Archive for September 2012
How Politics Works
In the Senate race in Virginia George Allen debated Tim Kaine the other night and right off moderator David Gregory – thinking of Mitt Romney and the 47% – pointed out one million Virginians do not pay any taxes. Then asked Kaine, Do you believe everyone should pay something? In other words, he asked…
Read MoreHow About the Mossad?
From Singapore to Casablanca outside our embassies Muslims are rioting – so, exactly how much of the Muslim world is mad at us? Ten percent? Half? Ninety percent? Or, more to the point, how many Muslims agree that taking revenge for a YouTube video by murdering a diplomat who never saw or heard the video…
Read MoreThe Grit in the Gears
Mitt Romney’s getting pummeled for saying 47% of the voters will not support him because no one getting a check from the government’s going to vote for him over Obama. Even the conservative pundits are giving Romney the blazes. But while Romney was fumbling the facts he may also have put his finger…
Read MoreDalton’s Hope
Watching the Dalton and McCrory TV ads, you see the opening that Dalton could exploit if he has enough time and money. McCrory’s ads are content-free. Apparently, he’s going to solve unemployment and $4 gas by drilling everywhere under our feet and off the coast. And he’s responsible for Charlotte’s success. How would he…
Read MoreMr. Bowles Goes to Washington
Here’s betting that, whoever wins the presidential race, Erskine Bowles ends up in Washington. He’s being mentioned as Obama’s Secretary of Treasury. And wouldn’t Mitt Romney be smart to put Bowles – a Southern, Clinton Democrat – in a top position? Maybe Treasury, Budget Director or something out of the box like Defense? …
Read MoreThorp’s Mistake
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp made one mistake. When the News and Observer first asked him for Matt Kupec and Tami Hansbrough’s travel records, Chancellor Thorp said, I’ll get back with you. When he got back with them a week later he told them Kupec and Hansbrough had taken the trips together at the University’s…
Read MoreRomney Goes Negative – On the Voters
Mitt Romney is going to make me a sorry seer. I blog that he’s bound to come back, then he says the dumbest, most damaging and most unintentionally revealing thing I’ve heard in politics in ages. Romney’s “47 percent” remarks hurt him on so many levels. One, he’s wrong. I’m voting for Obama.…
Read MoreJohn Drescher Responds
N&O Executive Editor John Drescher retweeted my blog about UNC and the N&O, but took issue with another blog, in which a TAPster criticized the N&O for dedicating much of Sunday’s front page to a “40-year-old murder mystery.” Drescher responded: “At the moment, today’s MacDonald story is No. 3 on the newsobserver.com most-read list (which you…
Read MoreFearless Prediction
Everything is going wrong for the Romney campaign, but one thing is certain in politics: This too shall pass. So look for the story line to change dramatically at some point before the election. Election Day is seven weeks from today. That’s too long for the media to keep saying Romney is a terrible…
Read MoreThorp, UNC and the N&O
When I worked at the N&O eons ago, I remember seeing Bill Friday and several key aides frequently coming in to meet with then-Editor Claude Sitton and the editorial-page staff. Therein lies a lesson for UNC and Holden Thorp’s successor. In the end (see my blog last week), Thorp concluded he couldn’t hold on.…
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