Back to School for Bev
June 18, 2009 - by
Governor Perdue must have decided that the only way to arrest her flagging poll numbers is to plant the flag for education. And for $1.5 billion in higher taxes.
Laura Leslie at WUNC radio said Perdue is “fighting back” against legislative cuts with a “Jim Hunt-esque tour to pressure legislators to protect school funding.”
(Thanks for the shout-out, Laura. Of course, Hunt never would have waited this long. He would have jumped into the fray weeks ago.)
Perdue’s offensive comes after weeks of Mike Easley-esque standing aside and watching her approval ratings drop to 30 percent.
When you fall that far, there is little risk in calling for big tax increases. But Democrats in the legislature will put their necks on the ballot line next year. That’s why they “gasped.”
Perdue probably will regain some lost ground among Democrats and teachers. But as James Carville once noted, any time you see a politician “shoring up their base,” you’re looking at a politician in trouble.
Perdue is caught in a budget undertow that is drowning governors from New York to California
Perdue never was very strong. She barely beat Pat McCrory in a strong Democratic year. She got off to a good start and impressed people in Raleigh
Now she’s merged the messages: No classroom cuts, and raise taxes. But the legislature probably will both cut education and raise taxes. And it’s doubtful that Perdue has the kind of strong political profile that will shield her from the fallout.
Her strategy is to hold on and hope things get better – economically and politically – before 2012. And hope she doesn’t get a Republican legislature in 2010.
Of course, spending two years running against the legislature could be a winner politically.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
Back to School for Bev
June 18, 2009/
Governor Perdue must have decided that the only way to arrest her flagging poll numbers is to plant the flag for education. And for $1.5 billion in higher taxes.
Laura Leslie at WUNC radio said Perdue is “fighting back” against legislative cuts with a “Jim Hunt-esque tour to pressure legislators to protect school funding.”
(Thanks for the shout-out, Laura. Of course, Hunt never would have waited this long. He would have jumped into the fray weeks ago.)
Perdue’s offensive comes after weeks of Mike Easley-esque standing aside and watching her approval ratings drop to 30 percent.
When you fall that far, there is little risk in calling for big tax increases. But Democrats in the legislature will put their necks on the ballot line next year. That’s why they “gasped.”
Perdue probably will regain some lost ground among Democrats and teachers. But as James Carville once noted, any time you see a politician “shoring up their base,” you’re looking at a politician in trouble.
Perdue is caught in a budget undertow that is drowning governors from New York to California
Perdue never was very strong. She barely beat Pat McCrory in a strong Democratic year. She got off to a good start and impressed people in Raleigh
Now she’s merged the messages: No classroom cuts, and raise taxes. But the legislature probably will both cut education and raise taxes. And it’s doubtful that Perdue has the kind of strong political profile that will shield her from the fallout.
Her strategy is to hold on and hope things get better – economically and politically – before 2012. And hope she doesn’t get a Republican legislature in 2010.
Of course, spending two years running against the legislature could be a winner politically.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats