Same fight, different year?
Some Republicans in North Carolina seem poised to make a classic post-victory mistake. They are interpreting their win this year as a validation of their policies. They should be more concerned with the obvious dissatisfaction voters showed toward the overreach of...
What went right for Democrats in North Carolina
There’s been a bit of gnashing of teeth among North Carolina Democrats over the election results. A number of people bemoaned the make up of the electorate. They seem to believe that a more progressive campaign with a more grassroots feel could have changed who voted,...
Hagan 2016?
There’s already speculation that Kay Hagan might run against Richard Burr in 2016. I think it’s more coming from pundits and Democratic operatives than from Hagan herself. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting proposition. My first question is, why would she want to go...
Thom Tillis interior designs
Who knew? Not only is Thom Tillis the Senator-elect from North Carolina, he’s also an interior designer. At the same time he's measuring drapes for his new Senate office, he’s taking down the ones in the building where he used to work. Seems Tillis authorized a...
The most purple of states
At the end of the 2013 legislative cycle, Democrats felt sure there was a backlash brewing against the Republicans in the legislature. Moral Monday protests riled the Democratic base and captured the imagination of the national media, particularly MSNBC and the New...
Obama couldn’t have saved the Democrats
Contrary to what so many Democrats would like to believe, Kay Hagan and the Democrats could not have saved themselves by wrapping themselves around Obama’s accomplishments. On the contrary, when Obama told an audience that even though he wasn’t on the ballot, his...
The troll under American Bridge
I’ve been a critic of the Democratic super PACs’ Koch brothers obsession for months. So I wasn’t surprised when a reporter called asking for a comment on a memo released by American Bridge, the research arm of those super PACs, touting the success of attacking the...
Kudos to the Hagan campaign
In the aftermath of the election, a lot of Democrats were quick to pile on the Hagan campaign. Most people complained that it was an ugly campaign defined by negative advertisements and lacking any message that encouraged people to vote for Hagan. I called it a near...
What are you going to do for me?
In the aftermath of the election, a lot of liberals are angry at candidates who ran away from Barack Obama. They argue that Obama has been one of the most successful presidents in recent history. He saved the country from spiraling into a depression, he killed Bin...
What happened
Well, I missed in this election. I didn’t believe a Republican wave was coming but it did. Republicans won every contested US Senate race except New Hampshire and picked up a handful of Governors to boot. In North Carolina, the race looks very similar to the 2012...
