is in hot water, and his spokesman sounds like a teapot on a hot stove. Democratic Rep. Larry Hall said of Prison-Gate, “It’s obvious they went to great lengths to ensure this contractor had special access and opportunity. There’s a pay-to-play, quid pro quo way of doing business that’s happening right now.” Josh…

Read More

The Soiling of the Governor 2015

“Very bad decision. Sorry, but this will soil our Gov…” – Secretary of Public Safety Frank Perry The amateurishness of Governor McCrory’s office is chronic and sometimes comic, but now it has veered dangerously close to serious trouble. The Governor’s fierce counterattack against the N&O story (“McCrory brokered meeting on contract for friend and campaign…

Read More

Roy rolls in

Some political pros believe that nothing in a campaign consumes more time and energy and produces less value than the announcement. But Roy Cooper showed Monday how a well-designed and well-executed announcement can launch a campaign on the right trajectory. Not least of all, Cooper got several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of free TV time…

Read More

Left out

At least Democrats left out of the budget process have company: Governor McCrory. Lobbyists report that, just like them, McCrory was calling around last weekend trying to find out what was in the budget. It wasn’t just that he had no impact. He had no information. Never has a Governor had so little clout with…

Read More