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Beverly Perdue is running for governor like a genie let out of a bottle.

She's full of energy, ideas and promises to grant three wishes, at least, for every North Carolinian.

Now that she's escaped the confinement of her corked-up job, there are no limits on what she says she can do.

Lieutenant governor since 2001, Perdue has strived for relevance in an office that carries few constitutional duties: preside over the state Senate and be ready in case something happens to the governor.

Mike Easley's health has been just fine. As for the Senate, its final day in session last month was the happiest of her life, Perdue quipped during an interview last week.

Perdue is blessed with an appealing personality that includes a burst-out-laughing sense of humor. She offered to stand on her head for the News & Record's endorsement, which she hasn't gotten since her first run in 2000.

But the fun covers some frustration. While Perdue touts success in spearheading North Carolina's campaign to protect its military bases from Pentagon budget cuts, and she's been an advocate for health and wellness, antismoking programs and technology improvements for schools, she's trying to dodge opponent Pat McCrory's efforts to link her to Easley's administration and notable problems in state government.

Perdue defends herself by slipping back into the bottle. She's willing to accept accountability for her job description, she said, but the lieutenant governor doesn't have the "capacity" to take responsibility for the governor or the General Assembly.

While McCrory includes Perdue among five or six people who've run things in Raleigh for the past eight years, she disavows such a role.

The governor and lieutenant governor "are not a team," she declared, adding she's not a member of the Council of State or any "inner circle."

She actually misspoke. The lieutenant governor is part of the Council of State, along with the governor, attorney general and other top leaders.

Her point is valid, though. Easley's inner circle probably is smaller and more insulated than any governor's in memory, and autocratic legislative bosses don't have to give the lieutenant governor the time of day. The job is a "blank slate," Perdue said. "I've had to fight my way ... and believe I've made an imprint. I've turned it into something."

Still, she's impatient now to get her hands on some real power. "I can't wait to have the veto," she said.

She did make an impact recently as a member of the state community college board, successfully pushing to bar illegal immigrants from enrollment. Although she had just one vote, not a veto, her strong position likely influenced others.

On other occasions, however, she's retreated into the bottle - even on issues that really matter to her.

She calls health care a priority yet let a misguided reform of the mental-health system proceed without trying to stop it. "I never believed it could work," she says now.

"Accountability stops at the governor's desk," she added.

Another priority is technology for schools. For years, the state held back money collected through fines and forfeitures and designated for a schools technology fund. The courts said the state had to pay, and recently Judge Howard Manning determined how much: $748 million.

Perdue said she supports Manning's decision and doesn't know why the state hasn't met its obligation. "On my watch," she vowed, the money will be paid. But if she had been watching all along, what kept her from urging Easley and the legislature to just do it? If she knew mental-health reform would be a dud, why didn't she make noise?

Perdue hasn't challenged leaders in Raleigh, all Democrats like herself, in eight years. She promises to set a "gold standard" for openness and integrity in state government, and she needs to, because Easley and legislators have done a lousy job on that count. It would be easier to believe her now if she'd taken them on once or twice.

Perdue set free might be a genie who works wonders for North Carolina. She truly has many talents.

But she's had chances and chose to stay bottled up.