Are Republicans turning on Aldona Wos?

Every time some Democrat calls on Gov. Pat McCrory to fire Aldona Wos, the governor probably gets a little more entrenched in support of his embattled Health and Human Services secretary. The last thing the governor is going to do is fire one of his leading appointees -- and one he has endlessly defended -- just because his political enemies urge him to.

But what if the governor's fellow Republicans turn on Wos? That would seem to change the equation. And according to a new poll out today, it's happening. The survey from Public Policy Polling found that Republicans think Wos needs to go, even more overwhelmingly than Democrats do. Republicans think Wos should be fired by a 41 percent to 12 percent margin (with the rest undecided). That's more animosity toward Wos than that shown by Democrats, who want her fired by a 37-17 split. Overall, close to half of respondents didn't have an opinion on the question, but 38 percent think she should be replaced to only 14 percent who think McCrory should keep her on.

Those numbers might indicate that Republicans are tired either of all the mistakes at DHHS under Wos or are tired of the political damage they're doing to the administration. The poll results follow comments from some Republican legislators -- including Mecklenburg's Sen. Jeff Tarte -- that indicate some exasperation with the drip-drip-drip of miscues at DHHS.

McCrory calls Wos brilliant and says she's fixing problems that began under Democratic administrations. But with every misstep, the volume of calls to replace her will increase -- and not just from Democrats.

-- Taylor Batten