North Carolina, to my knowledge, is pioneering the extremes of party based politics this week. There is no thought for why certain races were lost this election cycle. The government instead will be shaped to the will of the increasingly powerful legislature. They are achieving this by hobbling the governorship and what it means.

One could say the reduction of power in the governorship is a good thing. Many of the bills that they have proposed actually may have very positive impacts.

The problem is that no one expects that in 4 years if a Republican is elected governor, the reductions in executive power will remain in place. Also, no one expects if the legislature is removed from office in an upcoming election cycle that they won't do another partisan power grab.

This sets a bad precedent. There is no thought to the people who live in the state of North Carolina and how these actions impact them. There is no care about legal challenges and their costs. The only thought is retaining control for their "team."

North Carolina is a very polarized state. Some areas are seeing extreme growth while others have been seeing extreme decline.

I am working on understanding how the Republicans appeal to those who are seeing the decline. I have seen no plan from them to fix the problems in rural North Carolina or in cities where the primary industry is no longer present.

I am just starting to get involved in North Carolina politics. I am thinking I should start with Paul Luebke's book and go from there. I don't understand the logic, and I don't see the emotion that is driving the voting patterns of the people outside of Durham, where my home is.