And with a month to go...

(Yeah, that's right.  I'm spending my Saturday afternoon reading polls.)

Pat McCrory Ups Lead to Double Digits!!!

Check out the crosstabs on page 4.  McCrory leads Fred Smith 35% to 23% in REPUBLICAN voters alone.  Why is that so great?  Because NC Republicans can't count on the unaffiliated voters like we could in past years. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the NC voting system, if you're an unaffiliated voter in this state, you have to chose whether you want to vote in the Democratic primary or the Republican primary.  Any other election year, this gubernatorial race would pull a lot of unaffiliated voters to the Republican primary, especially those around the Charlotte area (where McCrory is currently serving his record mayoral 7th term).

However, thanks to the current never-ending power struggle that is the Democratic presidential nomination, North Carolinians have (mistakenly) convinced themselves that their vote is needed there.  You see, our primary happens so late in the year that there's already clear winners by the time anyone even reaches us, so people around here are pretty sure that *we* are going to be the state that decides it all.

Yeah.  Just like every single other state before was going to be "the state that decides it all".  Obama's going to win NC -- truth is, NC didn't like the first Clinton, and most of it was probably thanks to Hillary (the 2nd most unpopular thing about Bill's presidency after Monicagate).  Aside from that, it's kinda annoying to me how many North Carolinians are getting star-struck about this primary.  Guess what people -- they never cared about you before, and after the primaries, they're going to forget all about you.  NC is a Republican state, and chances are it's going to stay that way in 2008.

I'm not an unaffiliated voter, but if I were, I'd focus more on the gubernatorial race.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- McCrory is the only electable Republican when you pair him against Purdue (or Richard Moore, as it seems many North Carolinians are coming to their senses about Purdue).  I know that  thinks both Smith and Graham "have the ability to win this thing by signing a check", but I think the people of NC are smarter than that.  If McCrory's only downfall is that Smith has more money than he has good sense, then I think it's time for me to get out of politics altogether.  It's a shame Ross Perot didn't use that check-signing power to win in 1992.

I think I just dated myself.  Or maybe outed myself as the only 8-year-old that kept up with politics.

Enough politics for today.  UNC's playing tonight, and I have to go support them (even if it WILL destroy my bracket).

(www.patmccrory.com)