We don’t know much about him – he grew up in a village on the coast of Long Island, bowled in high school, sang karaoke, got two college degrees, moved to St. Augustine, Florida. His mother, struggling with pulmonary disease, died – he wrote, “I am proud to say she navigated the awful challenges of this disease with strength, dignity and spirit through the very end.” A high school friend says “he was heartbroken.” Falling apart, ranting, cursing, he stood outside a Florida hotel dressed only in his underwear – spent three days in a psych ward. Devils whispering, on social media he wrote about ..read more

Two things this past weekend made me feel good about this election. First, I crashed a women’s fundraiser for Rachel Hunt, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Second, I posted on X/Twitter this photo of Hunt and me, showing off the Jim Hunt Dark Brandon shirt my wife got me for my birthday. A mega MAGA meltdown ensued. I don’t know if it was Rachel Hunt, Jim Hunt, the T-shirt, little old me or a combination thereof, but MAGA world went nuts online. They hurled hate, vented venom and called us, among other things, “libs,” “commies,” “baby-killers,” “boneheads,” “geriatrics” (true i ..read more

Trump rolled through two civil trials, hardly blinking, defiant, but at the end of the first week of his criminal trial sitting at the defense table staring straight ahead, eyes sagging, he looked weary. Worn down. A born street fighter, living by the sword, like a reflex Trump punches back whenever someone punches him – but sitting in a that courtroom his sword is useless. Sitting silent, face haggard, he listened to prosecutors calling him a criminal, a juror reading her Facebook posts calling him a sociopath, egomaniac – couldn’t punch back. It’s not likely, even if convicted, he’ll end up ..read more

A teacher I know, who happens to be our daughter Maggie Pearce Dill, said it better than I could about Mo Green, the Democratic nominee for state superintendent of public instruction: “I have met more candidates and seen more politicians speak than I can count, but very rarely am I moved like I was hearing him speak tonight. He gives me hope for our schools that I sometimes feel I’ve lost. He has a gift, and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to see him win. “Our schools and our students deserve nothing less- and we MUST protect them from the right-wing extremists trying to tear down the schoo ..read more

Siena College took a poll, Biden crept up, gaining 4 points: Trump 45%, Biden 44%. The New York Times went to work interviewing people who were polled: An Independent voter, a hairdresser, said she saw Trump and Biden as ‘just blah,’ added she saw Biden as ‘the lesser of two evils’: “You can recover from bad policies, but you can’t recover from a bad heart. And Donald Trump has a bad heart.” A second Independent, who voted for Biden in 2020, said this time he saw Trump as “the lesser of the evils,” was voting for Trump. A third voter, a Democrat, said, “I really don’t like Trump. That’s why I ..read more

‘8 in 10 Americans Say Religion Is Losing Influence in Public Life,’ the headline roared. The report – by the Pew Research Center – announced ‘religion’s role in American life is shrinking,’ went on the say only 13% of Americans think Biden is ‘very religious,’ just 4% think Trump is very religious. Next the Pew Center asked: Should the Bible influence our laws? 51% said ‘no’ or ‘not much.’ Author John Davidson, in The Federalist, pointed out what Americans see as sacred is changing: We’re leaving the Bible, obeying one God, behind, moving into a post-Christian era where ideologies, creeds, t ..read more

The Kelly Daughtry-Brad Knott race shows how low Republicans will go in their pathetic pandering to Donald Trump. The May 14 runoff in the 13th Congressional District, south and east of Raleigh, is all about who can bow down deepest to Trump. Bryan Anderson wrote in The Assembly, (“The GOP’s Family Feud”), that Daughtry’s father Leo, a long-time and conventionally conservative Republican politician, defended her fealty by saying she “is in fact Trumpy enough.” But not Trumpy enough for Trump. He endorsed Knott, which may negate the millions of dollars the Daughtries have spent. Anderson found ..read more

Leading Jesse Helms’ campaign back in 1990 Tom Ellis asked pollster John McLaughlin: ‘Who do we want to win the Democratic primary?’ John opened his poll. Turned pages. Looked straight at Tom Ellis. ‘You want Harvey Gantt – not Mike Easley.’ Gantt would be easier for Jesse to beat in the General Election. Jesse’s campaign made a cartoon ad: Easley was a fox, Gantt a turtle, crossing a green field as the announcer said Easley, clever, a District Attorney, made deals with drug dealers, let them off easy – in the next breath said Gantt was liberal. Cutting deals with drug dealers torpedoed Easle ..read more

There’re not many media polls you can trust these days – media polls are done to give newspapers a reason to write stories their readers like. But there are a few reliable polls still around – and they’re showing a strange change in the race between Trump and Biden. For months, Trump’s been leading Biden. But, suddenly, the race has gone back to even: In one poll Trump had 41%, Biden 43%. In another Trump had 43%, Biden 42%. A dead heat. Beneath the surface in those polls there’re curious numbers: For years younger voters voted for Democrats, older voters for Republicans. But recent polls sho ..read more

Every time Mark Robinson speaks, he shows he’s unqualified, unprepared and too uninformed to be governor of North Carolina. The News & Observer got a tape of the Republican candidate telling the East Wake Republican Club in December that “it has already been proven that school systems get better results on less money.” Wrong, Mr. Robinson. North Carolina’s experience in the 1990s proves that more money spent right – especially on paying teachers well and giving them the classroom support they need – produces better results. The 1990s were a golden age for North Carolina’s schools. Jim Hun ..read more