Free Republic

Dawn McNair said she was surprised Sunday when her daughter pointed out the background on a political flier urging people to get out and vote. The front of the flier blares: "Kay Hagan doesn't win! Obama's impeachment will begin! Vote in 2014." The words are superimposed over a grainy reproduction of a photograph of what appears to be a lynching. Someone tucked the flier under McNair's windshield wiper while her car was parked at her church, Kingdom Impact Global Ministries on Murchison Road. "My daughter said, 'Mom, look in the background. They're lynching somebody.' It's the lynching of an African-American...

With Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) locked in a tight reelection bid and in need of a good Democratic turnout in a few short weeks, Democrats appear eager to promote the claim that North Carolina Republicans and their candidate for Senate are hostile to African Americans. Monday evening Hagan and MSNBC host Chris Matthews charged that the new North Carolina voting rules are intended to target African Americans, not because they are Democrats, but because they are African Americans. “African Americans think that they're being targeted because they're African Americans not because they're Democrats,” Matthews said on his MSNBC show. Hagan...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned President Barack Obama Wednesday that Republican lawmakers would call for his impeachment if he released prisoners from Guantanamo Bay again without notifying Congress. “It’s going to be impossible for them to flow prisoners out of Gitmo now without a huge backlash,” Graham said, according to The Hill. “There will be people on our side calling for his impeachment if he did that.” The comments come days after Obama approved a deal to release five prisoners from the detention camp, in exchange for the Taliban releasing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last remaining prisoner of the Afghanistan...

The state Republican convention in Cherokee is still lacking that big national headliner; some 1,200 to 1,400 people are expected in Jackson County June 5-7, and organizers are feeling the pressure. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Tea Party darling from Texas, turned down an opportunity to speak in North Carolina because he’ll be attending his state’s convention. Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, wanted $15,000 to secure his presence, an engagement fee North Carolina officials aren’t prepared to pay. “We don’t have that kind of money,” Ralph Slaughter, chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party, said last night during a county...

“Twenty-four times” is Thom Tillis’s answer, delivered with a faint flicker of a Cheshire Cat smile. The question was: How many times, that his campaign knows of, has Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) said on camera that under Obamacare, if you like your health insurance, you can keep it? Tillis will be sharing some of her video promises with voters as he seeks to become part of a Republican Senate majority in January.

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is endorsing the main challenger in the 3rd Congressional District’s Republican primary. Taylor Griffin, who worked with Palin during Sen. John McCain’s failed 2008 presidential bid, released a statement Wednesday with Palin’s endorsement. “Todd (Palin’s husband) and I are happy to honor your request and support your candidacy,” Palin said. “In Washington, we need you to stay true to your beliefs of smaller government, protecting life and furthering conservative principles.” ******* Do you think an endorsement from Sara Palin helps or hurts a candidate? Vote at reflector.com.

In his inaugural address Wednesday, incoming New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to establish an intellectual pedigree for his focus on economic inequality. He invoked Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Al Smith, Frances Perkins, Fiorello La Guardia, Jacob Riis, David Dinkins, Mario Cuomo, and Harry Belafonte. It reminded me of when Democrats, eager to prove their national-security bona fides, tell audiences they hail from the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy. As if there wasn’t some other Democrat after Kennedy who dabbled at war and peace, some guy from Texas. De Blasio’s speech was a bit...

Openly gay “American Idol” runner-up could run in North Carolina Clay Aiken may dedicate his knack for winning voters’ hearts to something besides “American Idol”: The runner-up on the show’s second-season is reportedly mulling a run for Congress in North Carolina. The Washington Blade says Aiken, 35, has consulted with political operatives including Betsy Conti, a political strategist who worked for Al Gore and former North Carolina Gov. Bev Purdue. Conti is based in Aiken’s hometown of Raleigh. He would potentially seek the seat now held by second term Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers, the Blade reported. Aiken, who came...

UPDATED: Moments after Gov. Pat McCrory left the stage, former Secretary of State Colin Powell took aim at North Carolina's new voting law Thursday, saying it hurts the Republican Party, punishes minority voters and makes it more difficult for everyone to vote. "I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," said Powell, a Republican, at the CEO Forum in Raleigh. "It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs," Powell continued. "These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away." The retired...

On yesterday’s edition of “All In with Chris Hayes” we were greeted with narrative creation at its finest as host Chris Hayes attempted to define the arguments in favor of Voter Identification laws in North Carolina as merely the spoils of victory as opposed to any type of actual reasoned position.(VIDEO-AT-LINK) HAYES: If a skeptical person looks at what’s going on in north carolina and says, look, this is why we had elections, we had elections, the republicans won, they won the governorship, they haven’t had it since 1988, they’ve got all three branches of state government for the first...

North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan said Wednesday she backs marriage rights for same-sex couples, joining a growing number of Democratic Party politicians ahead of her re-election race next year. Hagan announced her position as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a law that denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples. "Marriage equality is a complex issue with strong feelings on both sides, and I have a great deal of respect for varying opinions on the issue," Hagan said on her official Facebook account. "After much thought and prayer, I have come to...

Just a quick thing I wanted to point out about NC early voting, one of few states that breaks it out by age: 2008: 18-29 14.9% 30-44 23.5% 45-64 40.2% 65+ 21.4% 2012: 18-29 10.8% (DOWN by 4.1%) 30-44 18.3% (DOWN by 5.2%) 45-59 29.1% (DOWN by 11.1%) 60+ 41.7% (UP by 20.3%) Older voters favor Romney...and are showing up in WAY higher numbers for early voting compared to 2008 early voting...while young voters who favor Obama are down to only 10% of early votes (from nearly 15% in 2008).

* Obama’s campaign has given up on winning North Carolina, Democratic strategist Paul Begala, an adviser to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action said in an interview Monday. “Yes. I am not supposed to say that Wolf, but I work for, as you mentioned, the pro-Obama super PAC, and I am being paid to help re-elect the president. But if you look at where he is going and where he is spending money — yes, it looks like Gov. Romney is likely to carry North Carolina.” * Obama’s pre-debate meal is the same as last time — steak and...

You need to read way, way, way down into this National Journal piece to find the key bit, but it’s worth it. Says Jay Cost, “I’ve never seen anybody bury a lede like Major Garrett here.” Let’s bring this treasure chest up to the surface: What also became clear after the dust began to settle from the rumble on Long Island was the electoral map has narrowed and Obama’s team, while conceding nothing publicly, is circling the wagons around Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Plouffe said that Obama remains strong in all four states, but he would not discuss...

Mike Duncan, chairman of the powerful super PAC American Crossroads, tells Newsmax.TV that undecided voters will make up their minds late in the campaign and elect Mitt Romney as the next president. He also says he is confident that Republicans will retain control of the House and are within “striking distance” of winning the Senate. (VIDEO AT LINK) Duncan served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009, and on the campaigns of five presidents. He is also the president and CEO of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. His political action committee American Crossroads, backed...

Mitt Romney's comments about "entitled" people in a video released Monday, described by some pundits as detrimental to his presidential bid, cemented support among Republicans in Winston-Salem and probably won't affect the race in North Carolina, according to interviews with voters, political science professors and conservatives. "I'll accept the truth from any politician. In fact, it is refreshing to look at truth and adjust our direction based on truth," said Brian Miller, a former chairman of the Forsyth County GOP who attended the Republican National Convention in Tampa as an alternate delegate. The video, recorded May 17 in Boca Raton...

Less than an hour after President Barack Obama had stepped off of the Democratic National Convention stage, Republican challenger Mitt Romney's campaign announced 15 new, state-specific television advertisements which the campaign says will run in 8 battlegrounds. A week ago, Romney was officially made the Republican Party's presidential nominee, granting him access to a substantial war chest set aside for the general election. His campaign largely stayed off of television during the Democratic National Convention, which concluded after Obama's speech on Thursday. --snip-- Now that Romney has officially been named the GOP nominee his campaign will get its hands on...

Charlotte - Stop me if you’ve heard this one: So, will.i.am, Arianna Huffington, Tom Brokaw, and one of the President’s economic advisers walk into the ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton for a panel discussion on job creation... There is no punchline, except to say this hellbroth of personalities were all participating in a real event at the Democratic convention, and it was about as bad as it sounds. Officially, it was called “Opportunity: What Is Working - A Bipartisan Search for Solutions to the Jobs Crisis,” and it was sponsored by the Huffington Post. In total there were 16 people on...

What do you get when you combine the festival atmosphere of a political convention with Barack Obama, the man who has pushed the boundaries of campaign swag farther -- from high fashion to scented soy candles -- than any candidate before? Here's a quick sampling of some of the gear I saw on display around the Democratic National Convention and the surrounding area in the days before the convention opened. **** This button doesn't appear to be official merchandise, but a street vendor was hawking it at CarolinaFest, an outdoor Labor Day celebration in downtown Charlotte (which is confusingly called...

Clint Eastwood is the “perfect icon” for the GOP, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said Tuesday, describing the legendary actor as “an old angry white man spewing incoherent nonsense.” The Des Moines Register reported the 72-year-old Harkin made his comments on the Iowa delegation’s breakfast this morning in Charlotte, N.C. “We’ve got our work cut out for us this week, folks, following the Republican convention,” Harkin told the delegates. “I mean, how are we ever going to match Clint Eastwood? I got to thinking he is the perfect icon for today’s Republican tea party: an old angry white man spewing incoherent...