Trump’s ‘Charm Offensive’ Continues, as Daughter-In-Law Opens North Carolina Offices

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lara Trump, the candidate’s daughter-in-law, is just a “Carolina girl,” from Wilmington, she wants you to know, with “good Southern values.” And Donald Trump, “the man I know him to be,” is “a very humble, soft-spoken, funny guy,” with a weakness for McDonald’s.

That was the message of the wife of Eric Trump at a Wednesday appearance opening the first North Carolina offices for the GOP presidential candidate in the important swing state.

 

College Sports in North Carolina Are Now Feeling the Fallout From HB2


CHARLOTTE, NC — The fallout from HB2 has now reached into North Carolina’s love of college sports after the NCAA announced they will pull seven postseason events from the state. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on the the decision, HB2, and how it is shaping the race for Governor.

The Latest With NC Voter ID Laws and the Upcoming Election


CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina’s Voter ID Law is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Mecklenburg County residents are learning they could have less time to cast an early ballot in this year’s election.

WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis is weighing in on these voter issues and what they could mean as the election draws closer.

The Charlotte Campaign Stop for Obama, Hillary, Trump


CHARLOTTE, NC — Hillary Clinton got a campaign boost from President Obama when the two made a stop at the Charlotte Convention Center on Tuesday. Donald Trump stumped in Raleigh, hoping to rally enough support to take North Carolina come November. WCCB Political Contributor, Mary C. Curtis, weighs in on what’s next for Campaign 2016.

Hillary Clinton and Obama Together This Time in N.C.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It was all good between these two this time, with President Barack Obama at first taking a literal back seat to Hillary Clinton onstage as she made her case. That also meant he was the closer, one who laced his Tuesday speech with endorsements, humor — much of it directed at “the other guy” — and repeated pleas for the crowd to get out and vote for the woman he said “won’t waver, won’t back down, won’t quit.” Obama said: “Those things matter.”

It mattered to an enthusiastic and diverse crowd of thousands in Charlotte that clearly loves this president and yelled exactly those sentiments to him from time to time. A line that wrapped around the Charlotte Convention Center started in the morning. He was the star who relished being back on the campaign trail, this time as cheerleader-in-chief, leading a chant of HILL-A-RY, HILL-A-RY for the first stop on the “Stronger Together” tour in the battleground state of North Carolina.

 

HB2 Changes in North Carolina and the 2017 NBA All-Star Game


CHARLOTTE, NC —  North Carolina lawmakers are considering revisions to House Bill 2 to keep next year’s NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte. The legislation does not throw out transgender bathroom regulations, which has some activists asking the NBA not to support the so-called compromise. WCCB political contributor, Mary C. Curtis, breaks down the draft bill.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Announces Changes for Transgender Students

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is following the lead of the University of North Carolina system by passing new regulations for their transgender students. The move is not a statement against North Carolina’s controversial HB2 says CMS Superintendent Ann Clark. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis stops by to weigh in on the bathroom changes happening throughout the school district.

Lawsuits, Government Overreach, and House Bill 2


CHARLOTTE, NC — The battle is on for LGBT rights, state’s rights, and the overall feeling of government overreach as dueling lawsuits over North Carolina’s House Bill 2 take center stage. WCCB’s Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on what many are now calling the next Civil War.

What N.C.’s Pat McCrory Is Ignoring While He Focuses on Bathrooms

CHARLOTTE, N. C. – North Carolina finds itself in the middle of a high-profile, far-reaching culture war battle, and it’s doubtful its leaders saw it coming.

Political opponents up and down the ballot take sides and issue statements, and a governor facing a tough re-election race has seen the nut-and-bolts economic issues he campaigned on as a practical moderate pushed aside as he is defined by a bill that legislates bathroom choice for transgender individuals, takes away the power of cities to enact their own nondiscrimination rules and the right to sue in state court.

The people of North Carolina can only wonder what comes next, as they sees the mantle of the more progressive Carolina usurped by its neighbor to the south, where Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has said her state has no need of its own version of House Bill 2. This despite the fact that three South Carolina cities have anti-discrimination ordinances similar to the one in Charlotte that Republican legislators insist triggered their actions. And by the way, Haley has offered a welcome mat to any business finding the North Carolina climate less than hospitable.

In North Carolina, LGBT Bill Is Political and Personal

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It doesn’t take much to re-brand a state. Ask North Carolina.

Here’s the formula: Have the general assembly call a special session to pass a law that revokes an LGBT-anti-discrimination ordinance approved by the state’s largest city — plus throw a few other restrictive goodies into the package. Then wait for the headlines that compare you unfavorably to Georgia, whose governor just vetoed a related “religious freedom” bill. You then become the headquarters for boycotts and petitions on one side and thankful prayers on the other. And, just like that, watch a once touted label as a progressive outpost in the South disappear.

– See more at: http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/north-carolina-lgbt-bill-political-personal#sthash.zKuDL6WC.dpuf