Score One for Pat McCrory

Yesterday, within minutes of each other, separate news releases from the Pat McCrory and Bev Perdue campaigns (they're running for governor, by the way, in case you're addled with Olympics/Obama/McCain fever). The McCrory camp detailed how Perdue has changed her position on off-shore oil drilling, from dead-set against to possibly in favor (McCrory is solidly in favor). The Perdue campaign, in a release with the subject line "McCrory Launches Desparate Negative Ads," said the following (more after the jump):

 

"Pat McCrory launched a desperate negative attack today in his first TV commercial of the general election – an ad that is simply untrue.

"Bev Perdue has consistently said that she supports offshore drilling, urging oil companies to use some of their record profits to immediately begin drilling in the untapped 68-million acres currently under lease, almost half of which are located offshore.  Bev continues to have concerns about the safety of drilling along North Carolina’s coast – the Graveyard of the Atlantic – and the risk it poses to our $2.6 billion coastal tourism economy. 

"If the federal ban on drilling off the coast is lifted, Bev has said North Carolina should have the authority to make its own decision whether or not to allow drilling offshore.  In that situation, Bev would convene a team of independent engineers and scientists to determine the potential for success and risks associated with drilling off North Carolina’s coast."

Today's headline in The Charlotte Observer? "Perdue shifting on off-shore drilling."

Score one for the McCrory team. (By the way, I've read that Perdue release three times, and I'm still not sure what they're trying to say.)