News is nationalized today, and North Carolina is viewed that way: As a “purple” state in terms of presidential choices. But North Carolina is a red state in terms of its governance, as just one day’s news shows: Republicans, who embrace Donald Trump and his policies, are setting the state’s agenda on elections, education and much more.
The Democratic governor has limited power, as the veto overrides show, and GOP leaders have cut that back over the past eight years.
The result: RFK Jr. doesn’t stay on NC’s ballot, which means the state has to delay sending out absentee ballots and spend $1 million for the last -minute change. Public education stands to lose $100 million that will be used instead to support vastly expanded private school vouchers, while teachers don’t get raises (if the Senate goes along with the House bill).
This might be what most North Carolina voters want. Polls on issues sometimes show differently. But the public’s way of having a say — choosing legislators and judges, along with the governor and statewide offices — depends on knowing what’s happening and what’s being decided in time to weigh in.
It’s a huge challenge to our state’s newsrooms, which have lost so many resources, to stay on top of these changes — and even more so to connect news to people now getting information in lots of ways outside newspapers and TV.
Kudos to NC Newsline for this reporting.
This was originally published on LinkedIn.