To Impeach or Not to Impeach

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging amid the divide in her own party over whether to impeach President Trump. Pelosi says the party should continue to push for the entire Mueller Report instead of the redacted version released last week.

The Mueller report said the president of the United States did not commit crimes; but it expressly refused to exonerate him on possible obstruction of justice.

Democrats and Republicans face risks and rewards as they choose what to do next. And the process is happening a year and a half before the 2020 presidential election.

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Apr242019 TAGS: , , , , ,

Are Young Voters the Key to the White House in 2020?

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — For Democrats, will it be the past vs. the future? The old guard or fresh faces? The two older gentlemen at the top of every poll judging 2020 Democratic presidential maybes or not? And does any candidate possess the “it” factor that can beat President Trump.

A Pew research center report shows millennials will make up roughly a quarter of eligible voters in 2020. Generation Z, those born after 1996, will make up another 10%.

WCCB political contributor Mary C. Curtis takes a look at how Democrats are hoping to get the youth vote for the 2020 presidential election.

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Apr172019 TAGS: , , , , , , , ,

For serious primary voters, the parade of Democratic candidates is no joke

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The number of Democratic hopefuls declaring, thinking about declaring or being pushed to declare their interest in the 2020 race is increasing so rapidly, it has already become a reliable punchline. But for voters looking to discover the person who offers sensible policies on the issues they care about while exuding the intangible “it” quality that could beat Donald Trump, it is serious business.

Forget about what magic the letter “B” might hold — think Bernie, Biden, Beto, Booker, Buttigieg and I know I’m forgetting someone, oh yes, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet — these voters are digging deeper on the candidates who will crowd a debate stage in Miami two nights in a row in June.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Apr172019 TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , ,

2020 Democratic Presidential Field

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — The first scheduled debate for the growing field of Democrats ready to take on President Trump in 2020 is to take place in Miami over two days in June. They will need both days to accommodate all the men and women on the growing list. Just this week, Iowa-born California congressman Eric Swalwell joined the crowd. Though it is way too early to judge, how is the field shaping up?

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Apr102019 TAGS: , , ,

Does the ‘content of their character’ still matter in the 2020 race?

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” It might be the only quote by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that many Americans can recite by heart.

There is good reason for that, as political partisans have twisted a 1963 speech to suit their 2019 conservative agendas, despite the fact that those who now embrace him as one of their own would be horrified by King’s belief in extensive change in the system.

That quote can mean whatever you want it to, dressed up as approval of an American hero whose luster has only grown as his often revolutionary work fades into memory. That short snippet expresses a sentiment judged far more benign than others from that same speech, as when the Nobel Peace Prize winner said: “We’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”

Read the rest atRoll Call
Apr042019 TAGS: , , , , , , , ,

GOP greets North Carolina election scandal with crickets, excuses and misdirection

Featured at Roll Call

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — America might know the name of the next president before voters in North Carolina’s 9th District have a representative in the House.

OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration.

But one sure thing is that Mark Harris, the Republican who thought he won last fall, attended an orientation for new members of Congress and was picking out an office — won’t be the new congressman. He cited health reasons in taking himself out of the race that has no end in sight.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Feb282019 TAGS: , , , , , , , , ,

What’s next in 9th Congressional District election after Mark Harris drops out?

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — Former pastor Mark Harris has certainly had a tough couple of months. In January, he was attending a meeting in Washington for new U.S. House members and picking out his office. And this week, he announced he will not run in a new election in the North Carolina’s 9th congressional district after the state election board, after hearings into allegations of election fraud, ordered a do-over. That throws the primary wide open, and leaves the district without representation for months.

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Feb272019 TAGS: , , , , , , ,

Why politicians, and everyone, need to think about legacy

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — At least the bill was approved on a voice vote. That was the bill that would make lynching a federal crime, passed in the Senate late last week — in 2019.

Let that sink in. The legislation still must be approved by the Democrat-controlled House, which is expected to happen with no problem, and be signed into law by President Donald Trump. But it would be unwise to take anything for granted since similar legislation has stalled for more than 100 years, held up by elected public servants who felt that taking a stand would be too politically risky.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Feb212019 TAGS: , , , , , , ,

How Ralph Northam is spending his Black History Month

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — The lessons of this February’s Black History Month commemorations have already veered far beyond the usual ones that begin and end by quoting a snippet of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — the part about judging folks not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. A new curriculum is being written in real time, affecting real-life politicians and their constituents. And Virginia is hardly the only state not ready for the big exam.

Of course, the politician in question, Gov. Ralph Northam, has been learning as he goes — about blackface, about apologies and about redemption.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Feb132019 TAGS: , , , , , , , ,

Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: BB&T and SunTrust Merge; No New Funds for Cross CLT Trail

Featured at WFAE

Monday night’s City Council meeting brought with it suggestions on how to finish the Cross Charlotte Trail, which has come up $77 million short in funding, but the new plan left council members frustrated. We talk about the proposed solution and council member reactions.

BB&T and SunTrust Bank announced Thursday that the two banks would merge and move their new headquarters to Charlotte. What are the implications of this merger here and around the Southeast?

Charlotte City Council plans to vote next week on whether they’ll start the referendum process to extend their terms from two to four years. We discuss what council members said about the process.

United Way is experiencing budget problems, with plans to cut grants by 25 percent and cutting $1 million from its yearly budget. The reasons for the cuts go back several years.

Governor Cooper calls for the resignation of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam after a racist 1984 yearbook picture surfaced.

Guest host David Boraks from WFAE News and our roundtable of reporters discuss those and other stories.

Guests:

Ann Doss Helms, reporter for the Charlotte Observer

Glenn Burkins, founder and publisher of QCityMetro.com 

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com and WCCB

Steve Harrison, WFAE political reporter

Read the rest atWFAE
Feb082019 TAGS: , , , , , , , ,
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