MAKING HISTORY?

Perdue is trying to become the state's first female governor. As a result, she has a strong edge among Democratic female voters. A Public Policy Polling survey found that Perdue had a 40-22 lead over Moore among Democratic women.

But the socially conservative South has been reluctant to make women chief executives. There have been only three female governors in the South who did not take over for their husbands -- Martha Layne Collins of Kentucky (1984-87), Ann Richards of Texas (1991-95) and Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana (2002-present).

North Carolina has traditionally been skeptical about women in politics. This is, after all, the state where a bill to give women the power to vote was sent to the Committee on Insane Asylums in 1897.

But Republican Elizabeth Dole was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, and she is an early favorite to win re-election next year.

THE FINAL GLASS CEILING?

"The last [male] bastions are the chief executive positions," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "There has been a higher comfort level with men. There is a sense that women do well as legislators. It's the stereotype of women working well with others. But women chief executives as the final arbiters -- that is the final glass ceiling."

The female candidates who do best in the South, Walsh said, are those who project the old steel magnolia stereotype -- a non-threatening public persona accompanied by inner toughness.

That is Perdue's reputation: a folksy veneer that covers a tough interior.

Perdue knows how to operate in a man's world, climbing the good ol' boy ladder in the legislature and hanging out with the military brass when she headed a commission that protected North Carolina's military bases from being closed.

THE HILLARY FACTOR

One of the ways Tar Heel Democrats have maintained a strong hold on the governor's office is by putting distance between themselves and the national ticket.

When North Carolina voters go to the polls in May, the Democratic presidential nominee will likely already be selected. The current front-runner is New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Some Democratic observers say a Democratic ticket headed by female presidential and gubernatorial candidates would likely prompt a slew of Clinton/Perdue ads by Republicans portraying them as twin sisters.

2. STYLE

HITTING THE BOOKS

Perdue would be the first governor with a doctorate since Gov. Jim Martin (1985-1993). Perdue, who is a gerontologist by training, has a doctorate from the University of Florida.

Moore is a lawyer and has an advanced degree from the London School of Economics.

MARTHA LAYNE COLLINS

VS. ELIOT SPITZER?

There appear to be few major ideological differences between Moore and Perdue. So Democratic voters will likely look at the backgrounds and personalities of the candidates.

Perdue, 60, is sort of the Martha Layne Collins candidate -- a traditional Democratic politician unlikely to rock the boat.

Moore, 47, is the Eliot Spitzer candidate -- the telegenic, articulate Wall Street crusader. Spitzer, a former New York state attorney general, is now New York governor.

INSIDE VS. OUTSIDE

Perdue is the candidate of the Democratic Party base.

She was endorsed Saturday by the N.C. Association of Educators, a politically influential teachers organization. She is backed by many party activists and elected officials, such as Senate leader Marc Basnight. She has a 41 percent to 12 percent lead among African-American voters, according to Public Policy Polling.

But being the insider candidate does not always mean you win. In 2000, Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, the insider candidate, lost to Attorney General Mike Easley, the outsider candidate, in the Democratic primary for governor.

Moore is trying to turn Perdue's inside edge into a disadvantage.

"He will try to portray her as an old courthouse-type politician, the past," said Gary Pearce, a veteran Democratic strategist for Hunt and others. "He wants to be seen as the future: the suburban, the smoother, new North Carolina."

THE AGGRESSOR

Moore has played the role of the aggressor in recent weeks. Apparently in an effort to peel away female voters, Moore's campaign has questioned Perdue's voting record on abortion.

The Moore campaign has also raised questions that seem designed to portray Perdue as someone who flip-flops on issues such as the death penalty and even her biography.

"Perdue has previously demonstrated an easy willingness to shift with the political winds and a disappointing level of insincerity," Jay Reiff, Moore's campaign manager, said in an e-mail to The News & Observer. "All of this goes beyond your garden variety flip-flop, and we believe it is a central issue in the campaign for governor."

The Perdue campaign says Moore is trying to divert attention from the negative publicity about his campaign's raising money from financial firms that invest in the state pension fund.

"Moore has had months of bad press about his pay-to-play fundraising and about his questionable ethics in his office," said David Kochman, Perdue's campaign spokesman. "He lost the teachers endorsement, and he's trailing in the polls. So he has decided to wage a scorched-earth campaign."

Pearce, the Democratic strategist, said Moore's campaign has gotten the better of the exchanges.

"So far, Richard Moore has been the stalker, and she's been the sleepwalker," Pearce said. "He's been aggressive, and she's been passive. She seems to be running a front-runner's campaign when she is not that big a front-runner."

Perdue said the early attacks have taken her aback.

"The tenor of the rhetoric so far has been surprising to me," Perdue said. "Voters don't want that. I really hope it's an election about who is prepared to move North Carolina forward."

Moore says he will be civil but suggests that Perdue should be ready to have her record examined.

"I was raised to have manners and to be a gentleman, and I'm going to be a gentleman in this campaign," Moore said. "But at the end of the day, you can't run for governor and not expect to be asked tough questions."

3. POLITICAL RESUMES

Perdue rose in the legislature to become chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the state's first female lieutenant governor.

But being lieutenant governor has not been the best launching pad in recent years. The last seven lieutenant governors have run for governor, but only two were elected -- the last one was Jim Hunt, more than 30 years ago.

Then again, there has not been a state treasurer elected Tar Heel governor since Jonathan Worth in 1865.

Moore is a former federal prosecutor, served briefly in the legislature, ran for Congress, was a secretary of crime control and public safety, and for the past seven years was state treasurer.

4. TRACK RECORDS

Both have accomplishments they will try to sell to voters. Perdue oversaw the commission that lobbied to keep the state's string of military bases from being closed, oversaw major health-care initiatives, and cast the deciding vote for the lottery.

She says a lifetime of championing education and health care -- both in her personal life and in her career -- has uniquely qualified her to lead the state.

"The major difference [with Moore] is my preparation and life's work," Perdue said. "My background, my whole life speaks to issues that North Carolinians consider tremendously critical to their own families, whether it's education or health care."

Moore oversees one of the nation's largest pension funds and has been a major voice on the national scene in calling on corporations to behave responsibly.

"The case we will make is that we have a track record of getting things done, not talking about issues year after year," Moore said.

5. MONEY

Moore and Perdue are loaded. Perdue has raised $4.1 million and had $3.4 million on hand as of June 30, the most recent report available. Moore has raised $4.3 million and had $3.7 million on hand.

Perdue has raised most of her money from within the state -- much of it from Democratic insiders. Moore also has raised most of his money in the state, but he has also raised large sums from Wall Street and other financial institutions with an interest in investing in the state pension fund.

The big X factor is whether Moore will pour millions of dollars of his family's fortune -- his wife is a Texas supermarket chain heiress -- into the campaign. The possibility gives the Perdue campaign the heebie-jeebies.

6. THE TEAMS

The Perdue and the Moore campaigns should know each other's political playbooks.

The strategists for both campaigns are veterans of Gov. Mike Easley's political campaigns.

Working for Perdue is Saul Shorr, the Philadelphia media consultant, and Mac McCorkle, a Durham-based policy adviser, who have been key Easley strategists for the past 17 years.

Moore has Jay Reiff, who managed both of Easley's gubernatorial campaigns.

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