HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – With a Carolina cap on his head and an “Obama 2012” button on his shirt, James Taylor offered a mini-concert to a roomful of committed campaign volunteers on Thursday, thanking them for their get-out-the-vote efforts and urging them on. “I just believe in my heart that this is what will make the difference in this election,” the North Carolina-raised singer-songwriter said, before introducing the familiar chords of his signature “Carolina in My Mind”: “I play it every time I play anywhere, but particularly in North Carolina.”
‘Why didn’t he fight?’ Obama supporters want an answer, Mr. President
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For a grocery clerk at my local market, it was not about political strategies or poll numbers. As I judged the fish selection, he leaned across the counter and asked, “Why didn’t he fight?” I didn’t have to ask what he meant. He knows I cover politics, and I knew he was talking about President Obama’s lackluster performance in his first debate with GOP challenger Mitt Romney.
Everywhere I went this weekend, I heard that same question in various forms. As Romney capitalized on his campaign’s new life and Obama recalibrated for the next candidate face-off, the horse race was not the focus of voters for whom that question is still top of mind. They want someone who understands their lives to speak up for them. They thought the president was that person, and now they have their doubts.
Oct082012
Could Michelle Obama get away with Ann Romney’s ‘fire’?
When does testiness cross over into anger? Whatever you want to call it, Ann Romney is showing the signs. When she takes her husband’s conservative critics to task on Radio Iowa with: “Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring.” When she leans into an NBC reporter and says: “There’s going to be no more tax releases given.” When she tells Latino voters they would vote Republican if only “they could just get past some of their biases.”
But her persona is not “angry white woman.” It’s more the fighting helpmate for Mitt Romney, her tough words and emotional delivery adding fire to a candidate and a campaign that could use it.
Imagine the reaction if the current first lady went off like that on her husband’s detractors and lectured Americans on what they should realize and when,
Sep242012
At DNC Charlotte, taking the ‘war on women’ seriously
CHARLOTTE — The National Women’s Political Caucus is about issues, not party affiliation, as it tries to get more women elected to office. But the issues it cares about — supporting a women’s right to choose, the Equal Rights Amendment and dependent care for women balancing responsibility for children and aging relatives — come with a party label these days.
At the organization’s packed reception at Ri Ra Irish pub on Sunday afternoon, before the official Tuesday start of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, shouts of “yes we can” echoed Obama campaign enthusiasm. National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill, a familiar television presence, put it this way: “The radical fringe on the right wing has taken over the Republican Party.” She lamented the invisibility of GOP women with more moderate views, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) at the Republican convention in Tampa.
Sep102012
First lady Michelle Obama previews her all-important speech
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michelle Obama is as comfortable talking about policy as the warm cuddly stuff, as she proved once again in a phone conversation with several women journalists Tuesday afternoon.
Four years ago, her speech in Denver introduced her family to the nation and the nation liked what it saw. She is one of team Obama’s most popular members and powerful assets, so a lot is riding on her Tuesday night prime-time address.
What is she going to talk about? “My job tonight is just going to be to remind people of who my husband is,” the first lady said. “Even though he’s a very likable president, he has been the president, and he’s had a very serious role and there are few times when he can really let his hair down. … Sometimes it’s important for people to remember who this man is in terms of his values and his convictions and his character.”
Sep042012
Ann Romney will tell you what’s wrong with you
Ann Romney, conventional wisdom says, is her husband’s not-so-secret weapon. Well, yes and no. She humanizes him is the standard line and, wearing a lovely red outfit in her moment on the Republican convention stage on Tuesday, she was a smiling vision of warmth. But though she strings words together more fluently than the GOP presidential nominee, the words themselves — and often the tone — reinforce the idea that she and Mitt Romney were made for each other.
Aug302012
Parsing the ‘American way’ in a night of contradictions at the RNC
Republicans, including “just joking” about birth certificates Mitt Romney, love to chide President Obama about his alleged foreign roots, but couldn’t stop getting misty-eyed over their hard-working immigrant forebears. Government programs equal the devil, but hey, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), didn’t I hear you mention the G.I. Bill that helped your dad attend college? Ann Romney declared that all you need is love, but then Christie – him, again – said respect, not love is the answer.
That’s the way it went when the Republican National Convention finally revved up in Tampa on Tuesday night after a storm delay. It didn’t seem as though these folks talked among themselves, much less to Americans who may disagree with them politically, but still believe in America as a land of promise and opportunity.
Aug292012
Anthony Foxx: Q&A with Charlotte’s mayor and DNC host
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the Democratic National Convention set to start in Charlotte next week, a lot is riding on the shoulders of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. Sure, he sounded casual when he said he’s just “playing the role of the host of a large dinner party. I’m going to spend my time greeting as many of the 35,000 guests as I can.” But as a convention speaker, Foxx, a Democrat in his second term, will be more than that. The 41-year-old mayor is representing what has been called the New South, managing expectations about his own future and making the case for a president and friend he supports.
Aug262012
