Governor Perdue's approval rating plunges to 25%

The North Carolina General Assembly is close to approving another extension so they can continue haggling over a state budget. Governor Bev Perdue proposed a tax increase to try and break the impasse, but so far the main result of that was another drop in her approval rating. Since March, Governor Perdue's approval rating among voters has slid from 44 percent to a current low of just 25 percent. Pollster Tom Jensen says the economy is hurting a lot of Governors right now, but Perdue is worse-off than most. "Overall we are seeing a very unusual number of governors in the 30s and low 40s," says Jensen. "But to be at 25 percent and to have more people in your party disapproving than approving of you is quite unusual." Jensen is with Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling, which frequently works for Democrats. However, this poll was done on the firm's own dime. It shows that Governor Perdue probably hurt her reputation by refusing to pursue a policy agenda during the legislative session. He says voters may have been more forgiving of Perdue's call to raise taxes, had she also thrown her support behind popular measures like the smoking ban or anti-school bully initiative. Governor's spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson, says Perdue is not focused on poll numbers, but rather working with the General Assembly to get a budget passed.