Moonstruck; Patrick Ballantine didn't know what hit him. It was our Mover and Shaker of the Year: he smelled blood.

• Author: Talbot, Larry
• Position: FEATURE

Even a man who's pure in heart and says his prayers by night May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright It was an old gypsy who said that. Or maybe an old Cajun--James Carville--but definitely somebody scary, eerie and adept at the occult arts. And though it's true that the full moon fell five days before Nov. 2, by then it was all over.

Few could have foreseen the change that came over the governor as the election approached. Most of his first term, he had seemed uncomfortable in his skin, moping around the mansion, going about his official duties without really relishing them. It was as if running the state wasn't something he could sink his teeth into. But come the election, Mike Easley was ready to howl.

He's the hairy-handed Dem who ran amok in Stem Lately he's been crashing cars in Concord Better stay away from that He'll rip your lungs out, Pat I'd like to meet his mailer --apologies to the late, lamented Warren Zevon Politics, they say, is a blood sport, and Easley quickly ran down his prey. His ferocity--not to mention his slashing use of the powers of incumbency--made his friends shake their heads in amazement and his foes shudder in terror. Poor Patrick Ballantine never had a chance. In this race, the...