The Daily Haymaker

#ncga: Compliance. (Not so hard after all.)

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Brant Clifton

It is A-mazing how a little embarrassing publicity can cause a pol to straighten up and fly right. We told you earlier about state Rep. John Torbett neglecting to file

#ncga: Ready, contestants? It’s once again time to play the SCRUTINY game !

Posted on December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 by Brant Clifton

It’s great to see the drive-bys finally get into the game — following our lead on this whole questionable-campaign-spending thing. The N&O’s editorial page even got all huffy and puffy

#ncpol: So much Binkering. So little time.

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Brant Clifton

I see that WRAL has Mark Binker — reportedly the son of WJM’s Ted Baxter — on the, um, “fact-checking” beat. That’s a travesty akin to letting Charles Manson baby-sit

What WILL the GOP stand and fight FOR?

Posted on November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 by Brant Clifton

One again, we’re hearing talk from our grand majority in Washington about surrendering before the battle even starts: A top House leader predicted Monday that Washington will avoid stumbling into

#ncpol: Like Elvis, John Hood is EVERYWHERE

Posted on November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 by Brant Clifton

When I look out into your eyes out there, When I look out into your faces, You know what I see? I see a little bit of Elvis In each

#ncga: A DOOZY of a GOP primary out west in HD 115

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Brant Clifton

Democrat John Ager is expected to pursue a second term in this western North Carolina mountain district. He was one of the few bright spots for Democrats in 2014 —

#nc-02: A SEVEN-WAY GOP primary?

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Brant Clifton

Well, the Second District GOP primary race for 2016 is getting to be quite a crowded affair. We’ve all known incumbent Renee Ellmers was running for reelection. We’ve known about

#ncpol: The Four T’s of 2016

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Brant Clifton

The first week of December marks the shotgun start of the 2016 campaign season in North Carolina. That’s put-up-or-shut-up time. It’s when people have to step up and file for

#ncpol: A fool and his newspaper column.

Posted on November 25, 2015November 26, 2015 by Brant Clifton

Thank goodness McClatchy continues to prop up that geriatric relic RobRielleWho Christensen. If they didn’t, where else would we find such a glaring, prominent example of lazy reporting, and contempt

#ncga: Compliance is HARD.

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Brant Clifton

We know all about senator Fletcher Hartsell. We’ve seen the video and copy detailing speaker Tim Moore’s campaign finance reporting challenges. We also saw state Rep. Kelly Hastings paying himself