Gary Pearce posted on July 14, 2010 10:25
Ever since Governor Perdue’s brief honeymoon ended, public polls have brought her nothing but bad news. So her advisers not surprisingly found a silver lining in Public Policy Polling’s numbers on her and the Highway Patrol.
But don’t get carried away.
Last week’s poll found that 67 percent of North Carolinians have a favorable opinion of the Patrol. But what would they say if the question were: “Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Perdue’s handling of problems in the Highway Patrol?”
Still, Perdue’s own numbers are ticking up. Her ratings were 33 approve (up from 24 last fall), 47 disapprove. That’s a net negative of 14 – better than the net negative of 30 last July.
Most of her gains have been with her Democratic base, which was mad at her at the end of last year’s legislature. This year’s session was better.
Still, she faces a tough road to reelection. Maybe the most crucial numbers for her are President Obama’s approval ratings.
Without Obama on the ballot – and the surge of voters he created – Perdue may not have won in 2008. She needs him to run strong in 2012.
She also needs Republicans to screw up. And they might – especially if they get control of one or both legislative chambers.