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Two things caught my attention as Gov.-elect Perdue delivered prepared remarks during her news conference this afternoon.

(Update: AP has more on the appointees here.)

Perdue said she had given all her new appointees marching orders to seek out problems:

"I want a listing from them of the five most pressing challenges or problems that they see facing their agency. And let me say very seriously that all five of those can't have to do with money or the budget because we all know clearly that's a major challenge for all of us," Perdue said.

Now, this might seem like a reasonable thing for any new governor (or any new executive of anything, for that matter) to do when she comes onboard.

But the language, to me, presumes there are things that are broken or at least things that will present problems in almost every agency of state government.

Perdue is taking over from fellow Democrat Mike Easley. Despite being from the same party, there doesn't seem to be the assumption on Perdue's part that all the bilge pumps on the ship of state are operating as they should.

Given problems in the mental health and probation systems, that's probably not a bad attitude to have, although it does seem a bit undiplomatic toward the outgoing governor.

The second quote that caught my ear was this one:

As I picked the secretaries, my goal has been pretty simple: to find the folk with the best experience, the most complete experience to run the agencies, because the state government agencies actually for most part are - it's like running a huge corporation. And I wanted somebody who had the courage not to just accept the status quo but to shake things up if that was needed. I wanted leaders who could get the bottom line results that I expect from everybody who works for the state of North Carolina. And I also wanted a bit of track record.

Perdue added to that notion later on: "You can see I looked at the pedigree of these leaders - I wanted people who could make it happen."

From all that, it seemed like Perdue wanted cabinet secretaries who were both fish and fowl. She wanted people to come in and shake things up – but – those same folks needed a proven track record and needed to know their agencies.

In some respects, this echoes the dilemma of her campaign. She was someone who had long service in the state senate and eight years as lieutenant governor. But she frequently campaigned as if she was the person furthest removed from state government on a day-to-day basis.

The result during the campaign was at times a mixed message that didn't always appeal to voters. It seemed to me voters got confused when Perdue would say that she had been a strong leader who had been in a position to (help) save the state's military bases but was so far distant from any of the state's current budget or operational problems that she bore no responsibility or knowledge.

The results of her first few appointments seem to be a stirring of the deck. No doubt the folks she's chosen are qualified in their own ways. But all five of today's appointees have some sort of job in the current administration, and none are really properly called outsiders - at least to my mind. (For those who disagree, the comments link is active.)

Perdue said she's been "really aggressive" in seeking out applicants, taking applications online and interviewing "lots of people." It bears watching to see if any of her appointments will show the results of that wider net being cast.