The candidate filing period is over and Republican Party Chair Tom Fetzer and other GOP leaders are touting the party's full slate of candidates as more evidence that all signs point to big Republican gains in Raleigh and Washington in November.

But it's more than a little premature to start ordering the champagne. There are small, but growing signs that the predicted Republican wave may have already crested and that voters have just as many doubts about GOP candidates as they do about Democrats.

The reelection effort of Republican Sen. Richard Burr might be the best example. You would think Burr would be well ahead in his race. He has fought against virtually every proposal from President Obama and Congressional Democrats that we are told are unpopular with the American people.

He spoke out loudly against health care reform last summer when the tea party craze was at its peak. He has more than $4 million in the bank and can seemingly raise unlimited funds from the pharmaceutical industry when he needs to. And he is an incumbent whose six years in the high profile office have given him far more name recognition than any of his possible Democratic opponents.

Then remember that this is an off-year election, when the party not in power in the White House traditionally gains seats. Everything seems to be lining up in Burr's favor -- except public opinion.

The latest Elon University Poll finds that 51 percent of the state wants someone else to hold Burr's seat. Only 24 percent would like to see him reelected. A Public Policy Polling survey found that only 35 percent of the electorate approved of the job Burr is doing in Washington.

Those are not numbers that sound like the predictor of big Republican wins in November and Burr is at the top of the Republican ticket in North Carolina.

Fetzer and many pundits continue to miscast the public anger as narrowly focused on Democratic incumbents in Raleigh and Washington. But people are mad at most politicians and don't think either party is helping their families very much, though it's worth noting that President Obama is significantly more popular in North Carolina than Burr and Republicans in Congress overall.

If Republicans in North Carolina have an edge eight months before the general election, it is largely based on the fact that more Democrats are currently in power in the state. It's not some sweeping public endorsement of Republican ideas that accounts for it, it is the ongoing public anxiety about the economy.

If people begin to believe that the economy is turning around, especially if their own economic situation begins to improve, much of the Republican momentum will evaporate and this could be a typical off year election when the party out of power gains some seats, but not enough to take over in Raleigh or Washington.

That would also require people to have faith that Democrats are willing to stand up to the special interests on Wall Street whose greedy behavior precipitated the economic collapse Sputtering Congressional efforts to crack down on the worst Wall Street abuses haven't helped.

But turning to Republicans doesn't have much appeal either at this point, as they seem more likely to apologize for the financial industry that funds their campaigns than to confront it.

Voters are definitely angry and anxious. But they are looking for more than just a full slate of candidates and a promise not to agree with whatever the other party proposes. Don't count on that Republican landslide just yet.

Chris Fitzsimon is the executive director at N.C. Policy Watch.