It's no secret that North Carolina doesn't like any of its politicians right now- neither the Governor nor either Senator can muster an approval rating greater than 35%. But they're doing a whole lot better than some of the state's former elected officials. A month after we found only 15% of voters in the state with a positive opinion of John Edwards we now find that Mike Easley's not doing much better, with just 16% of voters holding a favorable view of him.
Easley's numbers aren't quite as bad as Edwards- just 59% of North Carolinians have an unfavorable opinion of him compared to 72% for the former Senator and Presidential candidate. There are a lot more voters who are ambivalent toward Easley.
Nevertheless it's quite a drop for Easley, who was easily the state's most popular politician during most of his time as Governor. When PPP last looked at his approval in November of 2007 he was at a 51/32 approval rating, markedly better than any of the state's current officials can claim.
Easley's numbers are at their worst level in the Triangle, despite its being the most Democratic area of the state. He has a 12/71 spread, which may be a product of the controversies surrounding him since he left office getting more attention there than in other parts of the state. It should be noted though that there isn't a particularly great partisan divide in attitudes toward Easley to begin with- only 22% of Democrats view him positively along with 16% of independents and 9% of Republicans.
It seems safe to say North Carolina won't be seeing any of the political comebacks some former officials are making in other states any time soon.
Full results here
The Sleazely tentacles are long and and have ensnared our present dear guvnah Perdue. His corruption is her corruption. To say she knew nothing about any of this says little of her awareness of her surroundings. It's just a matter of time before dear Perdue is caught.
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