How is the North Carolina Republican Party doing? The answer is 58. No, I haven’t come up with the #ncpol equivalent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In that famous science-fiction satire, the protagonist learns there is an “Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” — and its answer is 42. But the...
The Convention of States Project is a national effort to utilize Article V of the U.S. Constitution to convene a Convention of the States, a tool our Founders provided that allows We the People to bypass Congress to propose amendments that Congress would never do on its own. The process requires 34 state legislatures to...
In much of the country, the Republican Party fell well short of expectations in the 2022 midterms. Flawed GOP nominees in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Arizona lost winnable races for U.S. Senate, thus consigning their party to another two years in the minority. Democrats lost their U.S. House majority but only by a sliver...
Overall, Republicans excelled in Florida and did quite well in North Carolina. The state will soon be free from hyped-up judicial activism that paralyzes the people’s will and plagues our separation-of-powers principles. I wrote a column in August saying that Republicans in the state would outperform the GOP nationally. That assessment turned out to be accurate, but,...
The victors are crowing. The vanquished are moaning, or spinning, or deflecting blame. Pundits and campaign professionals are scouring the precinct-level results or exit polls for evidence that validates their strategies or proves their favorite theories. That’s all fine with me. I’ve long been fascinated with the art and science of campaigns myself, though as...
In high school, I was assigned The Atlantic reading “One Nation, Slightly Divisible” by David Brooks, where he describes adventuring from his home in Montgomery County, Maryland, to Franklin County, Pennsylvania. After crossing what he terms “the Meatloaf Line” from blue America to red America, Brooks details countless comparisons between the two—the “sophisticated and cosmopolitan” center...
U.S. Senate and State Supreme Court Races Ok folks. I have written about 75 articles and columns about the 2022 election. Here is my last before the results come in. Below are the long-awaited 2022 Woodshed election predictions. (Click here for what I will be watching on election night) U.S. Senate: Republican Ted Budd will...
Suspect in Paul Pelosi attack was in U.S. illegally, immigration officials say Border security matters. Securing our border is common sense and not an extreme policy position as some politicians and many in the media want you to believe. You’re not racist if you want a secure border. We should want people to come here...
Control of the U.S. Congress is the grand prize in the upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 8. There seems to be little doubt that Republicans will take the U.S. House. The Senate is much more competitive, with Nate Silver at Politico recently calling control for the body a coin flip. Yet, it’s increasingly likely Republicans...
In his inimitable style, the great English essayist, Samuel Johnson, boomed (he rarely spoke) that what is known isn’t always obvious and what is obvious isn’t always present. Before I am charged with stating the obvious, let me remind readers that Alfred North Whitehead said it takes extraordinary intelligence to contemplate the obvious. So, let’s...
Amid crippling inflation and plummeting poll numbers, President Biden threw a Hail Mary this week — announcing a sweeping student loan forgiveness plan of up to $10,000 per borrower, or up to $20,000 for those with Pell Grants. Simply put, Biden’s grasping at more taxpayer dollars to influence the vote before the November midterms. As...
