McCrory Expected To Whoop Perdue In 2012 & Her Poor Leadership

Pat McCrory Looks Well-Positioned For Rematch In 2012


A new poll shows former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is well positioned for a rematch against North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue in 2012.

The Public Opinion Strategies survey commissioned by the conservative Civitas Institute grants McCrory a 15-percentage-point lead over Perdue.

McCrory 51 percent, Perdue 36 percent, Undecided 12 percent

One problem for Perdue, according to the survey of 600 likely voters, is she's snagging only 64 percent of Democrats.

The survey was conducted Dec. 15-16 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Get the full memo and cross-tabs here.

While McCrory is seen as a likely candidate, he has not yet announced his intentions.



In 2008, Perdue defeated McCrory 50 percent to 47 percent, marking the closest governor's race in the nation that year.







Read Between the Lines: Perdue Lacking Clear Vision


The current $3.7 billion budget deficit facing North Carolina presents a golden opportunity to re-evaluate the size and scope of state government. Presented with this opportunity, however, Governor Bev Perdue has failed to clearly articulate her vision for government’s role in society.

For instance, Perdue recently revealed a broad outline of her “reorganization plan” for state government. The plan included consolidating or privatizing some state agencies and a hiring freeze of “non-critical” state positions.

In an email to state employees discussing her reorganization plan, Perdue stressed that her priority is for state government to focus on its “core priorities.”

Readers of the email eager for Perdue to clearly define her vision for what she believes to be the state’s “core priorities” were left wanting. Perdue’s message disappointingly included only a vague and principle-free passing reference to “jobs, investing in our children’s education and safer and healthier communities.”

Unsurprisingly, Perdue’s lack of vision has resulted in confusion from state agencies as they try to define which positions are “critical” in their agency so as to implement a hiring freeze of non-critical positions. As mentioned in a Raleigh News & Observer article, “Perdue’s call for state agencies to voluntarily impose a hiring freeze for noncritical positions is being met with varying degrees of support, wariness and questions over what state jobs should be subject to a freeze.”

It seems that without a clearly stated vision of the proper functions of state government, assignments to identify “critical positions” can quickly become an exercise in futility.

Perdue’s lack of a clear vision has also created much uncertainty regarding two significant issues facing North Carolina: privatizing the ABC system and legalizing video poker. Perdue is waiting for the results of a consultant’s study on the impact of privatizing the ABC system before committing to a position on the issue, saying “I’m not quite there. I need to know what its worth. I need to know what its worth to the taxpayer.”

Similarly, Perdue remains uncommitted about the legalization of video poker, even though she admits she is not “philosophically opposed” to gambling.

If the governor was interested in defining her core principles and beliefs regarding state government, the answers to these questions wouldn’t require any studies; they would be quite simple. State control and monopolization of liquor sales is either a “core priority” of state government or it is not.

Furthermore, if she is not philosophically opposed to gambling (and in fact she was the tie-breaking vote in favor of the state lottery as lieutenant governor in 2005) she would find no reason to criminalize video poker.

But it does seem that, in spite of her reluctance to clearly state her beliefs on core functions of government, Perdue has recently offered some significant clues as to the principles that guide her decisions.

First was on the issue of legalizing video poker. Perdue sent her chief of staff, Britt Cobb, to a video poker parlor to report on the atmosphere at such locations. In response to Cobb’s report that the parlor was smoke-filled and “the saddest thing he’s ever seen,” Perdue said "I don't believe I'm the mother of North Carolina, that I should ...regulate people's personal choices, but I don't like what I heard from Britt and I don't like what I see.”

Have you ever noticed that the word "but" often reveals someone's true thoughts? For instance, a person may start a sentence saying "I'm not a racist, but...." and then proceed to say something extremely racist. In other words, injecting the word “but” in such a way is an indicator that whatever was said before “but” is untrue and the speaker’s true intentions are revealed after it.

In this case, we can see Perdue does believe she's "the mother of North Carolina."

Similarly, Perdue had this to say about corporate welfare: “I don't like them (incentives), but they are part of the game.”

Translation: Perdue likes incentives.

It seems by these most recent statements that Perdue is unwittingly providing us with a glimpse into her belief system. And what we find is a person committed to the nanny state with a healthy dose of crony corporatism.

It all adds up to someone who favors the accumulation of power in the hands of the ruling class at the expense of individual liberty.




McCrory Lead Widens Over Perdue If Election For N.C. Governor Were Held Today


Although the next election is not until 2012, Republican Pat McCrory leads Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue by 15 percent, according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 51 percent of voters said they would vote for McCrory if the election for Governor were held today. Thirty-six percent said they would vote for Perdue, and 12 percent said they are undecided.

This is a 6 percent increase in McCrory’s lead from a June 2010 Civitas poll when he led Perdue by a 46 percent-37 percent margin.

“Support for Perdue is low as voters see job creation and economic recovery remaining flat,” said Civitas Institute Francis De Luca. “Despite press releases heralding new jobs and incentive giveaways, voters are not seeing improvement in the employment picture.”

McCrory leads among Republicans by an 83 percent-8 percent margin and among unaffiliated voters (53 percent-23 percent). Democratic voters support Perdue by a 64 percent-29 percent margin.

“Perdue has an uphill climb in light of the recent midterm elections, bleak jobs picture and the challenging state budget situation,” added De Luca. “In the next few months, the public will see whether she works with the new Republican leadership to balance the budget and improve the employment picture. If successful, that may prove critical to her reelection plans.”

In addition, 60 percent of voters said they think Perdue does not have a clear plan for creating jobs, while 25 percent said she does. Fifteen percent of voters said they do not know.

The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina.

For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.


Full text of question:

“And although the next election isn’t until 2012… if the election for Governor were being held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were Pat McCrory, Republican and Bev Perdue, Democrat? And would you definitely vote for (choice) or just probably for (choice)?”

McCrory – 51%
Perdue – 36%

Definitely McCrory – 35%
Probably McCrory – 17%
Probably Perdue – 14%
Definitely Perdue – 22%
Undecided – 12%

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted December 15-16, 2010 by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Virginia. This survey has a margin of error of +4.0% in 95 out of 100 cases. To ensure a representative sample, interviews were conducted proportional to voter registration figures for each county in the state based on the most recent figures compiled by the State Board of Elections.




McCrory's Polls Numbers Increasing Over Perdue: 2012 N.C. Gubernatorial Race


Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has a commanding lead over Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue in a new poll.

If a rematch up of their 2008 race were held today, McCrory would defeat Perdue by a 51 to 36 percent margin, according to a new survey commissioned by The Civitas Institute, a Raleigh-based conservative think tank. Twelve percent said they were undecided.

McCrory's lead has expanded since a June Civitas poll which showed Perdue leading by a 46 percent to 37 percent margin.

Perdue defeated McCrory by a 50 to 47 percent margin in 2008, the closest governor's race in the nation that year.

The spin:

“Support for Perdue is low as voters see job creation and economic recovery remaining flat,” said Francis De Luca, the institute's president. “Despite press releases heralding new jobs and incentive giveaways, voters are not seeing improvement in the employment picture.”

The survey of 600 registered North Carolina voters was conducted Dec. 15-16 by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Virginia. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.


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Sources: Civitas Institute, McClatchy Newspapers, Politico, WCNC, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps