Searching for the center
Last night, Joe Biden gave one of the least partisan State of the Union addresses in recent memory. He repeatedly mentioned bipartisanship, praising the Republicans for their co-operation on things like the infrastructure bill. Most of the his applause lines got...
Roots of Russian aggression
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Russia, but almost 40 years ago, I took a bunch of Russian history classes in college. I was more interested in Russia in the 20th century, but I learned enough to see patterns emerge that go back centuries. While a lot of...
Ukraine presents Biden an opportunity
The first text came from my son during school hours back on February 8. “Ukraine is going to war with Russia?” It sparked a conversation about international policy and spurred my son to start following the growing tensions. After Russia invaded, I got another text....
Instigators and enablers
Earlier this week, the three men who chased down Ahmaud Arbery and killed him were convicted of hate crimes in federal court. They are already serving long sentences, including life without parole for two of them, for his killing after convictions in state courts. The...
Jeff Jackson should run for NC-14
When Jeff Jackson ended is race for U.S. Senate, he did so with class. He laid on a heavy endorsement of Cherie Beasley and he left her a wide lane while Republicans are battling out a tough primary. Now, he should run in the new NC-14 that covers much of Mecklenburg...
Cheering for a pyrrhic victory
By noon today, we’ll have an answer as to whether a three-judge panel of Superior Court judges accepts the maps drawn by the legislature. The panel could reject them and draw their own or they could accept alternative maps drawn by other parties. Regardless, the...
Require competitive districts
Last week, I wrote a piece urging Democrats to accept the Congressional maps drawn by Republicans in the legislature. My argument centered on the competitiveness of the districts. Four of the new districts would be highly competitive. That’s more contested seats than...
Competition is good
Yesterday, the legislature passed a Congressional map that gives Democrats four safe seats, Republicans six safe seats, and four that are somewhat competitive. Of the competitive districts, Biden won one and Trump won three, but Roy Cooper won all four. According to...
A trolling map
Late last night, North Carolina House Republicans released a new version of Congressional districts. It’s a trolling map. Republicans give Democrats four safe seats and keep one competitive. Republicans will retain nine solidly GOP districts. The map puts Orange...
Suffering through air travel
Back in December, United Airlines offered direct, round-trip flights from RDU to San Francisco for $275. I had enough miles to pay for two tickets and bought another other so I could take my two younger kids to see California, because, to paraphrase Tom Waites, I...
