According to a recent article in the News & Observer, it may be the strong early showing of North Carolina's new governor, Beverly Perdue.

Why is she off to a good start? And why is that a surprise to many people?

The N&O gives a clue to the answer to the second question: "She has ... surprised some people after a campaign in which opponents portrayed her as a hack."

Actually it was more than "some people" who thought that Perdue's campaign for governor was lackluster when compared with those of the other Democratic ticket leaders, Barack Obama and Kay Hagan. Obama and Hagan started out as "virtually no chance" underdogs in North Carolina. Perdue, on the other hand, was running for an office that had been won by Democrats in the previous four elections. While Obama and Hagan gained momentum and finally won, Perdue lost the endorsement of the state's big newspapers and fell behind in the polls. Her close victory was an upset.

Insiders said her campaign style was burdened by an "inside-the-Raleigh-beltway-mentality" that often handicaps legislators in statewide campaigns.

Why, then, are the N&O and other observers giving Perdue credit for a strong start? In part it is because she has hit the ground running. She has been visible and hands-on. More important, though, is the confidence with which she has addressed the most critical challenge facing state government -- the budget, in light of the massive loss of state revenues.

Perdue has two immediate but different budget challenges. One is her responsibility for making cuts to balance this year's (through June 30) budget. She has absolute responsibility and wide authority, bordering on dictatorship, to make adjustments to balance the budget.

Secondly, she must prepare a budget proposal for the next two years. That budget must be balanced, based on projections of revenues over that time period. While the legislature has responsibility for adopting the new budget, the governor's budget proposal is the starting point from which every proposed change is measured.

Maybe the "Raleigh insider" experience was a handicap in Perdue's campaign. But it has been a great asset as she confidently manages a budget crisis that would have knocked most new governors for a loop.

Perdue's 20-plus years in and around the legislature is paying off for her. During her years as a leader of the senate's appropriation committee, she learned about every important line item in the budget. She learned what was critical, what could be "managed," reduced, or eliminated, and what the consequences of such actions would be.

Lyndon Johnson was another politician whose successful insider experience did not translate into a strong campaign asset. Like Perdue, Johnson was panned for his campaigning and public speaking style.

But Johnson's toughness, his ability to hear what important players needed and wanted, and his knowledge of the processes of government gained from that hands-on experience as a legislative leader gave him unexpected strengths when it came time to tackle the nation's civil rights crisis.

That same kind of insider toughness is working for Perdue in handling our budget crisis.

D.G. Martin will talk about this column on WCHL-1360 at 8:20 a.m. with Ron Stutts. His regular program, "Who's Talking," airs at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.