Jim Hunt raised eyebrows during the campaign when he said Bev Perdue would be better at being governor than she was at being a candidate.

It sounded like faint praise at the time. Now it seems prescient.

Raleigh is amazed by Perdue’s deft performance since taking office. She is poised and comfortable in public appearances. Sometimes downright moving in her speaking. And she is projecting command presence as an executive.

Why the transformation?

It may be that she got so much coaching and conflicting advice as a candidate she lost confidence in herself.

Every day, all day, she had people telling her what to do: Be more negative. Be more positive. Attack McCrory. Don’t attack McCrory. Distance yourself from Easley. Don’t distance yourself from Easley. Embrace Obama. Avoid Obama. Do better in debates. Don’t do any more debates.

Conflicting advice – and the fear of losing – can rob candidates of their confidence.

Nothing restores confidence like winning.

Another factor may be that Perdue is back to doing what she did as Senate Appropriations chair: writing the budget. She spent 45 minutes talking about the budget with Speaker Hackney on a trip recently.

Tony Rand said that would make his head hurt. Apparently, it makes the Governor’s day.

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