It’s Not Complex. It’s Simple.

Last spring an old friend, a pollster, came to Raleigh and predicted without blinking Romney was going to win and I said, Why’s that? and he said, It’s simple. A lot of people who voted for Obama last time won’t vote for him again but I don’t know anyone who voted for McCain who is…

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Should Newby Recuse Himself on Redistricting?

Looking at the big money backing Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby, a knowledgeable lawyer warns: “There would seem little doubt now but that Justice Newby will have to recuse himself from any redistricting case that might come before the high court.”   The lawyer says Newby may also have to recuse himself from cases involving…

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The Ultimate X Factor

Sandy is about to blow away – literally – everything we think we know about this presidential election. Soon it will all be up in the air – or under water.   There is no way to exaggerate the impact of a storm that covers 500 miles, hits 50 million people and lasts for days.…

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Moderate Mitt

The presidential race turned around when Mitt Romney turned into a moderate in the first debate.   Who knows if he is really the moderate of October or the “severe conservative” of the primaries? My guess is that he’s an unprincipled son of privilege who, like George Bush, is trying to live up to an…

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McGovern, Helms and Hunt

For an epic election loser, George McGovern had a big impact on North Carolina politics. Like Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt.   If not for McGovern’s landslide loss to Richard Nixon in 1972, North Carolina never would have had a Senator Helms. The Nixon tide swept Helms into Washington. It also brought a Republican, Jim…

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Pretty is as Pretty Does

I’d just finished breakfast and opened the newspaper when a dyed-in-the-wool yellow dog Democrat crossed the restaurant, sat down across the table and said, ‘That new ad of Paul Newby’s makes him look like a fool.’   He was talking about the Newby Super PAC ad – which has hound dogs braying in hot pursuit…

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Goldman’s Sacks

Debra Goldman seems to be an equal-opportunity 911 caller. She apparently has called the police now about two fellow board members. This on top of dozens of calls to her Cary home in recent years.   If she gets elected State Auditor, the police may need to build a substation at her office.   No wonder…

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No Contrition in Sight Anywhere

The election in North Carolina has moved from old fashioned elbow-throwing into a more interesting topic – sex.   When she lived in Pennsylvania Debra Goldman was a volunteer firefighter – then she moved to Raleigh, ran for School Board, won in the Republican sweep in 2009 and now she’s running for State Auditor.  …

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GOP Follies and Fantasies

Democrats who worry about GOP control of state government can take heart: It won’t last long, judging from the Goldman-Malone mess.   It turns out that Republican Party leaders knew the whole tawdry and titillating tale, but still cleared the field for the School Board Soap Opera stars to run for higher office.   What…

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Third Graders

It made all the newspapers: Last week Mitt Romney announced he’s pulling staffers out of North Carolina, where he now has a lead, to send them to Ohio where the race is closer. It was perfectly rational. Romney has a little breathing room in North Carolina so he’s moving few people to another state he…

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