Redefining the Republican Party
Republicans in North Carolina are all lining up behind Donald Trump. Pat McCrory’s on board. So are nine of the ten GOP House members. Only Walter Jones is holding out. Richard Burr’s supporting him and Thom Tillis says any Republican who is not supporting Trump is a...
One for the history books
Today, Hillary Clinton is a controversial figure. She’s a rallying point for women who’ve been fighting for women’s rights and equality for the past 25 years. She’s been vilified by the left and right for everything from her honesty to her relationship with Wall...
It’s on! …And other news
Today, the school year ends and the general election campaign begins. Last night, Rep. Richard Hudson clinched the GOP nomination for the 8th Congressional District. He spent about $800,000 to garner just 16,305 votes and still lost three of the seven counties. If his...
American gerrymander
At the heart of American political dysfunction, and at the heart of what’s happened to North Carolina, is gerrymandering. With sophisticated technology and control of the redistricting process following a wave election in 2010, Republicans drew themselves districts...
The odds against Trump
I don’t believe Donald Trump will ever be president of the United States and neither should you. We will probably have a few uneasy days between now and November but Trump’s odds of overcoming structural obstacles in the electorate are daunting. And that’s not taking...
North Carolina TV ad buys
If you’re a political junkie like me, there’s a great web site run by the Sunlight Foundation called Political Ad Sleuth. It's a little clunky but it tells who is buying TV ads on which stations and when they are buying them. The information has always been public,...
A conservative alternative
Donald Trump is not going to be president. All of the talk about Trump settling down and becoming more presidential was just the dream of a few GOPers and media types who want a real horse race. Even with the nomination locked up, Trump is continuing to insult his...
Fund and fix the VA, don’t scrap it
My brother is a fully disabled veteran. He uses VA hospitals and over the years has had excellent service, better, he says, than he got in the private sector. He understands that VA hospitals have some serious problems. But he also knows that the answer is fixing the...
University of Non-Carolinian Carpetbaggers
I’ve been very hesitant to criticize UNC President Margaret Spellings. She hasn’t been in place long enough to judge her. Protests based on her past experience seemed, to me, unfair. I believe in judging people on what they’ve done, not what they might do. However,...
Offer hope, not fear, and compete
As I’ve been calling around the state talking to people about my campaign, I often get the refrain, “But those districts are gerrymandered. They’re safe Republican.” It’s a story that Democrats and analysts have been telling that’s just not true. Or at least it...
