A hateful election

Barack Obama’s 2008 election was about hope. This one will be about hate. Two savvy political veterans, a Republican and a Democrat, agreed this week on one thing: a Trump-Clinton race will bring us historic levels of negativity, bitterness and, yes, hate. The Democrat added, “Hate is a greater motivator than love. It could be…

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Bernie, Donald and Our Depression

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are wildly different, but weirdly alike. Sanders was a wild-haired radical who became a white-haired “Democratic socialist” and is roiling the Democratic establishment. Trump was a weird-haired excess symbol who became a reality TV star and is running roughshod over the Republican establishment. Both are buoyed by blue-collar voters who feel screwed…

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A Poll: George Holding vs. Renee Ellmers

When George Holding first ran for Congress, I wrote a series of reports about how campaigns are built day to day. Now, four years later, George has a primary with Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and I’m going to do the same thing again. I should point out, at the beginning, I’m not unbiased. I worked with…

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Clinton feels the Bern

Hillary Clinton may have a nearly 20-point lead in the latest PPP North Carolina poll, but she and Bernie Sanders are both fighting hard here – and coming here on the last day. Why? Because our delegates divvy up this way: 70 allocated by congressional district, 23 to the statewide winner and 28 “PLEOs” (party…

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Behind the bickering

Here’s an idea for the North Carolina Leadership Forum that Rob Christensen wrote about this week. The Forum is a group of prominent leaders from both sides of the political aisle. Rob described its mission this way: “Why not get North Carolinians of all political stripes together to have conversations, to better understand one another’s…

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Trump TV

We’re told Donald Trump’s appeal is “strength.” But twice this week unforgiving cameras showed what really lies beneath: weakness or even, shall we say, impotence. In Fayetteville, a white Trump supporter punched a black protestor. The attacker said, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Protest must be punished. Dissenters…

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A Poll: George Holding vs. Renee Ellmers

When George Holding first ran for Congress, I wrote a series of reports about how campaigns are built day to day. Now, four years later, George has a primary with Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and I’m going to do the same thing again. I should point out, at the beginning, I’m not unbiased. I worked with…

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A blogger’s confession

My name is Gary, and I’m addicted to blogging about Donald Trump. Lord knows, I’ve tried to stop. Every week, I tell myself: Stop writing about Trump. Ignore him. Blog about redistricting or the Democratic primaries or Cooper-McCrory or why Thomas Mills lost his mind and is running for Congress. But I can’t stop. It’s…

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GOP convention: a big deal?

Conventional wisdom seems to be that only a “brokered convention” can stop Donald Trump. Presumably, the party elders and wise men (no females allowed) would brush aside the results of these pesky primaries and caucuses and select one of their own as the candidate. A Romney, Ryan or McConnell. Really? Would delegates chosen in primaries…

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Location, location, location

Where candidates go can tell you as much as what they say. Take the Clinton, Cruz and Trump campaigns in North Carolina this week. President Bill Clinton was in Raleigh Monday, at the City Market downtown. That’s the epicenter of the North Carolina Democratic Party today. It’s the gathering place for lawyers, new-economy entrepreneurs, urban…

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