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Friday, May 22, 2009
Ripping the Sheet
Rob Christensen's column in today's N&O, about the mounting problems besetting our ex-governor and his wife, is a must-read. Christensen is efficient in summing up the gist:
The saga includes many story lines. Did the Easleys use their position to get free cars, insider real estate deals, and cushy jobs? Were there built-in conflicts because Mary Easley was the first governor's wife with a professional career in a small state capital dominated by government and a university? Why does a former prosecutor, lawyer and law professor need another lawyer to do her talking?
One of the narrative threads is that the Democratic establishment is washing its hands of a leader for whom they never really cared.
Labels: Mary Easley, Mike Easley, North Carolina Democratic Party, Rob Christensen
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Bev Perdue, Thinking Big
Looks like our new Guv is thinking her own large-ish change agenda, which is good. Rob Christensen, who is well qualified, does a little history primer on NC's Depression Guv, O. Max Gardner, on whom Perdue may be modeling herself.
Labels: Beverly Perdue, O. Max Gardner, Rob Christensen
Thursday, November 06, 2008
We Remember a Pioneer
Charlotte's first black mayor Harvey Gantt was also North Carolina's first state-wide black candidate in the 20th century when he ran against Sen. Jesse Helms in 1990 and came close. He tried again in 1996, less successfully.Despite two losses, Gantt really deserves credit for energizing progressive forces in NC. In fact, it was the Gantt-Helms race in 1990 that gave birth to the "new" Democratic Party in Watauga County. One could draw a straight line from Gantt organizers in Watauga in 1990 to the Democratic sweeps here in 2004, 2006, and 2008.
Interviewed by Rob Christensen in the N&O, Gantt recognized the changes in NC demographics since his first run for the Senate:
"I think it means the nature ... of North Carolina has changed substantially from those races in the 1990s. It's a younger population. It's a much more moderate population. The urban centers are much more influential in terms of North Carolina -- Charlotte, the Triangle, the Triad, Wilmington and Asheville."
When Gantt first ran in 1990, Christensen points out, there were 3.3 million registered voters; today there are 6.2 million.
Labels: 2008 election results, Harvey Gantt, Rob Christensen
