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This will be a relatively short-lived chapter for us. The steady stream of Northern liberals (which I'm part of) continues to flow into the state, the outrage being exhibited over conservative, right-leaning politics is growing and newer generations of voters are more informed and motivated than any preceding it (based on lengthy, often exhausting conversations with my teenagers around the dinner table). It will simply be more difficult for politicians to manipulate events to affect the changes they desire and that will be good for all of us regardless of which end of the political spectrum you call home.
No, this is the beginning of a new dark age for the state. It will last for quite some time. The Republicans have gerrymandered themselves into a permanent majority and nothing can be done about it. Unless the state becomes 20% more democratic somehow in the next few years we will be stuck with this General Assembly until the Supreme Court reverses Veith v Jubilirer 2004, which allowed all these state governments to gerrymander their districts so much.
McCrory might be ousted and the state might go the way of Virginia and Ohio in presidential elections, but that will merely return us to the situation we had under Perdue, where she had to veto everything (and they could override her veto on many things).
People writing about NC, and people of NC, write and act as though something weird happened when they weren't looking.
Clearly, a majority of the voting populace of NC (as evidenced by who now holds sway in the Capitol) have allowed themselves to be polarized by the careful, determined manipulation by the 1% (or the 5%). As in many other parts of the country, this manipulation manages to divide people along economic, social, and racial lines. As often happens, many regular working folks, who otherwise comprise a population majority, and who could otherwise beat the pants off the 1% if they just came together and pooled their energy, still vote against their own best interests because they are convinced of what talk radio and TV heads tell them, or of what their misinformed neighbors and friends tell them, or of what political ads tell them. But those media people are paid to put on theatre, to act and speak convincingly, to tug the emotional chains, to appeal to baser instincts of listeners. And as long as they can pit one group of the population against another, it's divide and conquer... meanwhile, no one watches that fox stealing all the chickens.
Stand together and fight, North Carolina! You may each have different opinions than your neighbors, but they are still your neighbors, and they will break bread with you far sooner than those blow-dried politicians who are running roughshod over you. They don't know what "family" truly means. You do.'
I am very against most of what is going on politically with this state, however, I also don't give a cr@p about the opinion of some NY'ers editorial opinion of NC either.
I think the GOP was right to gerrymander. It was done to them for the last 100 years. But going forward the thing I would like to see is divide the population by the number of districts to get the number of people in each district. Then starting at the outer banks draw a verticle line. Move the line west until you have the number of people in required per district. Repeat for the number of districts. This would be a blind arbitary straight line. If this splits some voting blocks....too bad. Simple.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by lamishra
I am very against most of what is going on politically with this state, however, I also don't give a cr@p about the opinion of some NY'ers editorial opinion of NC either.
Why not? If it's making news in the NY Times, it's being read across the country. The more press it gets, the more people around the country know about what's happening in North Carolina. That means businesses will give second thoughts to relocating here, educated professionals may stop moving here, highly-sought after students may choose other selective colleges over Duke or UNC, etc. You should care that's it's making the NY Times. It's become big news.
People on here are always thrilled when Durham makes the NYTimes as a place to visit or Chapel Hill gets a vote for best foodie city. But when they say something bad, why is it we shouldn't care about some New Yorkers' opinons of us?
IMO, NC and particularly the triangle area is not under any threat of people no longer moving here (although I'm not sure that would necessarily be a bad thing, at least for alittle while). The truth is that most of these issues don't really affect the daily lives of the upper middle class that much. As much as people complain about it, it's not going to stop people form moving here as long as there are jobs, decent schools, access to health care and affordable housing. Businesses aren't going to stop moving here anytime soon either.
So, no, I don't really care what's in the NY times and I don't think it's going change much of anything.
I'm not basing NYer's as another poster seems to be implying, (seems to be the other way around) I just don't really care about their opinion.
It's an opinion piece from a left leaning newspaper, so take it for what it is.
Even if people don't believe in everything the newly elected state officials are doing (and I disagree with some of it as well), it's never as bad as the left leaning news organizations/people try to make it out to be. I'm certain that the next set of paid off politicians will come in and reverse some things and we'll be back to the dysfunction we've all came to expect
That means businesses will give second thoughts to relocating here, educated professionals may stop moving here, highly-sought after students may choose other selective colleges over Duke or UNC, etc.
Really? You think that Metlife weighed the local political climate before plunging into the RTP waters? As long as the cost of living remains proportionately reasonable, the ability to tap into a steady, diverse and well trained talent pool exists (who will work for 20% lower wages) and the weather remains warm or mild ten months out of the year I'm thinking the relocation parade continues.
Epic droughts, deadly spiders and snakes and brown lake water haven't made the Triangle any less attractive and I doubt politicians will either.
I think the GOP was right to gerrymander. It was done to them for the last 100 years. But going forward the thing I would like to see is divide the population by the number of districts to get the number of people in each district. Then starting at the outer banks draw a verticle line. Move the line west until you have the number of people in required per district. Repeat for the number of districts. This would be a blind arbitary straight line. If this splits some voting blocks....too bad. Simple.
Democrats never gerrymandered to this extent. They never had the computer technology that enabled the kind of district drawing that Republicans enjoy now. They also drew the districts to protect incumbents, not so much to gain an unfair advantage. Remember that for the past few decades the state government was fairly evenly divided, at least until 2010. There was bipartisanship in the General Assembly. The state had a two-party government. And things were pretty good here. I seem to recall NC had one of the strongest economies in the nation in the 90s.
But now, Democrats won a majority of the votes for congressional representatives in 2012, but only control 4 of the 13 seats. How is that fair? How can someone say with a straight face that that is small government? That's the kind of election manipulation that 3rd world dictators--despots that oppress their country's citizens engage in. It's shameful to see it in a developed country like the US.
Essentially they're holding the state hostage. It's tyranny of the minority.
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