Making the repulsive sympathetic
It takes a special kind of stupid to make Ann Coulter and Steve Bannon sympathetic characters, but that’s what protesters at the University of California at Berkeley are about to do. Coulter and Bannon are planning to join right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannapolous at...
Living in the sequel to a bad movie
Watching the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress is like watching a bad sequel to North Carolina 2013. Back then, Republicans roared into Raleigh with full control of state government. They had voting rights, immigrants, gun control, LGBT rights, and...
Dismantling a legacy of progress
Republicans have been bad for North Carolina, especially its reputation. For decades, the state was seen as a bastion of moderation that attracted industry, housed a world-class public university system, balanced development and environmental responsibility, and...
Traditional, white, Republican seeks same for discreet voting
Republicans are a party of white people. They have been for the past 50 years though they’re loath to admit it. What’s different now is that instead denying it, candidates are embracing it. Donald Trump owes his presidency to thinly veiled appeals to racists and white...
National poll reflects North Carolina divisions
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll looks at how and why the country is so divided. The findings clearly reflect the reality here in North Carolina. The fault lines fall mainly between rural and urban dwellers and educated and less-educated citizens. Globalization...
The hole in the middle
The country is most likely going through a major political alignment that will reshape American politics for another generation or so. We’ve been here many times before. Almost 40 years ago, Reagan’s conservative revolution ended the New Deal and Great Society era...
Driving a wedge between the base and the people who determine elections
For the first time in history, the percentage of Americans lacking health insurance dropped below 9% thanks to Obamacare. Twenty million more people have insurance than did before the Affordable Care Act. The program is more popular than ever and far more popular than...
Redistricting and the rural-urban divide
The redistricting debate in North Carolina brings into stark focus the rural-urban divide in the state. In his defense of legislative districts that give Republicans a veto proof majority in the state, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger argues that Democrats have...
Standing by their man
Republicans are like a battered spouse who refuses to leave the relationship. Donald Trump has insulted, humiliated and bashed them, but Republicans are sticking by their man. They’re sure that either he will change or they will change him. He won’t but they’re too...
The political legacy of white supremacy
On Friday, Republican Representative David Lewis cited a blog I wrote on the House floor to justify the gerrymandered districts he’s pushing. The quote he used said, “Democrats have basically ceded rural America, giving the GOP an advantage in district configurations...
