Archive for May 2010
A Primary Lesson
Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers, anti-Tea Partiers – everybody – found something to like in last week’s primaries across the country. I found a lesson in a special congressional election in Pennsylvania that applies to a congressional election in North Carolina – specifically, to the efforts by the State Employees Association of North Carolina to…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to Bill Randall – Part 4
Bill, Here is the fourth question. At the debate you were asked, Why are you the best candidate to defeat Brad Miller? You gave two reasons. Because, you said, no one could find any inconsistencies in your record and because you’d never pandered for votes. In your campaign video (on your website) you pledge…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to Bill Randall – Part 3
Bill, Here is the third question. At the debate you were asked, What would you cut to hold down government spending? Bernie Reeves answered that he would do what all small businessmen have learned to do when money is tight: Cut salaries – which promptly cost him the votes of any government employees in…
Read MoreA Bright Line
That didn’t take long. For all the Tea Party’s denials of racism, it took Tea Party poster boy Rand Paul about one news cycle to trip over race. The federal government, he says, has no business telling a business it can’t discriminate on the basis of race. Of course, he added, he…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to Bill Randall – Part 2
Dear Bill, Here is the second question about the debate. You were asked, Are you pro-life? Now most Republicans are pro-life – though they disagree on the best way to end abortion; some favor passing a Constitutional Amendment to make abortion illegal outright; others favor passing a Constitutional Amendment to let each state…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to Bill Randall
Dear Bill, At your debate with Bernie Reeves, when you were asked where you stood on tax reform and said, The Fair Tax, baby, and, second thing, get rid of the IRS. Not replace the IRS. Abolish it. That effective piece of political theatre evoked hurrahs and cheers – but it wasn’t…
Read MoreEndorsements and Establishments
Do endorsements matter? Not judging from Tuesday’s primaries. A candidate endorsed by President Obama loses a Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. A candidate endorsed by the Senate Republican leader – and the state’s senior Senator – loses the GOP primary in Kentucky. So how does Ken Lewis’ endorsement help Elaine Marshall? Well, it’s…
Read MoreA Conflict for Elaine Marshall?
Is there an inherent conflict in Secretary of State Elaine Marshall regulating lobbyists while running ads about “taking on” lobbyists? And is it proper for Marshall to ask lobbyists she regulates to contribute to her campaign? I’ve talked to several lobbyists who are outraged by what they see as a conflict, but are…
Read MoreThe Senate Race
Maybe I was wrong. After the primary, I didn’t see how Cal Cunningham could come from nine points back. Elaine Marshall’s campaign manager, Thomas Mills, is trying to cut off Cunningham’s cash by sending out a memo saying he can’t win. The Cunningham campaign is pushing back, trying to reload his donor base.…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences
I admire Roddy Jones, John Prestage and the 800 business and civic leaders they say have “responded to an invitation from former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan and Democracy North Carolina to form Campaign Donors for Campaign Reform.” In their op-ed “Urgent need for clean elections” in today’s N&O, they say that today’s “campaign financing…
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