Anti-abortion activists confront feminists in Denver. Originally published in Indy Week. DURING THIS WEEK OF THE DEMOCRATIC National Convention, it’s hard to walk more than a few blocks in downtown Denver without encountering clusters of abortion opponents carrying billboard-sized photos of fetal remains. They often make a lot of noise—but the demonstrators outside the University Club on […]
DNC Day 1: Come All Ye Faithful
The Democratic National Convention kicks off with some old-time religion. Originally published in Indy Week. THE FIRST WORDS I HEARD WHEN I heard when I walked into the theater at the Colorado Convention Center came from the University of Denver’s Spirituals Project Choir. Two thousand people had gathered for the first official event of the Democratic National […]
What Makes Elizabeth Run
She doesn’t agree with her husband on every single issue. She doesn’t hesitate to say so publicly. And she doesn’t walk away from a fight. Elizabeth Edwards might just be the most refreshing political spouse since Eleanor Roosevelt. Originally published in O, The Oprah Magazine. IF ANYONE HAD QUESTIONED ELIZABETH EDWARDS’ credentials as America’s most outspoken […]
Airline Insecurity
Federal regulators have known for years that the nation’s system of airport security was “seriously flawed.” But the FAA repeatedly placed politics and profits above the public’s safety. Originally published in Mother Jones. THE BUZZER SOUNDED AT AN AWKWARD MOMENT for Rep. Don Young. The Alaska Republican was halfway through a press conference on October 17, explaining […]
A Carolina Democratic Dream
Tar Heel archconservative Lauch Faircloth finds himself in a tough race against a personable Democrat who’s got a populist approach and money, too. Originally published in The Nation. JOHN EDWARDS KNOWS HE’S WALKING INTO THE LION’S DEN. It’s the Thursday before Labor Day, and the Democratic US Senate candidate is about to address the Rotary Club of […]
‘Virtual disenfranchisement’
Originally published in The Nation. CONGRESSMAN MEL WATT DOES A GOOD JOB of representing his constituents. A soft-spoken attorney and one of Congress’s left-most members, Watt hails from one of the more ideologically homogeneous districts in the country: the 12th District of North Carolina. Since he was first elected in 1992, the district has been a skinny […]
Helms’ Last Stand?
The Senate’s most renowned right-winger faces a new day in the Tar Heel state. Originally published in The Nation. FIFTEEN PEOPLE WERE WAITING when Harvey Gantt showed up at the Whitaker Mill Senior Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. In a small lounge room with straight-back chairs and a bulletin board full of photos, the Democratic U.S. Senate […]
Harvey & Jesse Go A-Courtin’
The voters who will swing the nation’s hottest Senate race speak out. Published in Indy Week. IF HARVEY GANTT WERE TO INVENT THE TYPE of voter he needs to tip him over victory’s edge this November, he might come up with someone just like Stella Nolley. Thirty-nine, Republican, and living in Cary, she considers Jesse […]
Why Helms is Still at the Helm
N.C. politics illustrate an important national moral: Republicans don’t have to address the social and economic concerns of ordinary people in order to win elections. Democrats do. Originally published in the Washington Monthly. FIVE YEARS AGO, IN THE AFTERMATH of the biggest GOP sweep North Carolina had ever seen, a group of stunned Democratic Party leaders paid […]
