Archive for September 2010
The Obama Voters
In 2004, George Bush beat John Kerry by 51-47 percent in the popular vote. Four years later, President Obama beat John McCain 50-49 among the same voters. A significant swing, but not huge. What gave Obama a landslide victory was the surge of new voters. Among people voting in 2008 for the first…
Read MoreThe Wrong Message
Gary, doggone it, itâs like âdéjà vu all over againâ â here you are [see below] attacking me for a TV ad. Canât a fellow even oppose the Ground Zero mosque without being called a bigoted skunk? And how did the folks opposing the mosque become the wicked, hard-hearted âdividersâ as opposed to the Iman…
Read MoreCarter’s ‘Victory Mosque’ Ad
Birds fly, fish swim and Carter Wrenn pushes the envelope to the edge. That’s what they do. Like him or not, Carter will boldly go where others fear to tread. He did it for Jesse Helms. He did it when he and Helms had a falling-out and Carter challenged the senator to disclose…
Read MoreJimmy Superior
Jimmy Carter’s latest gaffe – that his post-Presidency was “superior” to other ex-Presidents – struck me as deeply revealing. Carter’s work since leaving office 30 years ago has been both admirable and annoying – just like the man and his Presidency. If you weren’t there, it’s hard to realize what Carter meant when…
Read MorePolitics North Carolina Style
The state can’t afford to pay to care for mental patients, or elderly Medicaid patients who need in-home medical care; tuition is going up at the state universities and even though she raised taxes a billion dollars Governor Perdue is telling us we’re broke – so it comes as a surprise to hear state government’s…
Read MoreJFK, NC and Me
The N&O had a letter today and a guest column last week about John Kennedy’s campaign visit to North Carolina 50 years ago – September 1960. I had my own brush with history that day. Kennedy was campaigning with Terry Sanford, who was running for governor. Sanford had broken with most of the North…
Read MoreThe Republican Divide
In retrospect, the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District – Bernie Reeves versus Bill Randall – was a microcosm of what’s happening in the Republican Party nationally. It’s the Golfers versus the Grizzlies, the Country Clubbers versus the churchgoers, the K Street crowd versus the cul-de-sac crowd, the Establishment versus the pitchfork-carriers, the…
Read MoreSarah and John
Vanity Fair magazine has a scathing profile of Sarah Palin that sounds eerily familiar. Below are some of the articleâs characterizations of Palin. I ask you: What other well-known political figure does this sound like? âErratic behavior and a pattern of lyingâ¦â âSarah Palinâs connection with her audience is complete.â …
Read MoreNimrud’s Earrings
President Obama says the war’s over but according to the newspaper an odd problem has cropped up in Iraq: A 4,000 year old statue of King Entemena of Lagash has vanished. In fact it turns out over our seven years in Iraq a lot of antiquities have disappeared. Now when it comes to plunder…
Read MoreBarking Up the Wrong Tree
There’s an old cartoon that showed an owner fussing at his dog: “Bad dog, Rover. Don’t ever do that again, Rover. You know better, Rover. Bad dog, Rover.” Then the cartoon showed what the dog was hearing: “Blah, blah, Rover, blah, blah, blah, Rover, blah, blah, Rover.” I’m afraid that’s all the voters…
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