Out of touch, again
“There must be a football game or something.”
—Gov. Pat McCrory, as he walked through the center of the Hopscotch Music Festival on Friday night. He was speaking to a friend, who had asked him what was happening.
Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican state lawmakers may think North Carolina is hunky-dory, but the reality-based community feels differently.
Two years ago, North Carolina was among the 10 most popular states in the U.S., according to a Public Policy Polling survey. After a pivotal and controversial legislative session, both Democrats and Republicans are bummed out about the stateand its national image is hurting.
Less than a third of 803 registered voters view North Carolina positively, according to a nationwide survey conducted in August. That’s down from 40 percent who felt good about N.C. in 2011.
In the most recent poll, 23 percent viewed the state unfavorablydouble the 11 percent who said so two years ago.
Forty-seven percent of voters polled last month weren’t sure how they feel about the Tar Heel state.
Women, African-Americans and Latinos all see North Carolina in a dimmer light than they did two years ago. Only 18 percent of Democrats surveyed feel positively about North Carolina; 41 percent of Republicans do, a dip of 7 percentage points from the last survey.
This article appeared in print with the headline “Partly gloomy with a chance of outrage.”
