Perdue hits new low

Just when you thought Bev Perdue's approval rating couldn't get any lower, it has. Only 24% of voters give her good marks on our newest poll with 54% disapproving. Her previous worst had been 25%.

A lot of folks thought Perdue's numbers would start to rebound once a tough budget cycle was in the rear view mirror but they've stayed in the 24-27% range since the beginning of July. It's becoming more clear that the small stuff is not going to get it turned around for her. She may want to consider 'relaunching' her administration with a bold new vision for the next three years if she wants to catch the voters' attention and try to show them that things are going to be different from now on. For the moment though folks are not changing their negative attitudes toward her.

Predictably only 10% of Republicans like the job she's doing. But she also has overall negative reviews from Democrats (38/39) and brutal numbers with independents (21/60). Even with reliably Democratic demographics like African Americans (34/42) and voters under 30 (26/60) she is in the red.

One particular issue for Perdue is that few voters think she identifies with them ideologically. For instance 65% of conservatives in the state think she is a liberal. But only 29% of liberals think she's one of them while 45% believe she's a moderate and 25% think she's a conservative. When the conservatives think you're a liberal and the liberals don't it's a pretty clear sign that you're not connecting well with people.

Overall 47% of voters think she's a liberal, 40% a moderate, and 13% a conservative.

Something has to change for the Perdue ship to get turned around and Democrats in the state are waiting anxiously to see what that is.

Full results here