RALEIGH — It was 250 years ago this week that a displaced governor issued a proclamation intended to restore him to power in North Carolina. Instead, it led to the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War in the Southern colonies — and a decisive defeat for his cause.

RALEIGH — One benefit of getting married on New Year’s Eve is that our anniversary is unlikely to slip my mind. If you doubt my capacity to forget so important a date, just ask my wife.

RALEIGH — While our state continues to best most others in economic performance, not all our households and communities are sharing in North Carolina’s prosperity. Some are struggling to replace lost jobs with new ones. Other folks are gainfully employed but see their real incomes being eroded by the rising costs of housing, health care, transportation, and other necessities.

RALEIGH — Think tank is a funny term for a serious enterprise. For more than a century — the first one was the Brookings Institution, founded in 1916 — think tanks have played important roles in American politics and government. They’ve developed and promoted ideas.

RALEIGH — Two hundred and fifty years ago this week, thousands of Carolinians were trudging through deep snow. They weren’t in search of Christmas trees, or heading over the river and through the woods to their grandmothers’ houses for holiday feasting. These were Patriot militiamen, from both Carolinas, hunting for Tories in modern-day Greenville County, South Carolina.

RALEIGH — North Carolina is one of America’s most contested electoral battlegrounds. It has been for generations. It is also home to one of the most successful state Democratic parties in American history.

RALEIGH — Why do you keep criticizing leaders and institutions on the Right? Why can’t you focus all your fire on the Left? Why can’t the Right form a united front? Why can’t we all just get along?

RALEIGH — In 1984, the first year I was eligible to vote, North Carolina had 11 congressional districts. Most were hotly contested by the majority-party Democrats and up-and-coming Republicans. (Yes, it was a different era.)

RALEIGH — North Carolina needs $120 billion worth of new investment in water, stormwater, and sewer systems, according to a recent report from the U.S. Water Alliance. I suspect that number is on the high side — the alliance represents localities, public authorities, and companies and labor unions with a financial interest in infrastructure spending — but I don’t doubt the existence of unmet needs across our state.

RALEIGH — North Carolina isn’t quite First in Freedom. But over the past decade and a half, we’ve taken tremendous strides in the right direction. 

RALEIGH — North Carolina has one of the best-performing economies in the country. We also have one of the country’s most competitive tax codes. That’s no coincidence. Tax reform had served our state well.

RALEIGH — Having spent most of my career building, financing, and leading conservative institutions — in North Carolina and around the country — I’ve learned many critical lessons, often the hard way. One of them is that if you truly want to persuade and influence, rather than just perform or provoke, you can’t do it alone. You must be willing to cooperate with people who may share only some of your views and goals.

RALEIGH — It was 250 years ago this week that North Carolinians fought in their first formal battle for American independence. But they didn’t fight it in North Carolina — and they didn’t fight British redcoats.