February 27, 2009

A pretty darned good start

Posted at 2:52 PM by Rob Schofield

She’s only been on the job for 49 days and she spent a few of them on vacation, but thus far, you have to hand it to Governor Perdue for getting off to a pretty darned good start.

Sure, there have been a few hiccups – from the bigwig-sponsored inaugural galas to the somewhat overdone casualness in her statements about trimming the first billion off of the state budget. And, at this point, it’s way too early to judge her performance on the economic crisis. It’s getting closer to the time at which it will be essential for her to speak up in favor of comprehensive state revenue reform to go with the enormous cuts she’s been imposing and forecasting. This will be a real acid test.

But, in one very important way, what one might call the “take charge factor,” she has been just what the doctor ordered at this time for North Carolina. Unlike her predecessor, whose notorious camera (and people)-shyness kept him out of the limelight for prolonged stretches, Perdue has been quite visible – speaking up and showing up in all sorts of ways. See for instance, the post just below this one.

Perhaps most encouraging has been her practice of showing up semi-unannounced at various state agency and program offices to see how things are going firsthand. Sure, it’s a little gimmicky and mostly symbolic, but so what? It’s hard to imagine that it hasn’t left some kind of impact on the state employees and service recipients with whom she’s interacted. It also conveys (accurately it seems) a level of direct of engagement that’s badly needed and extremely refreshing.

As extra bonuses, she’s taken some extremely encouraging preliminary steps in cleaning up some of the biggest problems at the Department of Transportation and taken some important steps to promote government reform and transparency.

Not to get carried away, but in some ways, the Perdue-Easley contrast is somewhat similar to the change in the White House. Both of the new chief executives have replaced somewhat detached predecessors who spent fairly long periods as lame ducks. Both have come to office at a time of great crisis and displayed a level of energy and political and governing acumen that has surpassed what some of their critics predicted.

Of course, in another sense, there’s no real comparison. Obama is attempting to reverse decades of national (even global) economic and policy decay. Perdue’s task is much more modest. And, of course, it’s unfair to Mike Easley to lump him in with W.

As noted, the real test will come in the next few months. Will the Guv be able to match the Prez’s remarkable vision and boldness? Let’s hope her promising start is an indicator of things to come.

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3 Comments

3 Comments Add yours »

James 27 Feb 2009 3:47 pm

Well said.

Now she just needs to find her green glasses.

Karl 28 Feb 2009 6:57 am

I wonder if the AFL-CIO is still printing up bumper strips that say “Show Us The Jobs”??

How is the hiring freeze going Bev?

Rob Schofield 28 Feb 2009 10:35 am

I hope she does show us some jobs — a lot of people could use one right now.

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