Perdue by party and ideology

There was a lot of consternation during the campaign last fall about whether Bev Perdue was giving liberal Democrats a reason to vote for her, and our analysis repeatedly showed that Libertarian opponent Michael Munger was pulling more support from folks also voting for Barack Obama than those voting for John McCain. That, along with his best statewide finish coming in Orange County, is a pretty good indication he was pulling from the left.

But since she took office Perdue is earning her highest level of popularity from liberal Democrats:

Group	Perdue Approval
Liberal Democrats	72/14
Moderate Democrats	68/14
Conservative Democrats	50/30
Moderate Independents	43/28
Moderate Republicans	29/42
Conservative Republicans	13/64

If there's a red flag for Perdue in these numbers it's the conservative Democrats. They were integral to the strong performance in eastern North Carolina that put her over the top last fall and she'll need to keep those folks in her corner moving forward. At the same time, only having 42% disapproval from moderate Republicans isn't bad and an indication that she's at least earning some support from the more moderate wing of the opposite party.