Lost
The Republican Party has lost its ability govern. In states and in Washington, the GOP is passing laws hurting the people it’s supposed to serve and preventing government from functioning effectively. They’ve built an unsustainable coalition that relies on exploiting...
Ahead of his time
Pat McCrory just can’t help himself. He’s going to say what he thinks sounds good regardless if it’s true or not. That might be alright telling tall tales around the campfire, but it doesn’t work when you’re the sitting governor talking to an audience of thousands. On...
Democrats need to expand the playing field
Last night, Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for president. He’s won only 40% of the votes cast in the GOP primaries. About 65% of the country views him unfavorably. In presidential years, the top of the ticket almost always sets the pace of the election. In...
A better candidate
Here’s my bet. Hillary Clinton turns out to be a far better general election candidate than most people think. She’s struggled in the primary this year as she did in 2008. Fighting Republicans, though, is a whole different matter. Nobody has more experience. The...
Do your job
I really don’t understand Republicans’ Congressional strategy. The whole country is mad at Congress for being ineffective and incompetent and they still won’t do their jobs. Instead, of announcing he’s doing something, Richard Burr yesterday told us he’s not going to...
Another bad idea
What a lousy idea. Republicans in the state Senate want to put House Bill 2 up for a referendum. We’re not a referendum state and it won’t solve anything. It might make matters considerably worse. If the bill is put up for a vote of the people, it will either be a...
Snowballs, dog whistles, and referendums
Republicans just can’t seem to untangle themselves from House Bill 2. It started out as a bill about which bathrooms transgender people can use. It quickly became about discrimination and government overreach. Now, with companies opting out of the state, organizations...
Phil Berger and our cultural education
Much to his chagrin, President Pro-tem Phil Berger and his so-called “bathroom bill” have started a national conversation about transgender people. Berger thought he had an easy target: a group of socially marginalize people with little political clout. He could pass...
HB2 on the presidential stage
North Carolina continues to impress. Our much-debated discrimination bill made it into the GOP presidential contest. Donald Trump came out against HB2 while Ted Cruz came out in support. Trump said that the state should have left it alone. “People go, they use the...
International embarrassment
The contrast in headlines was stark. The Washington Post read, “Britain issues warning for LGBT travelers visiting North Carolina and Mississippi.” WRAL said “Berger says HB2 won’t be repealed.” Two things are clear: North Carolina is now an international...
