Click here to watch "A Positive Campaign."

Amid a hard-fought primary in the North Carolina governor race, Democratic candidate and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue veered abruptly onto the high road today with an ad calling for the end to the mudslinging that has lately characterized the race.

In her new TV spot (subscription), Perdue pledges to discontinue her negative ads. "Win or lose, it's the right decision for me, and for North Carolina," she says. "Let's focus on what matters to your family." According to campaign spokesman David Kochman, "Bev's positive campaign applies to all campaign communications, and she is asking all independent third parties not to engage in negative campaigns."

The move was not a complete surprise: Last week, Perdue told a Raleigh News & Observer reporter that she was considering dropping the ads to focus her ad budget on kitchen-table issues.

But if Perdue expected to pressure opponent Richard Moore into following suit, Moore's campaign quickly disappointed her. In a statement issued this morning, Moore's campaign manager, Jay Reiff, dismissed the move as political posturing. "This is no surprise given that the Perdue campaign had to pull their last negative ad because it was untrue.... How about a pledge to tell the truth?"