The GOP’s gift of Gab
Two days ago, Republicans in Connecticut sent out a mailer depicting a Jewish Democrat as money grubbing. It reminded me of the pieces sent out in North Carolina saying Democrats are “not one of us” because they have “New York liberal values.” It’s all a bunch of dog...
Election Day vote and unaffiliated voters will tell the tale
This year in North Carolina, it’s all about the unaffiliated voters. They’re voting as a larger proportion of the electorate than they have in past midterms and how they break will likely determine the outcome of the election. If they break for Republicans, they could...
The GOP’ dishonest closing argument
Trump and the GOP have decided on their closing argument for the 2018 campaign. They’re banking that they can further fire up or scare the Republican base into the polls by fanning the flames of bigotry against immigrants. They’ve created a horror story of an...
It’s not both sides and it’s time for conservatives to speak up
Shortly after the arrest of the MAGA bomber, I went to Facebook to see what my Facebook focus group of conservatives friends was saying. Before the arrest, I saw lots of posts guessing that the bombs sent to Democrats was a false flag operation. They were sure that...
The problem with racists
Ahead of the election, racial tension and violence is increasing. And it’s not both sides. It’s one. The Republican Party has used racist dog whistles for decades to motivate a portion of their base. Now, since the rise of Trump, they’re more like referees’ whistles,...
A lot of motivated voters
Watching the early vote numbers in North Carolina, I don’t see the makings of a wave election—at least not in the sense of one party gaining a huge majority over the other. We’re certainly having a swell as to the number of people showing up at the polls. While Dr....
Scaring the base to the polls
Donald Trump and the Republicans have found their scare tactic to drive turnout in the midterm election. A caravan of immigrants from Central America is moving through Mexico heading north. Trump warns of MS-13 gang members and Middle Eastern terrorists, though...
Voting with a vengeance
I think all bets are off for this election cycle. Early voting across the country is at record highs. In North Carolina, the early vote numbers track closer to 2016 than 2014. This year, turnout should be at a twelve year low. With nothing at the top of the ticket,...
Dog whistling
For most of my career, when we did mail pieces criticizing our opponents, we had substantiation for our accusations. We could argue whether the hit was fair or not, but that's politics. We always had proof to back up our claims and the Republicans had evidence to back...
Political environment shifts toward Democrats as early voting begins
In-person early voting began yesterday to large numbers compared to years past. According to Jonathan Kappler over at the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation (NCFREF), 132,814 voted yesterday compared to 121,209 who voted on the first day of early voting in...
