At least Democrats left out of the budget process have company: Governor McCrory.

Lobbyists report that, just like them, McCrory was calling around last weekend trying to find out what was in the budget. It wasn’t just that he had no impact. He had no information.

Never has a Governor had so little clout with legislators of his own party. Once again, this raises the central question facing McCrory’s reelection: What’s the point of having a Governor who can’t get anything done?

McCrory’s cluelessness and powerlessness are altogether new in Raleigh.

The only Governor who had anything like his lack of legislative impact was Jim Martin. He was a Republican facing a solidly Democratic legislature in which key budget leaders literally dumped his proposed budgets into a trash can.

But Martin had no veto. (Which Republicans helped Governor Hunt remedy when they briefly controlled the House in the 1990s.)

Governors Hunt, Easley and Perdue all had, to varying degrees, success in affecting budgets. Even when they lost battles, they knew what was in the budget. McCrory isn’t just weak, he’s in the dark.

This is Roy Cooper’s strongest case in 2016.