Correcting Mistakes

One poll question asked, Should transgender men be allowed to use women’s bathrooms? and another question asked, Do you support HB2?  and the answer to both questions was ‘No’ which sounds like a contradiction but isn’t: It’s a paradox – a case of voters saying to Republicans, We agree with what you set out to…

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“What an asshole”

Dan Kane’s N&O series this week (“Carolina’s Blind Side”) shows anew that UNC leaders never learned The First Rule of Crisis PR. The rule: It’s the crisis. Not the PR. When you think it’s the PR, you ask, “How do we put this behind us?” When you recognize it’s the crisis, you ask, “What the…

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50 days minus 1

Carter and I were interviewed by The Charlotte Observer Monday about the election outlook. So, instead of having to organize our thoughts and actually write something, we’ll just post the following story by the Observer’s editorial board, “50 days out, here’s what political experts think (and predict!) about N.C.’s biggest races”: We’re less than 50…

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Blind Chance

The Washington Post recently published an article headlined: ‘Megalomaniac’ Trump vs ‘deceitful’ Clinton: How Virginia voters see the presidential race. The Post reported, according to a focus group of thirty undecided voters Donald Trump is “phony,” “crazy,” “arrogant,” “dumb,” “bigoted,” “self-centered,” and a “charlatan.” Hillary, the voters said, is “old,” “deceitful,” “a liar” and “slimy.”…

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You’re news, you lose

Here’s the harsh reality of 2016 politics, as demonstrated by Hillary Clinton last week and Pat McCrory over the past many weeks: If you lead the news, you lose in the polls. You’re news, you lose. In an angry, negative political environment, more media attention translates directly into more negative feelings from voters. The ongoing…

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Apocalypse Soon

Pat McCrory just got slam-dunked by the ACC. His teammates are starting to switch sides. Tamara Barringer was the first legislator to undergo a deathbed conversion. More will surely follow. But a long-time veteran of the legislative sausage-making machine doesn’t expect much from the Jones Street crowd: “The latest HB2 shame on North Carolina will…

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WTF, Pat?

Now HB2 has gone too far. It’s interfering with our state religion: NCAA basketball. It’s one thing to lose the NBA All-Star Game or PayPal. But March Madness? And Potty Pat McCrory wonders why we’re still talking about this. Maybe because he keeps talking about it. He’s lurching. Defending HB2 one day, dropping it the…

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Sick politics

Now Hillary Clinton has two problems: a treatable case of walking pneumonia and an incurable case of raging media fever over her honesty. See my blog “Hillary’s scars and secrets” last week. By all means let’s have more transparency on her health records – and on Trump’s. He’s an overweight 70-year-old man who never exercises…

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Hail Mark Ezzell

Every great saga has a hero. The hero of the Wake County early-voting saga is Mark Ezzell. With persistence and persuasiveness, Ezzell, the lone Democrat on the Wake County elections board, prevailed in his effort to expand early voting here. He persuaded the GOP-majority state board to vote 3-2 to expand the number of voting…

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The Dealmaker

He’ll be the first to say he’s a Master Dealmaker. And looking at the money he’s made there’s not much doubt he’s correct. But will a gift for dealmaking lead Donald Trump to the White House? When making a deal to buy or sell real estate, no doubt Donald Trump asked the fellow sitting across…

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