McCrory takes lead

Pat McCrory 44
Bev Perdue 41
Michael Munger 5

For the first time in a PPP gubernatorial poll Pat McCrory has taken the lead.

Here are some of the reasons why:

-He's getting a decent amount of crossover support, holding Perdue to a 69-19 lead among Democrats.

-He's holding his own party's voters at a very high rate, 84-7, allowing almost no bleeding across party lines.

-He has a 38-32 advantage with independents.

-Perdue only has a three point lead with women.

-McCrory's running 14 points ahead of John McCain and 20 points ahead of Elizabeth Dole with urban voters.

Many Democrats are frustrated that Bev Perdue is not giving them any reason to vote for her rather than against McCrory. Her campaign has not had much of a focus on economic issues so far even though almost two thirds of voters in the state list it as their top concern. Those are a few of the things she'll have to get righted in the next five weeks to get the race headed back in her direction- she's done it before.

Full results here.