Pat McCrory said recently that he learned a lesson from his loss to Bev Perdue: negative ads work.

What planet has he been on?

My guess is that old warrior Jack Hawke told McCrory long before Election Day that, to win, he would have to attack Perdue.

And McCrory was surprised?

I suspect this is the real Charlotte Syndrome. Why do Charlotte mayors typically do poorly in statewide races? It’s not that they’re from Charlotte. It’s that they got elected mayor in mild-mannered, country-club campaigns. Then, when they get in a real war, they unilaterally disarm.

McCrory probably will be a better candidate if he runs again. It always happens. It happened to Jim Hunt after he lost to Jesse Helms in 1984.

Hunt was inundated with pressure from friends and supporters to eschew all negative ads. They were among the legions of Democrats whom Bob Shrum once described as having a “quasi-religious objection” to negative ads.

Hunt certainly got over any objections. When he ran for Governor again – against Jim Gardner in 1992 – he had a different view. He gave us very clear instructions: Fight fire with fire. When attacked, hit back – hard.

For some reason, candidates keep learning this lesson the hard way. As a Democrat, I’m glad McCrory didn’t learn in time.

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