GOP needles Perdue staff for Kentucky two-step

Republicans have seized on the inconsistent explanations of Gov. Bev Perdue's whereabouts following Saturday's tornados as an opportunity to inflict political damage.

The N.C. Republican Party has filed a public records request with Perdue's office for all documents "concerning, referencing, or pertaining to travel" by the governor, who was in Kentucky attending horse races as a line of storms ripped across the state last weekend.

"While we continue to pray for our neighbors who were affected by the devastating tornadoes of April 16th, the people of North Carolina deserve to know why Gov. Perdue went to a horse race rather than come back to the state and prepare the disaster response knowing that 'North Carolina could be in for a beating,'" said Russell Peck, executive director of the NC GOP, according to a media release.

"Perdue and her staff have not been open and honest when pressed on the details of April 16, 2011 and their statements since then, including the Governor’s today, has only clouded the details of the events of that day," he said.

Peck said the records request is intended to find answers about precisely where Perdue was during the tornadoes, who from her staff was with her, who she was in contact with during the tornadoes and "why Governor Perdue chose to stay at a horse race while tornadoes ravaged our state.”

Additionally, the Republicans are seeking all documents pertaining to travel by Perdue since she became governor in January 2009 and all documents about food and entertainment expenses at the Executive Mansion since the beginning of the Perdue administration.

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The Republicans issued their release Wednesday as some national media outlets picked up the story and compared Perdue's situation to that of other governors criticized after they were away as natural disasters struck back home.

Chrissy Pearson, Perdue's communications director, triggered the issue when, in the hours immediately after the storm, she refused to say where the governor was beyond that she was out of state attending to a "family obligation."

On Wednesday, Pearson tried to mitigate the damage as much as she could in a new statement.

Gov. Perdue and the first gentleman were in Kentucky on a personal visit which included attending horse races.

The communications staff explained it this way: Mark Johnson said the governor was “at the race” because she was at the track and attended some preliminary races.

I said “she did not make it to the race” because she left early and did not attend the main race, the Blue Grass Stakes.

The governor cut her trip short to deal with a veto and the weather threat as it became clear that storms may cause significant damage.

The governor and the first gentleman took a commercial flight home recommended to them by the Highway Patrol as the flight least likely to be delayed by weather.