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Carter Wrenn posted on April 11, 2013 14:52
Years ago some crafty Democratic gnome sitting cloistered in a cell pouring over reams of demographics (trying to figure out the political inclinations of people who didn’t vote) had a revelation: If those folks did vote, a lot more Democrats were going to get elected.
Now, in a way, that sounds odd (after all, How could he know?) but as far as political theory goes he was standing on rock-solid ground. Demographics seldom lie.
Of course there was no way to keep an earthshaking fact like that secret – word of the gnome’s discovery quickly reached Democratic legislators. About the kindest thing to say about what happened next is: Those legislators started passing laws to help themselves get elected – they passed a ‘motor-voter’ law so that every time anyone over eighteen years old applied for a driver’s license they were also handed a voter registration form. But, to the Democrats’ chagrin, while registration soared, most of the new voters never even bothered to go to the polls.
It was a setback but the Democrats legislators took it in stride. They went back to work and tackled the problem from a different direction, writing a whole new set of laws – they passed ‘early voting’ and ‘same-day registration’ and ‘Sunday voting’ and, suddenly, in 2008 what they’d been dreaming of actually happened: Those non-voters flocked to the polls and for the first time in forty-eight years – in the same election – the Democrats elected a Governor, a U.S. Senator and the Democratic candidate for President won North Carolina.
The Democrats must have felt the Promised Land was within reach but then the unexpected happened: Republicans won the next two elections. Suddenly, Republicans were in control of the State House and Senate, and – the way they saw it – if Democrats could pass laws to elect Democrats, they could repeal them, or better still, add a few new laws to elect Republicans. They rolled out bills to repeal Sunday voting, end same-day registration, end straight-party voting and curtail early voting. Then proposed laws to make it tougher for college students to vote and to make absentee voting easier (since Republicans vote more often by absentee than Democrats).
There’s a kind of rough justice in all that but looked another way it’s also proof of an unkind truth: One bad deed begets another and, after that, it’s an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth with no remorse anywhere.
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Gary Pearce posted on April 11, 2013 08:00
Today I yield my time and space to Nation Hahn, my social-media guru and guide to all things New Politics. He’s one of the state’s bright talents and one of my prime hopes for the future. He offers a timely and telling warning to Democrats:
“Gary called for a Democratic Moses recently. It is an apt comparison because we are in the desert as far as the eye can see. Every time I see a key legislative debate it feels as if Senator Josh Stein and Representative Deborah Ross are largely alone in offering a counter narrative. It is disconcerting that we also have little infrastructure in place to allow Eric Mansfield, Cal Cunningham, Grier Martin, and others the ability to offer their response to the current actions of the folks on Jones Street.
“Beyond Moses, however, we need new ideas. I am concerned by the number of progressives who believe that the way that we will win in the future is to simply bash Art Pope, slam the Governor and the General Assembly as out of touch, and attack their ideas. Simply being a Cassandra ain’t going to cut it. We’ll be as disregarded as she was in the myths of old.
“We have to offer new ideas and a new narrative for North Carolina. And North Carolina isn’t alone — this is an issue in states across our country. After fifty years of gains created by progressives on the federal and state level we have retreated over the last fifteen years. We have found ourselves protecting our gains as they fall under an all out attack by conservatives which has led to a dramatic shift of our standing on the spectrum.
“Traditionally conservatives fought to defend and conserve, while progressives advocated for new ideas and bold solutions. That tradition has been turned on its head and that is one reason we’ve been losing of late. People are hurting economically in rural North Carolina, for example, and my fellow progressives have found themselves stuck defending the status quo while conservatives call for change. When you are hurting, a new idea, even if it is a bad idea, sounds better than the status quo.
“It is time that we move beyond the tired narratives and beyond simply calling for our progress to be protected. It is time to call for real progress once more. It is time to offer new ideas and reach for the brass ring. The genius of Governor Jim Hunt is that he always offered a bold vision for the future. I believe that many of us still turn to him for leadership because even now, more than a decade and two administrations removed from his last term, he still has bold new ideas for the future.
“It is time that we follow Hunt’s lead and develop the big ideas of the future. Otherwise, we’ll be an ineffective, marginalized Cassandra as the folks on Jones Street dramatically reshape our state.”
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Carter Wrenn posted on April 10, 2013 11:10
My grandmother used to say, ‘Idle hands are the devil’s workshop’ – and while legislators are waiting for the Senate to introduce its budget over in the General Assembly, they’re making a strong case that temptation and too much time on your hands is as deadly a combination as ever:
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One legislator sponsored a bill to make teaching cursive handwriting mandatory in public schools, saying teaching cursive would develop brain activity in third graders and help them read historical documents like the Constitution – which a Google search shows, is available in print on the Internet in 123,000 places.
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Two legislators declared the 1st Amendment (and the Freedom of Religion Clause) of the Constitution doesn’t apply to North Carolina, and that under the 10th Amendment, the legislature can nullify federal laws they don’t like – but they missed one crucial fact: The last time the state legislature tried to nullify the Constitution it didn’t work out too well.
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A Senator filed a bill to prohibit male students and female students from rooming together in dormitories at UNC – it’s hard to argue with that, but a better question to ask might be how on earth UNC ended up with a Chancellor who could be gulled into believing it made common sense to allow gay men to room with straight women in UNC dormitories?
So, with the time they had on their hands, legislators wrote bills that enraged women, nullified the Constitution, stimulated brain activity, separated gay men and straight women at UNC, and threatened FBI agents – is it any wonder (according to the latest polls) only 23% of the voters approve of the way the state legislature is doing its job?
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Gary Pearce posted on April 10, 2013 09:15
The more you hang around, the more things come back around. Like controversial Dix land transfers and privatizing the Department of Commerce.
At the dedication of N.C. State’s new Hunt Library last week, one visitor took note of a Duane Powell cartoon in Governor Hunt’s office. It poked fun at his hotly debated plan to transfer land from Dix to NCSU (for what become the Centennial Campus, a jewel for the school and one of the world’s most outstanding university research campuses.) That was in 1984, almost 30 years ago.
This week, Governor McCrory proposed privatizing the Department of Commerce. Exactly what Lt. Governor Bob Jordan proposed in 1988, exactly 25 years ago, when he was running against Governor Jim Martin.
By the way, Martin and his Republican allies denounced the idea then. They said it would hurt the industry-hunting efforts of the Department of Commerce (which Hunt had created in 1977).
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Gary Pearce posted on April 09, 2013 09:40
Ferrel Guillory & Co. at UNC J-School’s Program on Public Life have taken a discerning deep dive into the 2012 election results – and show why last year reversed the results of 2008 and what lies ahead.
The most interesting finding in the latest DataNet report is how Governor McCrory outperformed Mitt Romney among voters who normally vote Democratic, including urban voters, young voters, African-Americans and self-identified Democrats.
McCrory got 40 percent of voters age 18 to 29 and Romney, 32. Among African-Americans, McCrory won 13 percent and Romney, four. Among voters who identified themselves as a Democrat, McCrory got 15 percent and Romney, eight.
In urban areas (populations over 50,000), McCrory got 48 percent and Romney, 40. Obama won Mecklenburg and Wake counties by as many as 100,000 votes. McCrory won both counties.
McCrory’s performance was impressive. But there’s a warning here. If the Governor becomes seen as part of the Republican legislature’s war on young voters, minorities and cities, he risks losing his 2012 edge.
Another fascinating insight: In 2012, barely half of the state’s voters were native North Carolinians. Forty-nine percent were born elsewhere. According to the Data Net analysis: “Both Romney and McCrory won solid majorities among native North Carolinians and residents who moved in more than 10 years ago. However, among voters who arrived in the past 5-10 years, Obama got a landslide-majority of 62 percent. Among those relatively recent arrivals, McCrory held a 48-45 margin over Dalton.”
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Gary Pearce posted on April 08, 2013 08:43
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can rationalize doing what you said you’d never do, but it’s still hypocrisy.
“During his first campaign for governor in 2008, Republican Pat McCrory hammered his opponent, Bev Perdue, on her ties to major Democratic Party fundraisers on the state Board of Transportation. McCrory vowed repeatedly in 2008 that he would never appoint his campaign fundraisers to the transportation board if he was elected governor.”
Last week, McCrory appointed campaign fundraisers to the board.
Mike Smith of Raleigh, one of the DOT appointees, reported that he personally collected $106,000 for McCrory's 2012 campaign. A second appointee, Wilmington lawyer Mike Lee, reported raising $500.
Kim Genardo, the governor's communications director, defended the indefensible: "The spirit of the governor's comments five years ago were to condemn unethical behavior on the state Board of Transportation, not to impede people's rights to participate in the democratic process."
You see, it’s the “spirit” that counts. Indeed.
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Gary Pearce posted on April 06, 2013 10:43
A TAPster and Jones Street veteran urges us to remain calm:
“Democrats and other doomsayers who believe our state is on the brink of a GOP-led apocalypse should be reassured by encouraging signs from Jones Street.
“House leaders used good judgment by making it clear that legislation to establish a state religion was DOA. And, a thorough debate on scuttling the state’s renewable energy requirements revealed that some GOP members are actually thinking for themselves and questioning some of their colleagues’ narrow-minded ideas.
“It’s easy to introduce a bill but very difficult to pass one. The crazy stuff introduced by newbie Republicans gets a lot of headlines, but every crazy idea faces an arduous legislative journey regardless of who is the sponsor.
“So, it will be interesting to see if legislative leaders subtly impose obstacles on the Crazy Caucus, and if this is the start of an encouraging trend to gently shift the focus toward jobs and the economy and away from so many crazy, divisive social issues.”
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Gary Pearce posted on April 05, 2013 09:41
Roy, who died this week, was one of North Carolina’s great reporters and editors. He was founding editor of the Fayetteville Times. Back in the 1960s, he was a political reporter at The News & Observer – and a classic newsroom character.
Terse and sardonic, Roy would stalk in late in the day and go into a manic two-fingered typing trance, turning out page after page of copy. He had more sources and more scoops than any reporter in Raleigh.
In those days, Under the Dome ran on page one every day. It was a place for rumors, trial balloons and gossip that would never get in the paper today. Legend had it that Roy made up some of the items but, to give them credibility, would walk over to Capitol Square, mutter to himself: “I heard such-and-such today,” then go to the newsroom and write, “It was heard on Capitol Square today that ….”
One governor’s press secretary told of a particularly effective technique Roy used. He would stalk into a state official’s office, sit down across the desk and … say absolutely nothing. He would sit silently and stare at his poor prey. The silence was unnerving. Soon his victim would start talking, anything to ease the tension. Before long Roy would have a Dome item, some inside poop or a front-page exclusive.
Roy left the N&O to work in Skipper Bowles’ campaign for Governor in 1972. After Skipper lost, Roy went to Fayetteville to start the Times, and he offered me a job. I said no because I didn’t want to move to Fayetteville. But I thought so much of Roy I thought about it hard.
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Gary Pearce posted on April 03, 2013 11:15
Lost in the desert, North Carolina Democrats should learn from scripture and history that you need a Moses to lead you to the Promised Land.
In 1948, Kerr Scott led the farmers’ revolt against the bankers and utilities executives who ran things. In 1960, Terry Sanford mobilized the WWII vets against Luther Hodges’ conservatives and Beverly Lake’s segregationists. In 1976, Jim Hunt led the comeback four years after Democrats’ worst defeat ever (to that point). In 1992, he led another comeback eight years after a worse defeat.
Same thing in the legislature. The now-disgraced Jim Black led House Democrats back to power after 1994. Marc Basnight and Tony Rand built a lasting machine in the Senate, so powerful it elected two governors before collapsing in 2010.
Republicans, too. But they had behind-the-scenes leaders instead of candidates. In the 1970s, Tom Ellis envisioned a national conservative movement. He and Carter build the Congressional Club, which elected a President and U.S. Senate candidates through 1990. About that time, Art Pope put his money and mind behind an ambitious, long-term strategy to take control of state government, which he did in 2010 and 2012.
History is replete with examples. The civil rights movement needed Martin Luther King. The anti-Vietnam movement needed Al Lowenstein. The conservative movement needed Ronald Reagan. The New Democrats movement needed Bill Clinton. Today’s Democratic coalition needed Barack Obama.
North Carolina Democrats may wander in the desert until they find their Moses.
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Gary Pearce posted on April 02, 2013 10:25
A TAPster offers these observations on “the nasty civil war between the legislature and cities, now manifesting itself in high-profile fisticuffs over the Charlotte airport authority and the fate of the Dix property in Raleigh," as follows:
“First, there have been other disputes like this over the years. Charlotte leaders (including the former mayor and now current Governor McCrory) stayed frustrated for years with former Senate leader Marc Basnight, whom they viewed as an eastern North Carolina rube who had no concept of the challenges of their great city. He wouldn’t send money for transportation projects, much less visit.
“Meanwhile, legislative leaders -- whose core ideology is a disdain for a powerful central government and a passion for John Locke’s theories of individual freedom in civic, economic and religious life -- have abandoned those principles to use their new-found power and authority to micromanage the affairs of local governments.
“Finally, the politics of this mess will be revealed if these issues come to a vote. If the local legislative delegations are split (especially among the GOP members) and the issues advance anyway, then it’s a sign that the legislative leadership has run amok and thinks it is the boss of everybody. If, however, the delegations are unified, then it will be up to voters to decide whether their representatives in Raleigh are reflecting local values or they are mere vassals of the new king in town.”
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Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The Charlotte Observer says: “Carter Wrenn and Gary Pearce don’t see eye-to-eye on many issues. But they both love North Carolina and know its politics inside and out.”
Carter is a Republican.
Gary is a Democrat.
They met in 1984, during the epic U.S. Senate battle between Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt. Carter worked for Helms and Gary, for Hunt.
Years later, they became friends. They even worked together on some nonpolitical clients.
They enjoy talking about politics. So they started this blog in 2005.
They’re still talking. And they invite you to join the conversation.
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