Posts by Gary Pearce
Go Young, Democrats
Last week, I moderated a Zoom conversation that turned to Democrats’ huge opportunity with voters under 35 – the later Millennials and Generation Z. I’m a Gen Geezer, and my generation should listen up. The conversation was with state party Chair Anderson Clayton and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who last month gave the…
Read MoreWolfpack Howled, Too
A fellow N.C. State alum emailed that it wasn’t just UNC students who protested the infamous Speaker Ban Law in the 1960s – a precursor to today’s legislature squelching free speech at our universities. My blog “Free Speech Under Attack – Again” (link below) was inspired by Hugh Stevens’ story of how the Speaker Ban…
Read MoreTrump’s Delusion
There’s no reasoning with Trump and MAGA, but there’s a good reason President Biden isn’t “weaponizing” the Justice Department to knock Trump out of the 2024 race: Trump is the Republican Biden is most likely to beat. As 2016 showed, there are no certainties in politics. Trump could win and execute his plan to vastly…
Read MoreBig Mark and Big Pharma
When it comes to Big Pharma, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson goes from roaring lion to purring pussycat. The Republican candidate for governor told the New Hanover County GOP, “I don’t intend to do like our current attorney general did and sue the drug company.” Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democratic candidate for governor, did sue…
Read MoreNot This Kennedy
A recent poll showed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. getting 20% of the Democratic vote against President Biden. I’ll wager that most all of the 20% who picked Kennedy know just one thing about him: He’s a “Kennedy.” They don’t know – yet – that he’s an anti-vaccine, anti-science, conspiracy-spewing misogynist who said recently, “I’m proud…
Read MoreFree Speech Under Attack – Again
Sixty years later, history has hit “repeat” on the fight for free speech at North Carolina’s public universities. In 1963, it was one bill – the infamous Speaker Ban law – passed on one day at the end of the legislative session. Now, it’s bill after bill, step after step, day after day: the legislature,…
Read MoreRun Everywhere?
A reader wrote about North Carolina Democrats’ 2024 strategy: “I question the wisdom of trying to recruit Democratic candidates in all 170 legislative districts. Precincts and counties that voted overwhelmingly for Trump seem like lost causes to me.” Indeed, some places are 70 percent Republican. Why run there? Here’s why. Josh Stein won the 2020…
Read MoreFired Up!
Less than 24 hours after I blogged that Democrats in the legislature seemed “beat down,” I got corrected. One of the House Democratic leaders called Saturday morning to tell me that caucus members are fired up, energized and getting organized for 2024, 2026, 2028 – and for taking the majority by the end of the…
Read MoreDemocrats’ Split Personality
There are two wildly divergent states of mind – and emotional states – among North Carolina Democrats today. I saw one at last Saturday night’s Unity Dinner in Raleigh. I see and hear the other among Democrats in politics and government in Raleigh. At the dinner, 400-plus eager, energized and enthusiastic Democrats jammed the reception,…
Read More“Hitler,” Mr. Robinson?
Mark Robinson, who leads the Republican race for governor of North Carolina, said this about the criminal charges against Donald Trump: “Law and order has been destroyed, and we have a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized against political enemies, much like it was during Hitler’s reign.” Have you read the indictment, Mr. Robinson?…
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