Laura Leslie

Yours truly may be having his 15 seconds of fame tonight in a story on WRAL-TV by Laura Leslie. She and her camera guy stopped by yesterday for a quick chat. You never know what will actually show up on teh teevee when you do this sort of thing, but for the record, here's what I had to say.

Laura Leslie has the best round-up of the Governor's signing frenzy yesterday. I would have preferred peremptory vetoes of the entire pile of crap, but nobody elected me, so I'll simply pass along the news for your edification. Guess how many of the GOP bills had anything to do with economic recovery?

Laura Leslie gives GOLO folks a dose of reality:

Budget? What budget?

Despite all the talk leading up to the new session about how closing the projected $3.7 billion deficit would be the top priority for lawmakers this year, plenty of non-fiscal issues are being addressed by the initial bills being filed.

No comments yet, but that's okay, Laura. They're still thinking about it and trying to figure out if you're one of them dang Socialists.

As most of you know by now, one of our favorite North Carolina political reporters, Laura Leslie (known as Radiogirl around these parts), is leaving WUNC-FM to be the "multimedia statehouse reporter" for WRAL-TV. From the discussion on her Facebook page, it's a great opportunity for her, and potentially for North Carolina as well.

Laura is one member of the Capital Press Corps who gets what life online is all about. She is also one of the few journalists who has dared to report on the full reach of Art Pope's Puppetshow and its toxic impact on democracy in North Carolina. In fact, she covered it so well last November, that Mr. Pope himself couldn't take the heat.

From one of the best.

At my first NC Sine Die in 2004, the press corps was 20-something strong. Reporters and photogs fought over scoops, raced each other up the stairs, and went in on pizzas in the wee hours.

This year, at 2am, during the hottest debate of the session, there were eight of us scattered in a press room lined with mostly empty desks. Gary Robertson, AP. Mark Binker, Greensboro. Barry Smith, Freedom. Josh Ellis, Curtis Media. Ben Niolet and Dan Kane, N&O. Scott Mooneyham, Insider. And me. Fewer than one per million people in this state.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, this past week, members of the Alliance for Retired Americans picketed the state Republican headquarters, asking the party to stop using what they call scare tactics to turn senior citizens against health care reform. It could be the start of a voter backlash against what some say is a misinformation campaign about health care reform. From North Carolina Public Radio, Laura Leslie reports

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Listen here.

As some of you may know, I've been a frequent visitor and fan of the Under the Dome blog at the N&O since its inception. Indeed, I doubt there is another person who has done more to promote their site with links and commentary than I have. In recent months, though, the growth of right-wing vitriol there has been both alarming and off-putting. The same thing has been happening at Talking About Politics and WRAL News.