Races to watch and my sleepless mornings (11-04-2025--Hour1)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio and Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendarshow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. And as we do every Tuesday at noon, we chat with Andrew Dunn. He is a contributing columnist at the Observer. He is also the purveyor of long Leaf Politics longleafpol dot com. You should subscribe as I do. All the cool kids are doing it. Andrew, how are you, sir? Oh, I'm doing well. The purveying is going is continuing to go well. Good good. He purveys as none other. So you've got a piece up at long Leaf Politics races that you are watching for this election. And honestly, I don't really care about like five of the races because they're not in the local area. So I just wanted to pick your brain on the ones that are local here to us. In Charlotte. So first off, we've got the Charlotte Mayor's race and the city council race, and I don't know, you say, a good night is going to be if Krista Bakari wins in District six. A great night will be if Edwin Peacock is able to secure one of the at large seats. An unbelievable night would be if Republican Terry Donovan would just make it close for Mayor vy Lyles. Okay, so let's kind of assess this. I'm going to start from the Terry Donovan point in unbelievable night, not that she wins, just that she makes it close. That's what you think would be an unbelievable night. Yeah, I mean the numbers, the numbers are what the numbers are. I mean, if you look at how Mecklenburg County has been trending, I mean, it's no surprise it's getting deeper and deeper blue. And you know, look at two years ago or one year ago, twenty twenty four. I mean, even Steve Troxler is only getting thirty three, thirty four percent of the vote in Mecklenburg County and he's the most popular Republican vote wise in North Carolina. I just don't think anything has changed that much that would change the overall dynamics. I think if Terry Donovan can keep by Lyle's vote total under sixty percent, I think that's a huge, huge win and a big statement. What is the statement? The statement is that Charlotte is not doing enough to put a handle on crime. I mean Terry Donovan, who I respect. I've met her at time or two. I think she's a good candidate, and I'm glad that she's running and she's trying to make the election a referendum on public safety, which I think is absolutely the right thing for her to do. And I think if she can keep you get over forty percent towards forty five percent, that's a big statement that Charlotte is not headed in the right direction on dealing with crime in our city. Are what are Edwin Peacock's chances. His chances are better, still not great, And I think he knows this. I think if you talk to him, he'd tell you this that it's an uphill battle. Looking at raw numbers, we're talking about making up about fourteen thousand votes, which doesn't sound like a lot, but in a very very low turnout election, it's a lot of people that you have to motivate and get out the door to actually vote. But which is kind of a blessing in a in a low turnout election. You know, one, you have to do a lot of education and a lot of get out in the vote work to get people who wouldn't normally vote in an off year to actually get out and vote. But it also means that it's possible, you know, and there was some numbers that came out the other day that Edwin has raised a considerable amount of money. Hopefully all of that's going to get Republicans out the door and actually to go cast a ballot. What do what does it get out the vote operation that's that's funded. What does that look like for local Republicans? Yeah, so there's a lot of different ways that you might do it. I mean kind of the gold standard is the lowest tech route possible, which is going out and knocking on doors, But that doesn't scale all that well, so that's kind of the baseline. Then you layer on top mail pieces on top of that. That's kind of the best bang for your buck. But what it really takes to actually get people out the doors, to have a target lift, have phone numbers and call and text people. So I imagine that that's what Edwin Peacock has been working on and we'll see if it pays off. And Krista Bakari, this is the District sixth seat that was held by her husband, Tarc Bakari, who went up and took a job in the Trump administration and then left the seat vacated. She applied for the seat, but the city council did not put her into that seat. They put Edwin Peacock into that seat. So he's leaving that District six seat. And he did say he was not going to run for election for that seat, and that was one of the reasons why the Democrats on council put him in there. So it was a close race when Tark ran, and he was there for years. He was a I think he was like four or five terms. So yeah, I don't know if this If the Republicans lose this district, they're down to one seat basically on the charlot A City Council, which I mean, my view on it is that the council needs to abandon the at large races and just go to a straight district setup because it's at large races. Just I think the data shows that they suppressed minority representation. That's all at large races were intended to do, and that's what they do. And so I don't know, what do you think like her? You think a good night as if she wins. Do you think that's doable? Yes, definitely doable. You know, the last couple of cycles that Tark ran, it came down to just a few hundred votes, you know, I think it was three hundred and change votes in twenty twenty three. Christo's a very strong candidate and she's been working hard. I mean I see her out everywhere. You know, she ran for state house last year, and I did an analysis on overperformers and underperformers basically how individual candidates fared in their district can paired to the presidential candidate in their district, so that would have been Donald Trump. And Krista Baccari outpaced Donald Trump in her House district by something like ten points, just an exceedingly high number. So she definitely has crossover appeal, you know, independence like Krista, and it's going to be a close race. But I think I think she's going to win that. You know, I actually live in District six, so I kind of have a front row seat to it. What's interesting is I haven't seen her opponent, Kim Owens, hasn't really been campaigning very much at all, at least not that I've seen. But there is a union group out of New York that has been sending mailers on her behalf. So my house has gotten a two or three mailers from this New York SEIU group that's been been pushing her. Speaking of mailers, I've been getting a ton of them for the transportation sales tax vote, and finally I got one over the weekend that finally mentioned rail on the mailer. I've gotten like seven or eight of these things, and none of them have mentioned rail. It's all been focusing on roads. And you say that this referendum is the best ideological x ray of Charlotte that we have had in years. What did you mean by that? Yeah, So, I mean Charlotte historically has been a pro business town, right, you know, it's been reliably blue and democratic over the past you know, call it fifteen years, but it's been more moderate and more business focused But what I've seen just kind of following local politics is that the center of gravity has been steadily shifting to the left. You know, you see, you know, where you once had a Julie Isiel on council, now you've got you know, Lawana Mayfield, you had Braxton Winston. You know he's no longer on the council. But that's sort of candidate what the main opposition to the transit referendum has been from what I consider the far left. You're basically saying that this is just a giveaway to business, or you know, that this doesn't do enough for low in communities, that sort of thing. I think the Transit tex is going to pass, but I think it's going to be relatively close. I think five years ago this would have passed sixty forty. I'm thinking now it's probably more of fifty five forty five. But what we'll see and the results is whether kind of the center left, pro business, moderate democrat still controls the politics here in Charlotte, or if that has actually finally gone away. Yeah, and they'll also pick up support from conservatives that are going to vote. Know however, many of them that are left inside city or its Yeah, so sort of an interesting coalition there against the tax right and finally, real quick, the Huntersville Town Council. And I guess this is the mayor's race. Christy Clark, she's the Democrat, she won in twenty twenty three, and it's a rematch against the Republican Derek Party. And I have heard like he he's got some opposition, has had some opposition among Republicans up in Huntersville. So what's your make of that race? Yeah, I'm not as familiar with Huntersville politics as I would like to be, but you know, Huntersville is one of those interesting areas where it was reliably read for a long long time and then you know, lately we've kind of had a back and forth where you know, we're John Bradford and Christy Clark. Christy Clark's the Democrat who's now the mayor. They kind of flips loot back and forth for the house district up there. I'm watching this closely mostly to see, you know, how are the suburbs feeling. You know, is there any chance that they'll you know, come back and get more Republican. My gut tells me probably not, But that's what I'm looking for there. Yeah, I think just the demographics of it. As you know, the cities get bluer and bluer. The first waves of you know, Republicans that move out of Charlotte, they'll you know, probably move to those the six small towns quote unquote small towns that are not so small anymore, and then they and then they end up just leaving Mecklenburg County altogether. I think that's pretty universal. I saw it in Asheville as well, and now you're seeing some of like the surrounding counties, their towns, like Hendersonville elected some Democrats for like the first time ever. Uh. It's just sort of the natural I was gonna say infection, but it's like that, it is the way this it is the way this leftism spreads. That's I mean, it's like blue dots and sea are in a sea of red. Uh and it just kind of it just kind of grows out from that central point. So all right, well we'll watch that too. We got other stuff that we didn't get to, but people can read more of your work at long Leaf Politics, long leafpol dot com, and The Charlotte Observer publishes his pieces. The latest one North Carolina's budget stalemate is historic, but it's a healthy kind of Republican fight, and maybe we'll talk about that next week, so Andrew always appreciate it. Yeah, yes, sir, I can guarantee you that the budget will not be resolved by next week, so we can talk about it then. Yes, show prep's already done. Fantastic, all right, Andrew Dunn, thanks, sir, appreciate it. You know, stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Mint Hill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service. Convert images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video dot com. From the text line stand texts. The way you described how the left expands, using the analogy of the blue dot, gradually expanding into the red areas and eventually taking over. It almost sounded like you were describing an infection or something similar. I think I use that word. Maybe you could coin a new term or phrase for it, maybe like a left faction. Now that doesn't work, we'll toss it out there. If you got any ideas, what do we call it? Maybe something with like locusts. Uh. Mike says, show some love for wax saw vote Michael Dobie for wax saw commissioner, Show some love for wax saw vote Michael Adobe for wax saw Commissioner, Show some love for wax Okay, he sent the same message three times over the course of the wait this goes back to the morning dude. Okay, Well I read it. I don't know if you got it read during the other shows, but you got it read three times on this one. There you go. Andy says, I don't get it. Since when is voting against more taxes considered left wing? This is about the transit tax. Well, remember I had on a couple of opponents to the transit tax, Eric Rowell from Huntersville Conservative and Robert Dawkins from NC Action or Action NC I Forget, and that's a progressive organization, and they're both opposed to the tax. And the left has been making these arguments that the money needs to be spent differently for more targeted towards, you know, buses, things that will help the poor. That's their ORGA. And they're opposed to the sales tax because they say it is a regressive tax, and it is. Sales taxes are regressive. It hurts people on the lower end of the economic spectrum more so than the people on the upper end of the spectrum. Because the people who have a lot of money can absorb a you know, an increase in a sales tax of one cent. People on the lower end have a harder time because in real dollars, you know, they're spending more real dollars on taxes. Now, so that was why they were opposed to it. And that's sort of this this alliance that has formed in opposition to the one cent sales tax. But yeah, if you've got, if you've got suggestions for the spreading of leftism out of the urban cores and then infecting all of the surrounding areas and slowly taking it all over. Open to that, Kirk suggests left titis. Well, that well, that does sound that does sound like an infection. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in west North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Ashville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains centrally located between Ashville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at kevins Aashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. So, okay, I have a confession to make. I have not been sleeping very well in the mornings. I blame government and more directly my cat. But I blame the government first because of daylight savings time or saving time, and they rolled it back and the cat doesn't know that the clock is different. Now we have an automatic feeder because he gets up like we had like the first feeding for him at like four point thirty in the morning to try to make him leave us alone, you know, so we don't have to get up and feed him, because he gets super annoying. He like walks all over you. He scratches at the carpet, he knocks everything off of the end table, the nightstand, you know. And and so I went out and bought an automatic feeder. And so now he knows the sound of it. It makes this little loop as it spins around, and it opens up the next little panel and then it gives a little beep. So he knows the sound, but he doesn't know that four thirty is now not four thirty. So he keeps waking up. He's been waking up at three thirty in the morning and not getting fed. And so I had to I had to readjust the thing. Now it's just so thanks a lot, gov CO. So anyway, that's why if I seemed to be dragging a little bit today, it is true I am dragging because now I'm on day three of this. This was the first day that we reset the that I because I went, I went to the machine and to the feeder machine, and I was like, add another hour back onto that thing. So now he's getting fed at three third already in the morning. So but he still woke us up at like five and three thirty. He still did wake us up at like three thirty. So yeah, but yeah, so I blame him, But I also blame gov Go because he's just a cat. He doesn't know any better, you know, it's just his instinct. He's going out wanting to hunt stuff, you know. So anyway, we got some more ideas on what to call the spread of leftism out of out of the blue areas, out of the urban areas, and into the surrounding communities. Let me see here. This one is from well, it's from a nine to eight. Oh no, this is from Stan who suggests the blue Bonic plague. Uh, that's a good one. Mmmm m hmmm. Jim says, vote Jim Rayborne for your real estate agent. That's not that's not that's not a vote. Great. Dane says, I love my automatic feeder. I ignored the cat. We never changed the time on our feeder, right. I wish I had known that. I didn't even think about it. I changed it, and then Christy came home and she was like, oh, well, he's not going to know it's a different clock, and I'm like, well that's true. So yeah, I mean it's totally my fault for changing the clock. Chris suggests, on the spread of the leftism, you could call the spread left trust. See like leprosy causes rotting and decay. It's a little difficult to say though, that's the problem, Like it's got to roll off the tongue a little bit like blue bonnic. Chris says, leftism is more of a cancer than an infection. Like a cancer, it must be combated with early and aggressive treatment. Left untreated or unsuccessfully treated, eventually it'll kill the host. Bill suggests a left botomy that's more like an individual thing. Jeff suggests blue media, Okay, we want to all right, we want to keep this family friendly. Jeff shouldn't even have read that. But you know me, I'm a sucker for the jokes. I can't help it, for the I should say, for the good jokes. Speaking of which, it is election day, and I do have some fundraising totals here that the Charlotte Observer compiled. Andrew Dunn made a reference to some of this data. So Republican candidates actually raised more money than Democrats in multiple Charlotte City council races, So this is from the period the reporting period August twenty seventh through October twentieth, now August twenty seventh through October twentieth, that would include the backlash to the murder of Arena Zarutzka on the light rail line. So Christo Bacari in District six, she more than doubled the contributions of Democrat Kimberly Owens. Long shot mayoral candidate Terry Donovan outraised the incumbent by Lyles by a wide margin as well. Her biggest influx of cash came amid national scrutiny of Lyles's response to the fatal light rail stabbing. And leading the pack across all races at large Republican candidate Edwin Peacock, whose campaign pulled in more than one hundred ten thousand dollars, so first up Bakari Krista Bakari ninety six thousand plus and spent sixty five thousand. She has about eighty six In the final two weeks before the election, her opponent raised forty thousand, spent thirty nine thousand, and she's got only about fifteen thousand dollars cash on hand. But remember this is for the period that ends October twentieth, so your final push, you're going to be spending a bunch of this money in the final push. One third of Krista Bakari's contributions came from the North Carolina Republican Party in the form of printing and postage for the mailing of the campaign literature. The state level party did not contribute to any other candidate this cycle. Edwin Peacock raised one hundred thirteen thousand. He spent twenty six of it. He has one hundred and seventeen on cash on hand. And why these numbers don't add up is because from the previous fundraising that they have done, so they've got money that they have been fundraising and they've been piling into the bank. So they could raise one hundred and thirteen, spend twenty six, but still have one hundred and seventeen in the bank. Dimple Ashmira a Democrat at large. She raised about twenty two thousand, spent about half of it, but her cash on hand is one hundred and seventy nine thousand, but she's accumulated that over a decade. Also of note, Lee Ratliffe was one of her donors one thousand dollars donor Lee Ratliffe, the CEO of PSS Professional Security Services. They do the They've got the contract for security for Charlotte Public Transit. He also donated one thousand dollars to James Smudgie Mitchell. He also donated one thousand dollars Toolana Slack Mayfield's campaign. All right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right see for yourself. Check dot Ground, dot news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Happy Election Day, John from Jersey, It's a Pete male to Pete at thepeteclenarshow dot com. Pete cats apparently go insanely active at dawn and dusk. That is true. I've watched a lot of cat videos, and I'm not just talking the cute ones that make you laugh and oh aren't they adorable? Like not that like people dressing up their cats and making them do stuff. I mean, I've watched a lot of those too, but I've watched a lot of these like why do cats do what they do? Things that cats like that their owners don't do, and things they hate that owners do and all that. I've watched a lot of this stuff, and they are very active in the Yeah, dusk and dawn there's a word for it. I forget what the word is, but they that's when they go hunting and according to these YouTube videos, which would never lie to me. They say that, like, the cats are waking you up because number one, they don't like you in the deep sleep because cats, cats don't go into the deep sleeps like we do, and so they think we're dead and they're like, wake up, wake up, Oh my gosh, why are you so you know, deeply asleep. But then the other thing is that they feel like we're missing out on the hunt, and so they try to wake us up, like, hey, it's time to go hunting. You know. I think it's just because he just views me as the food deliverer, you know. But anyway, cats go insanely active at dawn and dusk, perhaps a hunting drive. Ours doesn't get the time change thing, and she walks up onto me, punches me in the face with her head that's called the head butt, then proceeds to vocalize demanding breakfast. I also watched this video that said you're supposed to respond to your cat, do you know, like if you don't respond to your cat, like their neural pathways will never develop and then they just don't ever. They never meet out, they don't talk, like if you're raising a cat from a kitten anyway, So you're supposed to talk to them and then they will communicate back with you because they don't meow at each other. They don't talk to each other. Totally a cat thing, you know. Anyway, I save this creature's life. I feel an obligation. But dang, now I remember why I'm a dog person. Oh and I forgot to mention my obligatory election day prediction. And you know me, I don't make predictions except this one. When it comes to elections. The obligatory prediction is it'll all come down to turn out. And I say that because I hate when people say that, because of course, it's like saying, you know, the winner of this football game, it's all going to come down to who puts up the most points. Well, yes, that's how you judge the winner, Michael in a tweet. It's a pet tweet, he says. This is also the hardest point to get across to people. I nearly turned blue in the face trying to convey the simple truth to some acquaintances who only want to complain about current affairs. Yeah, well, I mean, it's it's about turnout, and if you just complain all the time, but you don't go vote and you don't participate, then like you're not making things better, you're just complaining. And then you're just like you know me, and you don't want to be like me. So let me see here. I've got a bunch of text messages. This. So people are yeah, people are suggesting all of the Uh oh is it crepuscular nocturnal? I don't know. For the cat thing, I don't know. I forget what the name is. Diurnal is the word. I think that's it. The hellion says, I am simply a food tainer. Yes, probably so dogs have owners, cats have servants. Yeah, Diurnal means they hunt both dusk and dawnt. They're also predator and prey. Cats are predator and prey, and that means that like, if they get injured, they hide it because they don't want anybody to know. Mike says, we can call it, oh, this is the spread of leftism outside the urban areas and to the suburbs. Call it gang blue like gang green. That yeah, I like that one. Gang blue. The tissue dies due to the lack of common sense. Uh mmm, pete, that would make it left TD. I don't know. Uh liberal virus or liberous Yeah, okay, BPBP. It's funny when you see the current police chief of Minneapolis interview for CMPD. This guy has tons of experience. Is this from today? I'm about the police chief, daylight savings and proof that the government just likes to mess with us. That is. Yeah, there's no reason for it anymore. We should just get rid of it. And then Michael says, I'm in the same boat. My cat wakes me up earlier. Now I have to buy her a smart watch. She's not going to be able to use it. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecallanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.