Pat McCrory has been handed a gift. After staking out a strong anti-oil drilling position, Bev Perdue reacts to Pat doubling-down on his pro-drilling by sliding off of her firm anti-drilling stance.
Forget the specifics of the drilling issue, which are more complicated than either candidate will admit or, frankly, understands. McCrory is primarily hammering home his leadership meme as Perdue waffles. That is the meta-message the broad middle of voters are getting just as they start to pay attention to this race. McCrory is saying he will do this in pursuit of that while Perdue says she has not figured out what she wants to do yet.
Plus on the greenie conservation front, voters who do value this issue highly just lost a reason to vote for Perdue. Were I McCrory I’d declare victory on this supply-side front and move on to demand-side energy issues in order to keep the pressure on Bev. For example, have Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in to talk about the first 30 days of his state’s move to a four-day workweek. Perdue’s head would explode.
Bonus Observation: The first couple weeks of Utah’s four-day shift has produced some interesting developments, like massive time-shifting of commutes by state workers in order to fit in a 10-hour day. Leaving earlier and coming home later will do that for you.
