Thursday, January 26, 2012

Perdue now a lame duck, but also free to crusade

Gov. Bev Perdue's announcement expected later today that she will not seek reelection is stunning. Perdue has spent almost her entire adult life in politics and had not given any indication that she would not seek a second term as governor. No incumbent N.C. governor has ever declined to seek a second term since the constitution was changed in 1977 to allow that.

Perhaps Perdue, a Democrat, will shed more light on her thinking when she makes it official later today. She clearly faced a stiff test from Republican and former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. She has trailed him in every poll since shortly after taking office and her approval numbers have at times been abysmal. The continuing sluggish economy and shorter Obama coattails than she enjoyed in 2008 were going to make her reelection tough.

Even so, a loss was not such a foregone conclusion that many people expected her not to try. Perhaps her internal polling numbers are even worse than ones that have been reported. Perhaps she's just beaten down by the difficulty of the job. Perhaps there's another shoe to drop in investigations into her campaign and its fundraising and reporting.

Her announcement will surely set off a scramble by Democrats to replace her on the ballot. Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, will almost certainly run. He has been laying the groundwork for months. But Perdue's departure will attract many other Democrats who might have otherwise waited until 2016.

We guess Perdue had already made this decision last week when she called for raising taxes in an election year. That's typically political suicide. But if her campaign was already dead, no more harm could be done to her electoral prospects. She'll be a lame duck for the next 10 months. On the other hand, she'll also be free to crusade for everything she truly believes is right, with no political calculations required.

-- Taylor Batten

5 comments:

Skippy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skippy said...

That's right Observer "no more harm" could be done to her so what does she do to the tax payers? Politico coward just like Obama. And we thought holding the DNC here was suppose to buoy Dems elections chances? Joke is the Democrat party that is about ready to implode and on the tax payers yet again.

kantstanzya said...

You don't think Perdue made this decision on her own do you? I am sure the Democratic Party movers and shakers told her the jig was up. Afterall she failed in her only real chance to stay in office....suggesting they cancel the 2012 elections.

"Perhaps she was just beaten down by the difficulty of the job." Funny. The job is difficult for her mostly because she is in way over her head and she continues to push an agenda the majority of people in N.C. don't want. The Democratic Party bosses also realize she doesn't have the intellect to carry out their usual corruption without being caught too easily.

Observer editorial board said...

Kantstanzya:
There is some talk about whether national Democrats told her the jig was up. But wouldn't they only do that if they had someone better to replace her?

One Discerner said...

To Skippy: "And we thought holding the DNC here was suppose to buoy Dems elections chances?"

I wouldn't start your celebration too soon. NC is still very much President Obama country. So get use to it...or you can always drive your home south across the border into the neighboring state.