News-Record.com

The Charlotte Observer served up this tantalizing tidbit this weekend:

Bill Caster, chairman of the New Hanover County commissioners, got a call from a pollster this week. He was asked about the three announced Republican candidates for governor and then asked several questions about McCrory. "It was all about the mayor," said Caster, who, like McCrory, is Republican.

How would McCrory stack up against Sen. Fred Smith, former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr and Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham?

In the favorable column: He's got a large geographic base to work from. Charlotte's not enough to carry you in a statewide general election, but it can get one a long way in the primary. He's a polished politician who has done well on the big stage when I've seen him speak. I also have the sense he's a known quantity among business leaders, something that will help with fundraising.

In the not so favorable column: He doesn't have all that much money in hand, though I suspect he could raise it PDQ if he needed to. History isn't friendly: Richard Vinroot, a former Charlotte mayor, twice lost the Republican GOP nomination for governor and lost the 2000 general election against Easley. And obviously he'd have some lost time to make up with grass roots supporters and the like that the three declared candidates have been courting.

That said, his entry would certainly stir the pot on the GOP side.