Free Republic

There aren’t Greek columns tall or wide enough to camouflage Barack Obama’s impending North Carolina catastrophe. In September, the campaigner-in-chief will travel to Charlotte for his party’s presidential nominating convention. For once, the incurable jetsetter may wish he had stayed home. Obama’s stage managers envision a triumphant, unifying coronation reminiscent of their 2008 DNC production in Denver. But the southern swing state is turning into a Democratic disaster zone. Start with the North Carolina Democratic Party. At the state party convention last week, Obama for America was AWOL. The glaring absence of high-level national Obama surrogates was noted “as odd,”...

A bill which would legalize hydraulic fracturing—a practice that has been used to extract natural gas for decades—was passed by North Carolina’s House last week. The Senate previously approved a different version of the legislation than the one passed by the House. The updated version is pending approval by the Senate tomorrow. Senate Bill 820, titled the Clean Energy and Economic Security Act, would sanction the use of hydraulic fracturing by mid-2014, consequently lowering energy costs across the state and creating a plethora of new jobs for North Carolinians. Currently the oil and natural gas industry supports 135,165 well-paying jobs...

RALEIGH, North Carolina, June 20, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As part of their nationwide campaign to raise awareness about the disturbing practice of sex-selection in America’s abortion facilities, Live Action released new footage today from two North Carolina facilities. The undercover sting shows counselors from Planned Parenthood Chapel Hill and A Woman’s Choice of Raleigh, a National Abortion Federation affiliate, booking abortion appointments for a woman even after she made it clear she would only do it if they confirmed the unborn child was a girl. “We’re not here to judge people, we’re here to present them with their options and...

The North Rowan High School teacher who told students it’s criminal to speak ill of the president will keep her job with the Rowan-Salisbury School System. Although Tanya Dixon-Neely has been suspended without pay, she will return next school year, when she will be required to start a monitored growth plan, Superintendent Dr. Judy Grissom said in a press release. The district received national attention when a nearly 10-minute video of Dixon-Neely and senior Hunter Rogers engaging in a heated political debate went viral. In the video, the Dixon-Neely can be heard telling Rogers that he could be criminally charged...

In this week’s Nanny State Update, not even the most trivial matters are too mundane to escape the attention of lawmakers, from sofas on citizens’ private porches to the songs played at your local kindergarten graduation ceremony. At the national level, 1,934 pages of regulations and notices were added to the federal register as 84 new rules went into effect last week covering everything from rural electricity to the interstate travel of captive elk. Porch Sofa Fines Threaten Southern Comfort Living: One common southern tradition may no longer be acceptable in Durham, North Carolina where the city council just outlawed...

N.C. Democrats choose first transgender in diverse DNC delegationBy Carmen Cusido The Charlotte Observer Posted: Sunday, Jun. 17, 2012 RALEIGH N.C. Democrats on Saturday selected the remainder of the party’s 158-member delegation to September’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. And they did it with an emphasis on diversity. Among those picked Saturday: Janice Covington of Charlotte, the first openly transgender person to serve as a Democratic delegate from the state.“It’s important to my community – to the whole LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community” – to be a part of the convention, Covington, 64, said. “We’ve always been left...

On Saturday evening, Vice President Joe Biden’s son and Delaware attorney general Beau Biden tried to attack presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, but the punch ended up hitting North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue instead. “I’ve never met a successful politician who didn’t run again,” Biden said during his keynote address at the North Carolina Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner, in an attempt to attack Romney’s decision against running for re-election after his sole term as Massachusetts’ governor. (Snip)The crowd “collectively groaned,” according to the

Evil forces are conspiring against the fine police officers of Fayetteville, North Carolina. In that community, a three-time winner of the All-America City Award (and what greater endorsement is there?), "police officers are under attack by drug dealers, lawyers representing drug dealers and by the City of Fayetteville." Well, at least that's according to John C. Midgette, Executive Director of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, and a man who brings a strong dose of crazy to his organization's campaign against the establishment of a citizen review board — and of any criticism at all of the thin blue line....

A civil liberties group filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging North Carolina's prohibition against same-sex couples adopting each other's children. The ban on so-called second parent adoptions violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian parents and their children, according to the complaint filed in Greensboro by the American Civil Liberties Union. North Carolina is one of eight U.S. states where same-sex couples are barred from adopting children together and/or are not allowed to have one partner adopt the other's biological or adoptive children, according to the ACLU. A December 2010 decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court held...

President Barack Obama is rapidly losing support among African-American voters in North Carolina, a new poll out today from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling shows. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-african-american-vote-black-north-carolina-2012-6#ixzz1xddxBN6Z

President Barack Obama is rapidly losing support among African-American voters in North Carolina, a new poll out today from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling shows. The poll finds that Mitt Romney would get 20 percent of the African-American vote if the election were held today, compared with 76 percent for Obama. Overall, Romney has a 48 percent to 46 percent lead on Obama in the crucial swing state. Obama received 95 percent of the support from African-Americans in North Carolina in the 2008 election, compared with just 5 percent for Republican nominee John McCain. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-african-american-vote-black-north-carolina-2012-6#ixzz1xc7BdnRy

Left-leaning pollster PPP said Tuesday that its latest survey of potential North Carolina voters shows Mitt Romney leading President Barack Obama for the first time since October. Public Policy Polling said Romney leads 48 percent to 46 - a gain of seven points on Obama since April, when the President led by a 49-44 margin

Small businesses. They are responsible for over 60 percent of job creation. They are like puppies. Everyone loves them. Even liberals who demonize business have to pretend to like small businesses. Yet in North Carolina, one of the top battleground states of the 2012 election, Democrats have put up a gubernatorial candidate whose policies would sock it to small businesses. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, the Democratic nominee for governor, has announced his support for out-going Gov. Bev Perdue’s proposed sales tax hike. What the Dalton campaign is hoping voters don’t hear about, and the media ignores, is the disproportionate harm...

Perdue Team Headed To CourtSeveral aides may be called to testify about illegal contributions By Don Carrington Jun. 4th, 2012 RALEIGH — Even though Gov. Bev Perdue’s 2008 campaign for governor ended nearly four years ago, the upcoming trial of New Bern attorney Trawick “Buzzy” Stubbs should offer further insight into her campaign’s mysterious aircraft provider program. Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby maintains that the 10 flights Stubbs paid for, reported by Perdue’s campaign staff months after the election, amounted to illegal campaign donations. The trial, scheduled to begin June 11, also may provide insight into Perdue’s decision not...

Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) -- The state Democratic Party here is consumed with an ongoing sexual harassment scandal. The embattled governor is so unpopular she decided not to run for a second term. And supporters of same-sex marriage were dealt a crushing defeat at the ballot box last week. But the biggest challenge in North Carolina this year for President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats can be boiled down to something simpler: math. Everything that could have gone right for Obama in 2008 did go right, and yet he still only won North Carolina by just 14,177 votes --...

Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeksBy Kathy Finn Fri Jun 1, 2012 7:50pm EDT NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The Louisiana state House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would prohibit abortion beyond 20 weeks after fertilization unless the mother's life is in danger. Georgia a month ago became the seventh state to ban most or all abortions after 20 weeks. Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina also have such restrictions. Under the Louisiana measure, doctors who violate the 20-week provision could face up to two years in prison.

Edwards advised to keep low profile before 2nd actBy MARTHA WAGGONER and MICHAEL BIESECKER | Associated Press – Fri, Jun 1, 2012 RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Now that he has survived his campaign corruption trial, John Edwards may face an even tougher fight to regain the public's respect. Image experts and friends recommended that the disgraced former Democratic presdential candidate put his public and political life on hold for a few years. The details of his affair and child with his mistress that were replayed at his trial are too fresh, they say. "Plant a small garden, tend that garden...

Former NC Democratic staffer may sueThursday, May 31, 2012 RALEIGH (WTVD) -- There may soon be more fallout from a sexual harassment scandal the state Democratic party recently faced. A former staffer is considering filing a lawsuit against the party and its chairman, David Parker. Raleigh attorney Kieran Shanahan sent a letter to Parker asking him to preserve all records related to Adriadn Ortega's employment and sexual harassment complaints.

Speaking at the North Carolina GOP Convention, Trump praised Romney for his business experience and promise to stand up against China and fight for American economic interests. But the business mogul also focused a portion of his speech on his questions about where President Obama was born. It is the reason why on Tuesday, when Romney earned the 1,144 delegates necessary to secure his party's nomination, much of the news cycle was devoted to his decision to appear with Trump at a fundraiser that day. A desire by the media to protect Obama is the reason Trump told the more...

Cooksey v. Futrell, et al. Can the government throw you in jail for offering advice on the Internet about what food people should buy at the grocery store? That is exactly the claim made by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition. In December 2011, diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey started a Dear Abby-style advice column on his popular blog (www.diabetes-warrior.net) to answer reader questions. One month later, the State Board informed Steve that he could not give readers advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed, and thus criminal, practice of dietetics. The State...