Advantage Hagan
A poll by the conservative Civitas Institute shows trouble ahead for Republicans. The poll only tested voters who are registered unaffiliated, but within that group are the bulk of the swing voters in North Carolina. It’s just one poll but the responses are...
Trickle down statistics
North Carolina Republicans have a problem with their statistics bumping into reality. We’ve been hearing about the Carolina Comeback and our dramatic drop in the unemployment rate. Unfortunately, nobody’s feeling it. In reality, our job growth is barely keeping up...
North Carolina Exceptionalism
It seems the Democratic narrative about the GOP take over of North Carolina is getting under John Hood’s skin. In an op-ed piece in the News & Observer, he wrote that liberals have a fairy tale view of North Carolina that he calls North Carolina Exceptionalism. He...
Moffitt’s profits and plagiarism
You could see this one coming. When Republican state Rep. Tim Moffitt formed a company to sell web sites to his Republican colleagues, trouble was sure to follow. Now it has. Moffitt’s company plagiarized copy on websites they sold to his fellow House members. They...
Another rookie mistake
Thom Tillis is a man who can’t get out of his own way. In the debate, he looked more comfortable than Kay Hagan and stuck to his talking points. He should be feeling good. So why did he refer to her as “Kay”? I don’t believe he did it to demean her. I think he...
Who she is
As everybody has already said, last night’s debate changed very little. Both candidates did what they needed to do--not screw up--and they pretty much kept to their respective scripts. Tillis tried to wrap Hagan around Obama and Hagan tried to wrap Tillis around the...
When Obamacare becomes a liability for Republicans
Republicans’ rational for refusing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act just keeps getting thinner. Originally, they thought they could hamstring the new law and force its repeal or restructuring. If a few million people missed out on health care, so be...
And they’re off! What Hagan and Tillis need to do post Labor Day
Labor Day is over and election season officially kicks into high gear. As if to welcome it, Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan meet in the their first debate tomorrow night. While only a few people may actually watch the debate, the press will. Through that prism, people will...
Polling, pragmatism and the GOP
For years, the Democrats who controlled the legislature polled the electorate at least once a year. They weren’t asking horse race questions. They were trying to gauge the mood of the people who decided elections to help shape their legislative agenda and their...
Improving environment for Democrats
If the Democrats hold onto the Senate this year, we’ll hear a lot about the brilliant Koch brothers strategy. But I would argue that it will have more to do with the mood of the electorate. Very simply, the national political environment is slowly but steadily...
