Kinda sucks.
Attorney General Roy Cooper is announcing today he won't run for U.S. Senate.
Democrats have sought to persuade Cooper to take on U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican from Winston-Salem, in 2010.
In an e-mail going to supporters today, Cooper says he considered a run but said he prefers to stay on as attorney general to keep focusing on programs to rehabilitate criminals and help people struggling with debt.
"While I am honored by the encouragement I’ve received, I don’t want to go to Washington and serve as a U.S. Senator at this time," he writes. "I am committed to public service and I want to serve here in North Carolina rather than in Washington."
A R2K poll back in early January had Cooper as the Dems best chance to take the seat, but former treasurer Richard Moore wasn't far behind. And North Carolina is a Democratic state at the state level, with no shortage of potential candidates. Richard Burr holds the famed North Carolina seat that hasn't re-elected an incumbent since 1974. And let's be honest, Richard Burr is no Elizabeth Dole, who was taken out in 2008 despite the DSCC's failure to recruit its top candidate choice (some dude named "Roy Cooper").
Richard Burr's approval rating in PPP's newest survey continues to lag in the mid-30s. 36% of voters like the job he's doing with 32% disapproving and 32% ambivalent.
By comparison Elizabeth Dole's approval was 45% at the same point in the election cycle two years ago.
So yeah, perhaps not ideal for Senate Democrats, but same thing happened in 2008 and Democrats still managed to win the seat against an even tougher (and iconic) opponent.