Archive for August 2008
Upside-Down Election
The first campaign I worked in was Jim Hunt’s first race for Governor in 1976. Jimmy Carter was the Democratic candidate for President. He carried North Carolina, and we had the national political wind at our backs. That was the last time. Every presidential year since then, I have watched – and tried to help…
Read MoreJohn Edwards
John Edwards has told ABC News he had an affair with Rielle Hunter. It will be on Nightline tonight. Now, as I’m sure you have, I’ve seen folks get knocked down flat on their backs and get kicked while they’re still lying there. It’s just plain mean. Also, after all this hit the airwaves I…
Read MoreThe Crown Prince of Charlatans
One moment Barack Obama sounds like a wild-eyed liberal who’s out to “save the planet” from the icecaps melting – the next he’s turning around and coming out for offshore drilling. One moment John McCain sounds like a two-fisted independent and maverick – but at the same time down in the bowels of McCain Central…
Read MoreAggressive Democrats
It does my heart good to see Republicans fuming because North Carolina Democrats are playing hardball. First there was the ad raising questions about Pat McCrory – before McCrory could introduce himself to voters across the state. Now there is a new ad from the DSCC with this tagline about Elizabeth Dole: “Not as effective…
Read MoreMcCain’s Only Hope
The low road is the only road to the White House for John McCain. So he’s riding it hard. Mr. Straight-Talk-Let’s-Clean-Up-Politics has shed the last shred of his old skin. He’s turned his campaign over to the Karl Rove snakes who slimed George W. Bush’s old enemies – John Kerry and, oh yes, John McCain…
Read More…And How to Beat It
The low-road strategy beat Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry. But not Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. And maybe not Barack Obama. Here’s why. Dukakis, Gore and Kerry reinforced – with their own performances – the portrait that Republican slime-masters drew of them. Lee Atwater painted Dukakis as a wuss. And Dukakis wussed out…
Read MoreI Know Nuthink
When the national Democratic Party poured a whopping $6.5 million into her campaign, Kay Hagan was shocked. Just shocked. She knew nothing about it. The millions of dollars that fell from the sky like manna from heaven were a complete surprise. But, now, Beverly Perdue has done her one better. After raising hundreds of thousands…
Read MoreEdwards Vs. The Enquirer
John Edwards’ political career began after the death of his first child. Will it end after the birth of another child? A once-strong Edwards supporter posed that question the other day. She, like other supporters, is nervous about the “love child” story. Edwards said it’s “tabloid trash.” That’s not enough. If the story is not…
Read MoreDitch the Ruby Slippers
The Ruby Slippers have been Kay Hagan’s gimmick – a way to say Elizabeth Dole is really from Kansas, not North Carolina. Memo to Kay: Put the slippers back in the closet. Negative attacks don’t work when they appear personal or irrelevant. The slippers are both. And negative attacks backfire if the shoe fits you…
Read MoreGeorge Bush Vs. Paris Hilton
Imagine this: A pollster-guru-political whiz sitting in McCain’s headquarters turning pages, staring at statistics, searching to find someone in America who is less popular than George Bush stops, looks up and says two words: “Paris Hilton.” The young Republican males sitting across the table — who have cut their teeth in the ‘voters are idiots’…
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