One poll says North Carolinians are increasingly opposed to health care reform proposals advanced by Democrats.

Another poll says more than half of state residents support those proposals. A third national poll says 45 percent of Americans oppose President Barack Obama's health care plan.

Dome isn't an expert on these sorts of things, but it's a safe bet that how the questions were asked and how the polls were conducted has something to do with the difference. Here's a quick roundup of what the October polls asked and what respondents said. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.

Civitas Institute: (600 North Carolina voters) "Do you approve or disapprove of the health care plan being proposed by Barack Obama and Congress?" 49 percent opposed, 40 percent supported, 10 percent no opinion.

Elon University Poll, (703 state residents) "As you are likely aware, the public option is a health insurance option provided by the federal government...so, with this in mind, would you [support or oppose] health insurance legislation that would offer a public option?" 54 support, 38 percent oppose and 7 percent don't know.

Public Policy Polling (766 American voters) "Do you support or oppose President Obama’s health care plan, or do you not have an opinion?" 42 percent support, 45 percent oppose and 13 percent no opinion.

Pat McCrory may have lost last year’s race for governor and then opted not to run for reelection as Charlotte’s mayor, but he’s still got clout with voters.

McCrory’s popularity among Charlotte voters is boosting the campaign of his fellow Republican, John Lassiter, according to an analysis by Tom Jensen, of the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling.

McCrory holds broad support among Republicans and even more than a third of Democrats approve of the job he has done.

“His 69 percent approval with independents is one of the best we've measured for any politician in the country this year,” Jensen wrote in a recent blog posting.

Two surveys bear good news for Republicans looking to make an impression in next year's elections.

The conservative Civitas Institute has found that a majority of voters would go Republican in next year's Congressional races. The survey of 600 registered voters found that 52 percent would vote Republican, 29 percent would pick a Democrat and 9 percent were unsure.

Meanwhile, a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found that 46 percent of North Carolina voters would pick a Republican in next year's legislative races and 48 percent would go with a Republican in a Congressional race. The poll found that 39 percent of voters would go Democratic in the state legislative race and 38 percent would pick go with the "D" in Congressional races. In both races, 15 percent of voters were undecided. 

The PPP survey of 683 voters from Oct. 2-4 had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

The Civitas survey of 600 registered voters was conducted Sep. 29-30 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Is it possible that North Carolina voters aren't happy with Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but still like him a lot better than any of the Democratic alternatives?

That seems to be the message from the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm that surveyed 683 voters from Oct. 2-4.

Burr's approval rating was just 36 percent. That's down slightly from last month's survey, which had Burr's approval rating at 38 percent.

But when voters were asked about possible match-ups with some of the possible Democratic candidates, Burr easily came out on top. Here's a look at what the survey found:

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President Barack Obama's approval is in the mid-40s, two new polls show.

The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found a 45 percent approval rating and the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute pulled a 44 percent rating.

"North Carolina is one of the few states where Obama's standing has declined enough that he probably wouldn't win it again if the election was held today," PPP's Tom Jensen notes.

"It looks like the honeymoon is definitely ending for President Obama, said Francis De Luca, executive director of the Civitas Institute.

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Gov. Beverly Perdue is better liked in 919 than 704 or 336.

A pair of polls show her approval ratings continue to slip and a deeper look shows that Perdue's strongest aproval comes in the Triangle area. 

In the poll conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, Perdue had a 40 percent approval rating compared to her 18 percent rating in the 704 area code that includes Charlotte. In the 336 area code which includes Greensboro, Perdue 13 percent approved or Perdue's performance.

Of course it's hard to know what to make of all this when the Civitas Institute poll shows consistent approval in Charlotte (28 percent), Greensboro (33 percent) and Raleigh (28 percent).

The numbers are getting worse for Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.

A pair of polls from the left and the right show that voters are increasingly dissatisfied with Perdue, a Democrat.

Perdue's approval rating is 24 percent in the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm. The firm says that is the lowest figure yet for Perdue, who is in her first year in office.

Likewise, the right-leaning Civitas Institute found in its poll that 29 percent of voters were dissatisfied with Perdue. The real bad news for her is that 63 percent of respondents disapproved, the first time a majority has been unhappy with the governor in the Civitas poll.

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Democratic pollster Dean Debnam of Public Policy Polling is behind a new TV ad criticizing the neighborhood school candidates in the heated race for Wake County School Board.

Debnam, who owns the Democratic polling firm, said he formed Wake Citizens for Good Government to counter what he called Republican "lies" about the school system, T. Keung Hui reports on his WakeEd blog.

He said his ad was not done in coordination with any candidates. Debnam said his company has been doing polling in the school board districts. But he said the data was for internal use and not as a public poll.

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U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's approval rating remains below 40 percent, which might ordinarily be bad news for a politician, but he's still ahead of any of his potential Democratic challengers in next year's election, according to a poll released Friday.

The approval rating for Burr, a Republican, was 38 percent, according to the survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm. In matchups against possible Democratic opponents, Burr beat:

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, of Lillington, by 41 to 34 percent.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who officially launched her candidacy this week, and former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, by the same margin of 42 to 31 percent.

Former N.C. Sen. Cal Cunningham by 42 to 30 percent.

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy by 43 to 29 percent.

Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis by 43 to 27 percent.

The survey of 600 voters was taken Sept. 2 to 8 and has a margin of error of 4 percent.

More voters disapprove of Barack Obama’s job as President than approve, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by the Civitas Institute found that of 662 North Carolina voters, 46.3 percent said they disapproved of the president's performance. That's more than the 44.3 percent who said they approved. The remaining 9.4 percent said they had no opinion.

"The divisive health care proposal along with unemployment in North Carolina remaining above 11 percent has sent President Barack Obama’s job approval numbers in a downward spiral," said Francis De Luca, executive director of the Civitas Institute.

The results show a similar trend to a poll conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

Obama can no longer count on the support of unaffiliated voters to bolster his approval ratings. Nearly half (48.5 percent) of unaffiliated voters now disapprove of his performance in office, while only 35 percent said they still approve, the poll found.

The Civitas poll, which was conducted by Insider Advantage of Atlanta has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.