Gov. Bev Perdue's numbers have been down so long that it's hard to imagine taking much comfort from a 30 percent approval rating. But politicians must take improvement where they can, and Tom Jensen of the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling says her numbers are a little better. She's a long way from popular again, but she doesn't have to run for two more years -- at least not in an election, anyway, and "fewer North Carolinians think she's doing a bad job now," Jensen says. His latest:
Bev Perdue's poll numbers are still pretty bad, but after almost a year of nothing but bad news they're beginning to show some positive signs.
30% of voters in the state express approval of the job she's doing with 47% disapproving. Here are the positives:
-47% is the lowest percentage of North Carolinians disapproving of Perdue since last April when it was 40%. From May to December of 2008 a majority of the state's voters gave Perdue bad marks in all but one month, but now both PPP surveys in 2010 have shown her disapproval back below 50%.
-Perdue's 29% approval rating with independents is the best it's been since that April poll and her 17% with Republicans is the strongest it's been since last March. Those numbers with Republicans and independents are about par for the course for a Democrat in this tough political climate.
Her overall numbers are still pretty bad because voters within her own party continue to be unenthusiastic about her. Just 41% of Democrats like the job she's doing with 37% disapproving. She's particularly struggling with black voters who were critical to her victory in the primary two years ago- 42% of them disapprove of Perdue to just 37% giving her good marks.
The last time Perdue's approval rating was in positive territory she was at a 61/22 spread with Democrats, so those are the kinds of numbers she needs with her base to get her overall approval back to a healthy level.
This much seems clear for Perdue though: the bleeding has stopped. Fewer North Carolinians think she's doing a bad job now. What she hasn't done yet is convince enough that she's doing a good job. A lot of voters have moved from the disapprove column to the ambivalent one. Perdue still has a lot of work to do but things don't look nearly as dire for her as they did last summer. And that makes her a rare Democratic politician whose position is improving this winter.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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2 comments:
By October, her approval rating will reach around 38%. She's working hard to overcome initial impressions, which were not favorable. Such impressions are hard to surmount, but Reagan and Clinton did it on a national scale and Perdue will be able to do it on the state level.
I don't pay much mind to politics, but I'm growing increasingly displeased with the current state of affairs. It seems our state government has no better budgeting skills than any regular Joe. The current dissatisfaction I face stems from having to wait several additional weeks in order to receive my state refund (thanks, Bev). They're holding onto MY MONEY without any sense of compensation. On the flip side, if I had owed the IRS anything, they would instigate a relentless assault to get what they were owed, additionally adding fees, interest rates, and penalties. Now that I'm on their side of the fence, does anyone think for a second that I'll see interest on my return? Is there any way for me to penalize my government for slacking on what they owe me? Of course not. This double standard of putting politicians above the common man is asinine. They work for us. They seem to have forgotten that.
In short, I do not approve of Mrs. Perdue. She may be 'doing what she can', but that's not saying much.
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