GodfatherGate

The news last night looked like a mashup remake of “The Godfather” and Watergate. Michael Cohen flipping on Trump is like consigliere Tom Hagen turning state’s witness against Don Corleone. Then Trump came on saying Cohen was “a weak person” whom he hired “because he did me a favor a long time ago.” Did Cohen…

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Now what?

Two questions arise now that Manafort and an associate have been charged. Will Trump go full Nixon and fire Mueller? If so, will the Republican Congress stand up for the rule of law? All eyes on Burr and Tillis.

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Crank, Crazy or a Crook?

In his State of the Union early last week, Trump sounded like a normal President. By the weekend, he was back to his cranky, crazy self. He went on a Twitter rampage. He claimed President Obama wiretapped him. Without a shred of evidence. And despite denials from intelligence officials. Now, it could just be that…

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Nail-biter

In both of the last two Presidential elections, North Carolina was one of the two closest states. Here we go again. The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll shows Clinton up 2 here, Ross and Burr tied and Cooper up 3. The final New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll for North Carolina showed Clinton and Trump…

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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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The rise of Deborah Ross

Richard Burr has his hands full. For the first time since he went to Washington 22 years ago, he faces a double whammy: a strong opponent and a bad year for Republicans. You can see his problem in the first ad for Deborah Ross. It tags Burr, sans socks, as the worst kind of Washington…

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Ross vs Burr and Cooper vs McCrory

A reader chided me for not writing lately about the NC Senate and Governor’s races. My excuse was that all the oxygen is taken up with “Trump said what today?” Then the Marist/Wall Street Journal poll last week showed Clinton, Ross and Cooper all leading. So here we go. The stunner was Clinton leading Trump…

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The looming Republican disaster

North Carolina Republicans this year will get to experience what we Democrats went through in so many presidential elections: how to avoid going down with the Titanic. Because the S.S. Trump is going down, and it will be hard to avoid getting sucked into the vortex. The Republican convention is officially a disaster. It didn’t…

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Hagan Up to Bat Again?

There are about 100 million reasons why Kay Hagan may be Democrats’ Senate candidate again next year. You see, $100 million is what the race cost last year. And it’s hard to imagine another candidate playing in that league. In a National Journal story, an anonymous Hagan donor from North Carolina made an apt seasonal…

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