A Bigger Swamp…

Unless you happen to be one of the half-dozen people in Raleigh who do not own a television you’ve figured out by now that both sides in the Presidential race mean to do whatever it takes to win. This virulent outbreak of no holds barred politics has some folks worried we’ve stumbled into a kind…

Read More

Non-Conventional View

A TAPster who is no fan of the party conventions offers this:   “Two thoughts as we enter two tedious weeks of convention blather:   “First, the hurricane harassing the Republican National Convention is further proof that Southern small-town wind-blown burgs like Tampa and Charlotte have no business hosting big-time conventions. What self-respecting convention city…

Read More

Changing the Subject

Since he picked Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has been talking about: Medicaid cuts, budget cuts, taxes (his and ours), Bain Capital, Obamacare, abortion and, now, birth certificates. None of which address undecided voters’ number-one concern: jobs and the economy.   There seems to be a simple message for Romney in this campaign: “The economy is…

Read More

Candidate K?

Bucky Waters may be a great basketball analyst, but he should stay away from politics. And Coach K should ignore him.   Waters recently opined that Mike Krzyzewski had achieved everything he could in sports and should move on to politics: “I’d like to see him go to Washington. We desperately need leaders. Desperately.” The…

Read More

Politics Imitates Film

I had just seen “The Campaign,” which appears loosely based on Fayetteville and the 7th District, when I saw a commercial for the real Democratic incumbent, Mike McIntyre.   In the movie, Cam Brady (Will Ferrell, looking spookily like John Edwards) stands proudly for “America, Jesus and freedom.”   McIntyre’s ad, which lasts an interminable…

Read More

Stand Your Ground, Rep. Akin

Rep. Todd Akin shouldn’t pull out (pardon the expression) of the Missouri Senate race.   First of all, he is the Democratic Party’s best bet to keep control of the United States Senate. So stand up to all those weaklings in the GOP, Todd! Stand up for what you believe!   Second, Akin may have…

Read More

The Breaking Point

The other day Gary wrote “Why They Lie” about the election in 1984 when Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms were duking it out and how elbow throwing was acceptable in that campaign but outright lying was taboo – that was one line both Helms and Hunt feared to cross. Because they’d pay a price.  …

Read More

Walmart Shoppers

Rob Christensen’s column about “Walmart Moms” shows that this election is more about personalities and less about Medicare, the debt, competing budget plans, taxes or any of the issues that animate the media and political chatter.   The focus groups Christensen went to focused not on “issues,” but on personal impressions of the candidates and…

Read More

Crisis at Chapel Hill

UNC-Chapel Hill’s biggest mistake in handling its academic scandal: Treating it as a PR problem (“How do we put a stop to these stories?”) instead of a leadership problem (“How do we find out what happened and make sure it never happens again?”).   The Jim Martin investigation is a good step. But way past…

Read More

Too Good to be True?

It doesn’t take a great deal to turn a fellow’s head – a blonde whispering in his ear, unexpected praise from a stranger, a new sports car. Humility’s hard to come by and harder still to hold onto which, I guess, is one reason the Good Lord made the world such a difficult place to…

Read More