A Democrat with [insert your preferred anatomical analogy here]

Does it seem to anyone else that, when Democrats win huge legislative majorities, they say "We're not going to over-reach because we don't want to be accused of over-reaching," but when Republican win even small majorities, they say "Screw it, we're in charge"?

If you're disgusted with Washington and you're looking for a Democrat who doesn't roll over in a spasm of hand-wringing every time a Republican sneaks up behind her and whispers "BOO!", come on down to Raleigh and take a look at Gov. Bev Perdue.

Perdue didn't look at the state GOP gains last year as some sort of indication that her 2008 election had been invalidated. She remembered the people who put her there, and she's stood up to the General Assembly even knowing that she'd lose a lot of these battles. As Melissa Harris-Perry (not Lacewell) said on "The Rachel Maddow Show," Perdue is putting on the record that there's "another North Carolina" besides these ultra-ultra-conservatives.

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And the funny thing is, I was lukewarm about Perdue when I voted for her three years ago. But her resolve these past few months, when it would've been so easy to just go along, has really impressed me. She really is the last bulwark between moderate North Carolinians and the totalitarian third-world country that the GOP seems to want us to be. I'm glad she's there, and I'll do everything I can to help re-elect her next year.