Exclusive – This NEVER Happens! The New York Times —

Durham NC–Yes: This never happens, except today it did:

The New York Times actually mentioned North Carolina politics in a major article. Actually TWO articles. And they did so not just once, not twice, but THREE times. (And without bringing up barbecue, basketball. Krispy Kreme or Cheerwine, not even a single time.)

Let me explain what makes this report noteworthy: for national political reporters, North Carolina is practically the epitome, the paragon, the platonic ideal of Flyover Country. Located as it is in what I call the Pretty Deep South, it has plenty of fine scenery, but lacks a national attraction like Las Vegas, Disney World, or Mar-a-Lago.

It claims to be the birthplace of three presidents, but the most famous, Andrew Jackson, called that other Carolina his home, while the remaining two–James K. Polk  and Andrew Johnson, are deemed obscure, and among the worst, in that order. Besides which, all three were slaveholders. About the most significant Civil War action here came at the end, when Confederate General Joe Johnston surrendered to Union General Sherman in Durham, several anticlimactic days after Appomattox. No wonder it’s forgotten..

The last time NC got some serious political ink and screen time was in 2008, when a talented former U.S. Senator, John Edwards, launched a promising progressive democratic presidential campaign. It soon crashed and burned when Edwards was exposed as having had an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer, with whom he fathered a child, while his wife was dealing with terminal cancer.

That whole business is still not mentioned in polite company here. One of its many unhappy outcomes was that it deflected attention from the rather unspectacularly respectable character of most other living NC politicians — err, well , except for the steady bipartisan stream  of former elected bigwigs, shuffling off to the pokey for the less lurid but more frequent infractions of bribe-taking and embezzlement. But that doesn’t really build the brand either. Nor did the notorious “bathroom bill” brouhaha of 2010-2020.

Beyond those, the routines of politics do go on more or less normally here, if below the radar: there are regular elections, candidates win and lose, issues and controversies bubble and shift. etc.

This year, of course, was more fraught than many. Republicans won most of the available major offices. But there were a few notable exceptions.

I know they’re notable, because the New York Times said so. To wit:

#1- “[Democrats] staved off a Republican supermajority in North Carolina that would have allowed Republicans to pass an abortion ban by overriding the Democratic governor’s veto. . . .”

[NOTE: “staved off” could use a bit of clarification, such as the phrase “just barely.” The GOP took over two-thirds of the NC state Senate seats, and fell only one seat short of the two-thirds mark in the state Assembly. In NC politics, this puts an anti-abortion law veto override within the reach of any single Assembly member who would be ready to, say, make a deal for their vote for some worldly consideration.  Of course that never happens here . . . except when it does.]

#2– “‘My Main, Core Issue”: Abortion Was the Driving Force for Many Voters” —New York Times

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Nancy Bush, a retired nurse, said she chose candidates based on whether they supported abortion rights. Abortion is legal in North Carolina up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, and the state’s Democratic governor has pledged to stop any attempts by the Republican-controlled legislature to pass new limits.

“I don’t like abortion, I prefer no abortion, but certainly the rights of women come over that,” said Ms. Bush, 79.

— By Corina Knoll and Mitch Smith

#3– In North Carolina’s 13th District, the Trump-endorsed Republican Bo Hines, who said that victims of rape and incest who become pregnant should be subject to “a community-level review process” before being granted an abortion, lost a seat considered a tossup. . . .

[Note: Yes, Hines did say that. The surprise upset was made possible by the deft campaigning of state senator Wiley Nickel, but perhaps even more so by a twist of judicial fate last spring. Then a long battle over congressional gerrymanderng, which in NC has heavily favored creation of Republican-leaning districts, was interrupted by judicial order just long enough for the13th District to be redrawn on a truly competitive basis. NC Republicans of course cried “Foul!” and “unconstitutional!” They have turned to the minority-rule loving U.S. Supreme Court to “stave off” this abomination of a fairly-drawn district; but that’s another story.]

[One other note, which didn’t make it into the Times: Last year, the 13-member House delegation from NC was tilted 8 Republican to 5 Democrats. The new group elected this week is balanced at seven each. The state was awarded an additional district due to population growth, and that 14th was won by Charlotte Democrat Jeff Jackson. So NC added a seat to the tally Democrats hope to use to stay in control of the House, or very close to it, which is still undecided as this is posted.]

Thus a case can be made that not only did NC deserve the three

mentions in the august Newspaper of Record today , but that national political coverage would be enriched if it were noticed more often.

If something like this ever happens again, we’ll be on it. Meanwhile  I’m not holding my breath.