Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Tillis didn’t stand by his convictions. He’s not what NC needs.

Tillis failed NC; this state deserves better

Bill Sitton
Bill Sitton

In response to “Tillis reverses course, votes to support Trump on emergency declaration” (March 15):

North Carolina and its citizens deserve senators who will stand by their convictions and stand up against a bully president. Thom Tillis has failed that test in spades.

After sounding off in an op-ed piece for the Washington Post, a column that Tillis elected to write, he turns tail and runs when threatened with primary opposition in 2020.

We deserve so much better. The sad reality is this: Tillis can no longer look North Carolinians in the eye and state his principles, whatever they may be. At least not until he fetches orders from the president. A very sad day.

Bill Sitton, Charlotte

Re-election reigned supreme for Tillis

The best definition of leadership I ever heard was “being able to make difficult decisions, and then sticking with them.”

Once the conservative wing of the Republican Party started discussing who they were going to nominate to run against Thom Tillis in the next primary, he immediately backtracked his position on border wall legislation.

Do we want someone in Washington representing our interests who only seems to be worried about getting re-elected, or someone who can take the heat and stand up for what he really believes?

Bill Anderson, Charlotte

Dems should have called out Omar

Thank you for publishing Nate Beeler’s astute editorial cartoon, with President Trump hugging the flag and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hugging Rep. Ilhan Omar. (March 10 Opinion)

The Democrats were too intimidated to name Omar for her anti-Semitic comments. Thank you for doing so; I appreciate Beeler’s observation.

Sandra Cherrybone, Charlotte

Don’t give Panthers SC tax dollars

In response to “SC lawmakers crafting deal to lure Panthers facilities out of Charlotte” (March 14):

So South Carolina is once again going to throw millions of our tax dollars at a very wealthy company in order to steal jobs from another state.

I love the Panthers, but they sold not long ago for $2.2 billion. Why do they need our tax dollars?

If they can’t afford to move otherwise, stay where they are. South Carolina needs to learn how to grow/create jobs here, not steal from other states like they did with Boeing.

David E. Hawk, Rock Hill

NC cost of living must be factored in

In response to “The teacher pay ran that really matters” (March 15 Editorial):

Using a dollar-per-dollar ranking per state to compare the value received for teacher compensation is misleading at best. You must figure in the cost of living in each state to get a fair comparison.

North Carolina’s population is among the fastest growing in the country because our cost of living is substantially less than other states.

George Schwab, Charlotte

There’s one thing Harris did right

In response to “Federal investigation ratchets up scrutiny into 9th District election” (March 13):

Despite revelations about the gross improprieties of Mark Harris’ campaign, some good was revealed: Pastor Harris raised a fine son. Who else but a man of courage and high integrity would have come forth with the truth about his father’s knowledge of the man who illegally handled votes in his race?

I commend Mark Harris for doing a fine job. If his son, John ever runs for Congress I’ll vote for him.

Paul D. Tillman, Charlotte

In defense of Harris; he should be seated

To Dan McCready and the State Board of Elections: “Have you no sense of decency?” How dare you make the Harris family cry.

My friend Mark Harris is a pastor. He didn’t have to undergo this horrible treatment at your hands, but he wanted to be a public servant. I guess no selfless deed goes unpunished.

Seems to me that voter fraud is a big issue when it benefits Democrats, but not when it benefits Republicans.

Seat Mark Harris.

John Mace, Raleigh

A game-changing idea for Dems?

Linda Berne
Linda Berne

To avoid a circular firing squad, the Democratic Party should sponsor a fall TV reality series called Democratic Survivor, with the goal of narrowing down their busload of candidates to three.

Each week candidates could respond to an issue – climate change, immigration, housing, etc. – either live or with a short video outlining their ideas. Americans would vote two to five of them off per week.

The final three could then duke it out in the primaries with some national name recognition under their belts. It could be a game changer.

Linda Berne, Charlotte

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