News-Record.com

This headline from the TurboFaith blog caught my attention: "It's 2008-Pray For Elections."

We need to be spending time before God and finding out who we need to support in the 2008 election- I am asking God to raise up 2 Born Again, Holy Ghost filled, Christian men to take the office of President and Vice President and also Born Again, Christian men and women to be elected to the House Of Representatives and Senate! Also the same thing in all local and state level elections!- This country IS the greatest country on earth and I personally want to see it remain that way! If you are a Christian, please join with me in this awesome task. Pray! Seek Gods will and then get to it! Get out and vote!

Click here to read the whole post.

Certainly C.L. Tucker Jr. is not the first person to put forward such a position. Religion and politics have been mixing for a long, long time. Consider Guarino's recent take emerging (or not) differences among evangelical voters:

(Read more after the jump).

From the Associated Press:

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Democrat John Edwards embarked on a 36-hour campaign marathon, focusing on pocketbook issues while launching a new wave of advertising on the airwaves and in print. He dismissed a spate of polls showing that he had sunk to third place in the race.

"I don't need a poll to tell me that we're moving and moving in the right direction every single day," said Edwards.

He campaigned with his family and Mari Culver, wife of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.

"I am rolling up my sleeves, traveling with the campaign," said Mrs. Culver, who - like Edwards - is a former trial lawyer and has long known the candidate.

Edwards was met by about 500 people jammed into a ballroom at the student union at Iowa State University as he began the overnight campaign push, aimed at energizing backers and delivering them to the precinct caucuses Thursday. He planned a rally in Atlantic at midnight and had a stop at 2:15 a.m. in Creston and an early breakfast in Centerville at 5:15 a.m.

Meanwhile new television and newspaper ads focused on Edwards' populist message. A TV spot features a worker - who lost his job when the Maytag factory in Newton closed - suggesting Edwards is the most likely candidate to fight to get his job back.

Bill Wright, the chairman of the Guilford County GOP, has a letter to the editor today regarding our story on Coble's age and whether he'll retire. From the letter:

But perhaps the article says even more about Jay Ovittore, an announced Democratic challenger. Ovittore suggested that anyone who has served as long as Coble begins to get cynical and corrupt.

I have known Coble for many years and shared the platform with him at numerous events, especially programs honoring our veterans and ex-POWs. Coble is a man of the people, visible throughout the 6th District. He is constantly meeting with constituent groups, area businesses, speaking to schoolchildren, veterans' groups and listening to the concerns of voters. He has assembled a talented and committed staff that provides perhaps the best constituent service of anyone in Congress.

So is Wright right? Can you serve in Washington for more than two decades and still be a "man of the people?" Or do age and length of service eventually take their toll?

From a story today about who local politicians are backing in the presidential race:

Local Democratic politicians seem to have taken a rooting interest in "favorite son" John Edwards' run for the presidency.

By contrast, many local Republican office-holders range from unimpressed to unswayed by the crop of candidates currently running for the GOP nomination.

The Iowa caucuses will start the presidential selection process on Thursday, with primaries following this January in New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida.

North Carolina is not due for its primaries until May, most likely too late in the process to influence the outcome.

Still, local politicians can influence the flow of money and volunteer support for campaigns, and if nothing else, provide a proxy for the campaign that might have been.

Other than the candidates themselves, who sways your vote? Does Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama bring you into his camp. Or do have fewer degrees of separation from John Edwards since Kevin Bacon stumped for the former N.C. Senator? Do endorsements from the likes of the NRA or ACLU bring you into a candidates camp?

Not sure what exactly is going to go down in Iowa tomorrow? Here's a video from the John Edwards campaign that explains it well, if in a highly partisan way:

Yes! Weekly columnist and local talk show host Jim Longworth has said he won't let Jay Ovittore on his air. Ovittore is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the 6th Congressional District.

This is reminiscent somewhat of Longworth's complaints about Brad Miller in 2006, when Miller declined to come on his show. I can't say that the tiff hurt Miller in the polls any.

Triad Today is an independent production, not part of a news operation. (ABC 45 where the show is produced doesn't have a news department.)

This is the second time today that this story has sparked some sort of public tussle.

Hat tip: Blue NC

So, tell me if you've heard this one before. A former governor from Arkansas who grew up in a little town named "Hope" runs for president. He goes on a popular chat show and plays an instrument when he's not engaging in charming banter with the host.

No, not Clinton ... that's soooo 1990s. This guy:

Republican Mike Huckabee was on the Tonight Show Wednesday evening, and yes, he was playing the base. In this clip from the interview he talks about his weight loss, talks about his back and forth with Mitt Romney and offers an explanation about the whole I have an attack ad but I don't want to use it thing.

During other parts of the interview he talked about his plan to move the nation from an income tax to a national sales tax. And interestingly, Leno gave him a couple openings to talk about faith, religion, etc... (Huckabee is a Baptist minister and has sounded quite a few religious notes in Iowa during recent weeks) and he really didn't go down that road.

Update: More from the unofficial Huckabee campaign.

This just in from the Guilford County Democrats:

Due to a very enthusiastic response, the date, time and location of the January Democratic Lunch Forum with SENATOR KAY HAGAN has been changed.

The Forum will now be a Town Hall Meeting and will be held at 6 p.m., THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 at Golden Corral (at Wendover & I-40).

To ensure that we have adequate space, RSVPs ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

To RSVP, call Democratic Headquarters at 315-5532 or respond to this e-mail.

There is no admission fee for the meeting. If you choose to eat at Golden Corral, the cost of the meal is yours.

If you plan to eat, please arrive early. The meeting will start promptly at 6 p.m.

Hagan is running for Senate, but you knew that...right?

I've been flipping news channels and surfing websites for a good three hours this evening and I've come to this conclusion: We scruffy media types need a hobby or something. The breathless projections about what a win or a loss in Iowa does or doesn't mean are just a bit much.

That said, I think there are a few take-aways from tonight:

• *Republicans: you have yourselves a presidential campaign. If Mitt Romney's fundraising and spending advantage can't get him better than a second-place showing over a guy with no money who was an also-ran three weeks ago, this thing really is up in the air.
• *New Hampshire just got a whole lot more meaningful for the GOP. Remember, Giuliani didn't really contest the state - but he better do a darned site better in NH and SC people are going to begin to smell road kill. (No, I don't buy the whole "I'm biding my time for Flordia" thing.)

• *Democrats: It's official, this is a three-way race. The conversation is Obama, Clinton and Edwards, probably in that order.

• *Edwards could be in trouble because he doesn't have as much money as Clinton and Obama, but it looks like he can hang in at least until that first February uber-primary day.

• *It seems to me that Clinton was hurt more by not winning Iowa. The whole premise of her campaign has been, "Of course it's Hillary, who the heck else are we going to vote for?" - that whole inevitability thing. That's kind of out the window for the moment.

Listening to Edwards on the TV right now, he sounds pretty upbeat. Here's what he told the Associated Press earlier:

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrat John Edwards told The Associated Press that the Iowa caucus showed that voters are choosing change over the status quo, and he vowed a vigorous campaign into New Hampshire.

Edwards, who lost a close race to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, said he would continue running as the candidate for middle-class Americans.

"I mean, we were grotesquely outspent in Iowa five-to-one and the fact that I'm as strong as I am now under these circumstances indicates that this message of change and standing up for corporate greed and fighting for the middle class and jobs really matters," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said in an interview with The Associated Press

He said he would distinguish himself from Obama in New Hampshire by arguing that he is the candidate who can deliver the change that voters have shown they want.

"I''m going to fight for that change," he said via telephone from his hotel room in Iowa. "I've fought for it my entire life. I have a long history of fighting powerful interests and winning."

"What's clear from the Iowa caucus results is that change won and the status quo lost," Edwards said. "And the fight is now to see if we are going to get the change we need to save the middle class in this country."

Okay, now it's your turn. What's on your mind after Iowa. To get you started, here's what editorial writer Doug Clark had to say:

I'm not impressed by Mike Huckabee's so-called big win in the Iowa caucuses tonight.

Nor by the whole Iowa experience.

I think Iowa will be forgotten in, oh, about a week.

The real story among Republicans may be Mitt Romney's poor showing after spending so much money. He should have joined Rudy Giuliani in ignoring this insignificant state, concentrating instead on primaries in more representative places. But he has time to recover and blow off this minor setback.

The Democrats, meanwhile, seem to be heading for a three-way tie, more or less, among Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Meaning, none of them wins or loses. So, on to the next stop, and the next and the next.

Iowa attracts way too much attention and signifies very little.

More from: Wx Post, Dome, IH Tavern, Trail Mix

From a Charlotte Observer article about the attendence (or lack there of) for North Carolina's federal delegation:

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Concord Republican, missed 59 votes, tied with GOP Rep. Howard Coble of Greensboro, for the second-largest number of missed votes in the delegation.

That's 59 of nearly 1,200 votes, or a miss rate of 4.8 percent or so.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat:

I just got this e-mail from political consulting firm Fetzer Stephens:

"As of the first of this year, Fetzer Stephens is no longer engaged with the Graham for Governor Committee. We have appreciated the opportunity to work with the Graham Campaign and we wish them well in 2008."

The firm is one of the big dogs in North Carolina Republican circles, working for the likes of Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr. So what gives?

"There's no sour relationship," said campaign spokesman Aaron Lay. Fetzer Stephens was part of Graham's "Stop the Gas Tax" push last year, and had been managing much of the campaign as a lead consultant up through the New Year.

Graham's new campaign manager, Marty Ryall came on board this week. Other consultants include Strategic Perceptions.

Update: Just in from the Graham campaign:

January 4, 2008 - SALISBURY, NC - Marty Ryall, Campaign Manager for Bill Graham for Governor, issued the following statement today. "Through a cordial and mutual agreement we are no longer working with Fetzer Stephens. We appreciate the work Tom and Mark have done for the campaign and we wish them all the best in the future."

From editorial page editor Allen Johnson:

As sour a pill as it may have been for Hillary Clinton to swallow, Barack Obama's stunning victory in the Iowa Caucuses says a lot of good things about Obama and about America.

Obama won in a state that is 90-plus percent white. That means he effectively tailored a campaign message that transcends race -- that he spoke to concerns that cut across racial lines. He is clearly a different breed of candidate from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton; for Obama race was an issue, but not THE issue.

He also beat Clinton among female voters.

His victory also means that many Iowans looked past race in their choice of a candidate.

From editorial writer Doug Clark:

What's the difference between Edwards and Obama in 2008? Both are youthful, charismatic men with comparable political experience. But Obama suddenly has surged out front in the Democratic race while Edwards looks to be in serious trouble.

Could it be that, this time, Edwards' rhetoric seems to emphasize fear over hope, division over unity? That Edwards is appealing to anger and envy, trying to build resentment against "those people" in Washington or wherever who supposedly are holding ordinary Americans down?

New polling from Zogby out today confirms a lot of the polling others had going into this week. From a release this afternoon:

Among likely-voting Democrats, Clinton also enjoys strength with 36% support, compared to 24% for Obama and 20% for Edwards. Among independents who said they were likely to vote in the Democratic primary, Obama enjoys 34% backing, compared to 26% support for Clinton and 21% for Edwards. Independent voters are important in New Hampshire because they can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.

Basically, NY Sen. Hillary Clinton is holding steady while Ill. Sen. Barack Obama appears to have picked up a couple points over the past two weeks, maybe due to his win in Iowa. Edwards has held at 20 percent for a while, no matter what group of Dems are polled.

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain has picked up ground in tracking polls. Huckabee seems to be edging up in New Hampshire while Romney is holding steady but in second place. From the release:

McCain's lead continues to be based on the strength of support among independents, where he holds a 42% to 29% over Romney, with no other Republican winning more than 10% support among this group. Among moderates, McCain's edge dropped from 53% support to 48% support after yesterday's polling was added to the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby three-day rolling average, while while Romney also lost some ground, dropping from 24% to 22%. Meanwhile, Romney's edge over McCain among mainline conservatives - the largest voting bloc in the GOP - increased from one to five points.

Huckabee's bounce from the Iowa victory comes among those who consider themselves "very conservative," where he jumped from 21% to 28% when just yesterday's post-Iowa caucus polling is folded into the mix. However, Romney still leads in the category with 33% support. McCain wins 20% among the very conservative.

How is this playing out on the ground? From an Associated Press story detailing the day on teh stump:

Edwards, who narrowly edged Clinton for second place in Iowa, tried to turn the New Hampshire contest into a two-man race.

"There will be two change agents" on the ballot Tuesday and at Saturday's televised debate, said Edwards, dismissing Clinton as a member of the status quo.

Edwards told reporters he is more able than Obama to achieve change because of his years battling corporations as a personal injury lawyer. He said when dealing with oil, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, "I don't think you can nice them to death."

Asked if Obama, a former constitutional law professor, is too nice, Edwards replied: "I'm suggesting we have a battle and a fight on our hands" to improve life for working class families.

Obama responded to critics by arguing that people also said Abraham Lincoln wasn't ready to lead the country and that he understands hope alone isn't a prescription for change.

"I love the word, but lately some folk say, 'Ahh, he's always talking about hope. He's so idealistic. He's a hope-monger,'" he said.

"Hope is not blind optimism. Hope is not ignorance of the roadblocks and hurdles that stand between you and your goals," he continued. "It was hope that allowed slaves and abolitionists to resist that evil system and would allow a new president, who many said wasn't ready to chart out a new course, that would ensure that this nation would not remain half slave and half free."

Cross-posted at Capital Beat.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has been flirting with a run for governor for a good couple months now. The Meck Deck, Charlotte blog of the John Locke Foundation, picked up a hot tip and e-mailed it out (complete with Drudge-report siren) to us scruffy media types:

Interesting rumor du jour is that Mayor Pat McCrory will have a press conference next week in Jamestown, NC.

Why Jamestown - near High Point - of all places? McCrory went to Ragsdale High in Jamestown, where he kicked off his political career by being student body president. Kinda sounds like a set-piece to announce a run for governor, does it not?

Read the whole post here.

Another good reason for McCrory to launch in Jamestown: gets that Charlotte patina off him. From what long-time Republicans tells me, the GOP base is a bit skeptical of the big city mayor coming out to the territories telling folks who it ought to be done. Announcing in Jamestown would play up his connection to the Triad as well as show that he's more than just about Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte paper reports McCrory is ramping up his Facebook presence. (Facedook page.) Charlotte also writes that McCrory has been sopping up local support for his run.

I did not hear Barack Obama's victory speech on the night of the Iowa caucus. But every time I've read about it over the past couple days, his delivery and content has been praised in farily glowing terms. So I decided to listen for myself. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

For good measure, here's Huckabee's victory speech, which was pretty good itself. (It's got to be easier to write and deliver happy news to your supporters.)

A quick trip around the local blogiverse yields the following take on the latest fun in the presidential campaign:

• * Apriori Concepts: "As with Obama, I believe firmly that most Americans would do well to explore the candidates directly as opposed to taking the noise machine's word for it.Huckabee appears to have an impressive record of public service."
• * And so I go on Huckabee and Obama: "For either one of these men to be elected to the presidency would be a disaster of major proportions in a time when the world has never been smaller, and needed the most firm leadership from the only country able to give it."
• * Guarino: "Edwards' speech reminded me of "The Music Man", a film that elsewhere has been called the Great American Musical. Those who have seen the movie will recall Professor Harold Hill, the con artist who attempts to sell band instruments to the parents of an entire town. As I watched John Edwards last night, I felt as if I might have been witnessing the reincarnation of Professor Harold Hill."
• * Noteworthy: Since St. Barak has re-emerged as the Dems'/Lefties'/"Progressives'" and the media's darling yet again because of his Iowa victory, it's appropriate to see what he's said about certain issues in the past.

Update: Becuase we can't have Spag going around feeling unloved (see the comments):
Spag: "So tonights real winners are John McCain who is going to come on strong and will likely get large cash infusions in the next few weeks, and Rudy Giuliani who remains untarnished by the Iowa vote, will make a respectable showing in New Hampshire and probably run the table on Super Tuesday in a close fight with McCain."

Update: Click here for Sunday's story on Edwards and the other primaries this month.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I have a story coming for Sunday's paper on John Edwards' chances for the presidential campaign going forward. From his campaign's perspective, it's not terribly upbeat, talk of Seabiscuit or not.

For that story, I talked to folks not only in New Hampshire (where there is a primary Tuesday) but also in Nevada and South Carolina.

Nevada will have a caucus much like Iowa's later this month. It's the first time Nevada has played this meaningful a part in the presidential election, so folks are kind of unsure whether the polling out there is telling them anything meaningful. For caucuses, you not only have to be able to figure out the prevailing opinion but whose likely to show up. The second part of that is what's in doubt.

In Nevada, I talked to Jon Ralston, a long-time journalists turned political analyst. Edwards, he said, ran well early there but fell behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama when the former North Carolina senator redistributed resources to Iowa in an attempt to win there. (No, that didn't work out so much.)

Among the reasons Edwards was expected to do well, Ralston said, was strong support for and from labor unions. But one of the most important unions Las Vegas, the Culinary Workers, have delayed issuing an endorsement that Edwards had lobbied for. That local, the 226, is cool on Edwards despite having pressure from their national organization. Or, more correctly, they seem to want to back a winner and Edwards doesn't seem to be it.

The Associated Press wrote about this at the end of December.

There was some expectation that they may have issued an endorsement this week, following Iowa. The union, however, has delayed again.

Ralston wrote the following in an e-mail sent Saturday:

The question of whether 226 might split off from the international if the parent still inists on going Edwards is interesting. I simply don't see 226 going with Edwards at this point, but the split would be a painful, last resort move. The locals do not want to have to diverge from the parent's endorsement.

Finally, what if Clinton were to win New Hampshire and decisively? That seems unlikely, but what then? Couldn't her team credibly argue that 226 could be the force that changes the course of the presidential race by breaking the tie? The difficulty there is that while she has a formidable organization in Nevada, Obama's is a carbon copy of the one that organized so ferociously in Iowa.

Ralston said he expects the local culinary workers to endorse Obama, especially if he comes out of New Hampshire with the same kind of strength he showed in Iowa. In an interview Friday, he said losing the endorsement would be "crushing" for Edwards in Nevada.

More coming in Sunday's paper.

Impressions of the Republicans debating in New Hampshire Saturday night from around the blogsphere:

• *The Fix: "The second half of the 90-minute debate was dominated by a heated discussion between Romney and McCain over illegal immigration -- the touchstone issue for conservatives not only in New Hampshire but nationwide. McCain defended his support for a comprehensive immigration plan, insisting that he did not provide amnesty to those who are here illegally because they would have to abide by a number of strictures including learning English and paying fines.Not surprisingly, that did not satisfy Romney, who argued that McCain backed amnesty. "I disagree fundamentally with the idea that the 12 million people who came here illegally should be allowed to remain in United States," said Romney."

  *Isaac Hunter's Tavern: "McCain: Solid. Smart, confident, funny, and still statesmanlike. Whatever you think of him, it’s true that when he talks, everyone else shuts up and listens. Which is kind of what you want in a president. Did nothing tonight to hurt his lead, and probably helped it."

  *Guarino: "On the Republican side, Giuliani and Thompson did reasonably well. Huckabee seemed to be less in command than during previous debates. There were repeated verbal barbs given and received by Huckabee, McCain and Romney. Romney appeared strong during certain parts of the debate, and weak during other segments. It is unclear to me whether the negative approach taken by McCain will hurt or help him."

  *New York Times: Transcript of the debate.

Impressions of the Republicans debating in New Hampshire Saturday night from around the blogsphere:

• * The Tavern: "Edwards: Winner, hands down. He was the most passionate, the most articulate, hit the right notes – and he seemed to mean what he said more than anyone else on stage. Obama was cautious, Clinton was testy, Richardson felt like a throwback, but Edwards was, in ESPN-speak, en fuego."

• *The Fix: "The problem for Clinton is that Edwards has decided that his best chance to be one of the last two candidates standing is to knock her out in New Hampshire. Edwards' campaign believes that if he can do that -- perhaps with a close third place finish -- Clinton will be a non-factor and allow him to debate Obama over which man is the true change agent. Edwards repeatedly cited his agreement with Obama and savaged Clinton as a defender of the status quo, making it very difficult -- as we noted earlier -- for Clinton to score a direct hit on Obama. Edwards' argument throughout the debate was that while he and Obama differ over the proper method to bring about change, he and Obama are far more capable to bring about that change than Clinton."

• *Dome: About three dozen supporters from the Hillary Clinton camp face off with the same numbers from the Barack Obama side, alternating chants and hoisting signs like fans at a football game. "Hill-a-ry! Hill-a-ry!" one side chants as TV cameras move in close."O-baaaam-a!" the other side hollers. "O-baaaam-a!"
  John Edwards supporters were nowhere to be seen.

• *New York Times: Transcript of the debate.

From a story in Sunday's paper:

The former North Carolina senator took second place in the Iowa caucuses, edging out the better-funded Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has been able to raise millions of dollars and far outpolls the likes of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson with a populist message that appeals to the party faithful, especially those hurt by a sagging economy.

Yet in New Hampshire and in other early primary states, supporters acknowledge he's having a hard time being heard above the fray. Pundits don't expect him to last until Feb. 5, when 22 states will hold Democratic primaries or caucuses.

Earlier: Edwards in Nevada.

Bubba comments on that earlier post: "Edwards is damaged goods. He offers nothing that Obama and Hillary can't match, and indeed, exceed. His optimism after the Iowa results had little bearing in reality."

I just sent the following to our online folks:

County Commissioner Bruce Davis(PDF) says he will run for the State Senate seat currently held by Sen. Katie Dorsett. Both Davis and Dorsett are Democrats.

“I have the utmost respect for Katie Dorsett, I have much respect for the work that she’s done,” Davis says. “It’s more about me trying to bring about some change. New leadership is good.”
The 28th Senate District runs from southern Greensboro through Pleasant Garden and southern Guilford County into the majority of High Point.

Davis was first appointed to his county commissioner seat in 2002, following the death of Commissioner Donnie Dunovant. That was the same year Dorsett, a former State Secretary of Administration, won her senate seat.

There's a certain regional tension here. Dorsett lives in Greensboro. Davis is from High Point. And Davis made a point of saying that only one of the 10 legislators (four senators, six representatives) who represent High Point live in the city. (The other person is Larua Wiley. Ashville, Wilmington and other smaller cities can claim more representation, as can Fayetteville and Cary, which are the next largest cities on the list.

"At this point here, I think that someone from this particular area should be running for that seat," Davis said.

Davis said key issues for his campaign will include reducing homelessness, improving education and aid for the High Point Furniture Market.

Worth noting: Dorsett is the Majority Whip for the Senate Democrats, a position that makes her responsible for vote counting and makes her part of the chambers top leaders.

This is basically a Democratic primary scuffle. Voter registration is very skewed in the district, making it tough for a Republican to compete there.

UNC-TV this week hosts the first of three forums with the candidates for govenror they will air. Time is 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Both Democrats and Republicans will be featured.

Click here for more info.

I've been trying to run down whether there was anything more firm to be said about Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's rumored entry into the Republican primary for governor. I had the shortest of conversations with his (mayor) campaign manager, Victoria Smith, which began with "We're not going to making any comments" and ended with "I really can't comment, just stay tuned."

From our friends at the Associated Press:

In Bedford, N.H., Edwards refused to entertain reporters' questions about what he would do if he wins no primaries.

"I reject the premise of that question completely," he said, vowing to carry his campaign to the Democratic National Convention and then win White House.

Meanwhile, over at our Debatables blog, the exchange has been what I've come to expect any time you bring the guy up. A good number of people think he ought to be President, and a like number can't stand the guy. Very few folks who follow politics around here seem to be middle-of-the-roaders when it comes to Edwards.

This slice of the ongoing exchange is typical:

tony sacco said:

John & Dog, sorry you both feel that way about Edwards, I find him a person of passion to help the group of people I saw suffer in the depression, like myself, an orphan at 5 eating out of garbage cans, seperated from my sister in the adaption process and never to see or find again. Edwards mentions the 200,000 Veterens that have to sleep under bridges every night, he cares, that's passion from the gut.

Both of you must be rich, just think about the 35 million people that go hungrey every day, sure, there is Welfare, but they don't want that they want like yourselves to be a protuctive member of society, and Edwards will stand for them, for you and the country.

jaycee said:

The only problem with your logic, Tony, is that Edwards has done NOTHING to solve the problems you mention. All he's done is TALK to self-promote the egotistical little world in which he lives. Heck, I can talk about problems, too...would you elect me?

Edwards's buddy Erskine Bowles set him up with a title-only job at UNC working against "poverty" and then we found out that Edwards stole our tax money from that program to pay for his campaign travels. You talk about greed?? Edwards stole your money to advance his ego-driven boondoggle of a sham campaign while harming the very people he tells you he wants to help. Greed?? Edwards is all about greed. His, not yours.

State Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue played their latest game of "Good idea / Bad idea" today.

No, not this game:

But it's sort of similar. In the Tar Heel Politics version, one candidate for governor comes out with a policy proposal saying it's a "good idea" and another candidate for governor explains why they think it's a "bad idea," usually with some personal thrown in for good measure.

In today's version, Moore sends out the following "good idea":

RALEIGH - State Treasurer Richard Moore, candidate for governor, today announced a three-step process for reforming North Carolina’s Department of Transportation.

Moore's plan calls for DOT to establish metrics that measure the need for and effectiveness of new road projects, the elimination of legislative transportation slush funds that have little oversight and a ban on political fundraising by DOT board members.

"Effectively addressing our transportation needs starts with removing politics from our transportation decisions," said Moore. "We need to focus on building roads where they are needed - not where political insiders want them."

A recent report from McKinsey Consulting found the Department of Transportation is overly political and bureaucratic, which leads to stagnation and inefficiency. North Carolina faces massive transportation needs, with estimates reaching a $122 billion price tag over the next 25 years.

Okay, now you know what's coming. A few hours later, Perdue's campaign sent out the "bad idea" portion of our program:

"Bev Perdue believes we should look at comprehensive campaign finance reform. That should include restrictions on contributions from those affiliated with DOT as well as restrictions on contributions from the state's investment advisors," said Bev Perdue spokesman David Kochman.

"Given his $1.4 million in contributions from Wall Street and now the Randy Parton Theatre, Richard Moore trying to lead the parade on campaign finance reform is like Paris Hilton trying to lead the parade on good taste," added Kochman.

Also worth noting is that Richard Moore has accepted at least $24,000 from current DOT board members and their families (News & Observer, 8/19/07)

You catch that bit about investment advisors? Yeah, that's a reference to Moore getting somewhere north of $700,000 in campaign contributions from those who manage the state pension funds or their relatives. (Moore has repeatedly said campaign donations do not affect what investment firms the state uses.)

If you only paid attention to the back-biting, you might miss the fact that these two crazy kids actually agree on something: that the state ought to be doing something to restrict the flow of campaign donations from a politically powerful state board that decides whether you have eight lanes of asphalt or a dirt road coming through your town.

Perhaps this will be some fodder for Thursday's debate.

It's 12:47 a.m. EST. In High School, I'd be putting the final touches on math homework at this hour. In college, this was prime term-paper writing time. And in my cub reporter days, this would be about time to finish off the last frosty beverage of the evening.

In other parts of the world, it's time for Democracy in action. From our friends at the Associated Press:

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) _ Residents of two tiny towns stayed up late to give Barack Obama and John McCain early victories in the New Hampshire presidential primary.

Voters in two small New Hampshire villages, Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, cast the initial ballots just after midnight Tuesday.

In Hart's Location, Democrat Obama received nine votes, Hillary Rodham Clinton received three and John Edwards received one. On the Republican side, McCain received six, Mike Huckabee received five, Ron Paul received four and Mitt Romney one.

In Dixville Notch, on the Republican side, McCain received four votes, Mitt Romney two and Rudy Giuliani one. On the Democratic side, Obama received seven votes, John Edwards two votes and Bill Richardson one vote.

For those of you keeping score at home, Obama leads the Democratic field with 16. Edwards and Clinton are tied at three a piece.

Man, these people take voting seriously. The only things I seem to do after midnight anymore include waking up to the sound of of late night shows' theme music, rolling off the couch, checking my e-mail and going to sleep.

See you back here later today.

County Republican Party Chairman Bill Wright sent word this morning that Olga Morgan Wright (no relation that I know of) will run for the House District 58 seat. Olga ran against Adams the 2004 and 2006 elections and things tend to get a little testy between the two. Adams is a Democrat and Morgan Wright is a Republican, so this is a general election showdown in a Democratic-leaning district.

From Bill Wright:

As Guilford County Republican Party Chairman, I am excited to announce that Olga Morgan Wright will file to run for the N.C. House District 58 seat currently held by Alma Adams. Olga continues to be concerned by the current inadequate representation that refuses to address the important issues facing this unique District. Much of east Greensboro and Guilford County lacks the vital economic development necessary to bring decent paying jobs and opportunities to this historic area. Owners are unwilling to relocate or launch a new business in an area with low performing schools, unacceptable dropout rates and a rising gang problem. We must not only understand the problems that face our small business owners with an unacceptable tax burden and increasing government regulations but also the need for an educated and viable workforce. Students must be offered functional, vocational training opportunities and not just a college based curriculum. We must offer these young people a reason to stay in school and become a productive, contributing member of society. It's time for action and in Olga, we have a lifelong resident of District 58 who is tired of the talk, tired of the ineffective blue ribbon commissions, and tired of the excuses. Olga is deeply concerned that the current representation has refused to support legislation that would protect District 58 property owners from losing their property through the action of eminent domain. We must have a Constitutional Amendment to ensure that government cannot take private property for private development purposes. This infringement on our constitutional rights as property owners directly affects minority neighborhoods and inner city areas. Olga believes we must send a clear message to local governments that as private citizens, we will fight to protect those rights guaranteed under our Constitution. The citizens of District 58 deserve to have their voices heard in Raleigh, deserve to have a representative that lives every day understanding the struggles of families, understanding the pressures our children face and understanding the struggle to make ends meet. It's time for a change, it's time for the fresh, straight talking representation that Olga Morgan Wright will bring to the citizens of District 58.

In this comment to a recent post David Crawford said he's no longer running for Congress this year. He also writes that he will support Johnny Carter over Jay Ovittore in the primary. The winner of the Democratic primary will take on Republican incumbent Howard Coble.

Crawford filed to run and then aborted his City Council campaign against Mike Barber last year. Crawford has switched his Myspace page to a 2009 council campaign mode.

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards certainly isn't acting like an expected third-place showing in New Hampshire will knock him out of the race. This came from his campaign today under the subject heading "A Special Appeal to North Carolina" and putatively bylined by David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager:

Dear Friend,

Earlier this morning, I took a call from our team in South Carolina. More than 50 people have just arrived at campaign headquarters in Columbia. They're ready to work for John Edwards from now until the South Carolina primary on January 26.

That's why I'm making a special appeal to friends like you in states near South Carolina. You can help today with a contribution that will allow us to immediately buy the supplies and resources we need in our Columbia headquarters and other field offices around the state.

[snip]

It's great news that we've added 50 new people to our South Carolina operation. It shows, yet again, that John has considerable momentum as he moves toward the next round of early contests.

It also means we need to work quickly to ensure our folks on the ground have all the resources they need so we can capture this momentum and stay on the road to winning the nomination!

Denise Turner, who worked for Congressman Brad Miller and is currently with the Greensboro Partnership took at look at running in Senate District 28, which already features a Democratic Primary between incumbent Katie Dorsett and Bruce Davis.

She created a campaign committee in December.

But she has backed off a run.

"I was looking at the seat when there was a good deal of speculation about Sen. Dorsett not seeking re-election," Turner said. When Dorsett announced a run, Turner said she cancelled her plans.

"I decided I would wait for my time," she said.

Turner formed the campaign committee to account for a poll she conducted in mid-Decmeber comparing her to other potential challengers for Dorsett's seat, including Rep. Alma Adams and Davis. Adams has said she will seek re-election to her House seat.

Over at Talking About Politics, Gary Pearce says John Edwards should avoid panic and keep swimming:

An experienced ocean-swimmer knows what to do in a riptide. Don't panic, and don't fight it. Swim parallel to the shore until you're out of trouble. Then get back to dry land.

That's what Hillary Clinton and John Edwards should do now. They're caught in a Barack Obama tide. There's no fighting it. But there is a way to survive it.

Clinton is drowning because she's thrashing. Lashing out at Obama. Choking up.

Edwards seems to get it. Maybe because he has a vacation home on the coast. After thrashing himself for a couple of days, he attacked Clinton, not Obama - and got back to his message.

I'm all for having a campaign rather than a coronation, but Obama's poll numbers look strong in both Nevada and SC. One wonders where Edwards (or Clinton) could make a stand. It seems to me Super Tuesday is a tough place to hold back the tide.

Maybe the most pressing question tonight will be how well does Edwards have to do (a solid #2, a respectable #3) not to unhinge his campaign completely?

I just spoke with Joe Trippi, an advisor to the Edwards campaign. I asked him about the expected Barack Obama win tonight and what that might mean for John Edwards.

"Tonight is a referendum on Hillary Clinton," Trippi said. Media attention and voters seem to be focused on two story-lines, he said. The first is whether Obama will continue his successes and the second is whether Clinton can make a come back.

"We don't think she can," Trippi said. "The Clinton status quo is going to be rejected."

He said that Edwards campaign was "getting lost" in those two other discussions.

That will change when the campaigns roll into South Carolina and Nevada.

"We don't think Hillary Clinton can come back, so let's get onto the real discussion about change," Trippi said.

The objective for the Edwards campaign will be delineate the different approaches to achieving change in Washington.

In an earlier post and story, I explained that the culinary union in Nevada would be a key to the Caucus there later this month.

News has come that the union is poised to make its choice tomorrow and according to several sources (like those scamps at the NY Times) it will likely be Barack Obama.

I'm not plugged in there, but reading the available tea leaves it seems unlikely that Edwards will be the beneficiary. He's scheduled to be in South Carolina tomorrow, and I would think that he would pop over to Nevada to accept that kind of boost in person.

Early returns (less than 8 percent of the vote) show Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton locked in a tight race, with both getting around 37 percent of the votes counted.

Edwards looks like he'll take down a third place finish, behind the front runners but (say it with me) ahead of the rest of the field.

In other news, it's only 8:01 p.m. and he's only been on the air five minutes, but I'm already sick of listening to Wolf Blitzer.

Unlike on the Democratic side where the race is too close to call, CNN and other venues are now calling the Republican race for Arizon Sen. John McCain.

Update: The very conservative Associated Press now gives McCain the win.

Click here to listen to Arizon John McCain's victory speech following the New Hampshire primary.

From the last (I think) version of a story I'm writing for tomorrow:

Less than one percent of the United States has voted, John Edwards told supporters Tuesday night. So his third place finish in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire only meant that it was time to head to South Carolina and the rest of the states where voters had yet to weigh-in, he said.

"Those 99 percent deserve to have their voices heard," Edwards said, smiling at a crowd that cheered him on even as the as Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York edged out Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for first place. "We've had too many Americans whose voices have not been heard in this Democracy."

Edwards will head to South Carolina later this week, a state he won convincingly in 2004 by playing on his early upbringing in Seneca, SC. But this year he trails Clinton and Obama in most polls there.

Both political scientists and national political writers say Edwards will have a problem making inroads in future primaries because of a fundraising disadvantage and his early lack of success.

And New Hampshire's results complicate the story line that Edwards' campaign was constructing earlier in the day.

That complication, by the way, comes because Edwards had wanted to recast the race as a two-way affair with him and Obama. That doesn't seem to be the case tonight.

From the Associated Press:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama each won nine delegates in New Hampshire's Democratic primary, followed by former Sen. John Edwards with 4 delegates, an AP analysis of primary results shows. All 22 of New Hampshire's delegates to the national convention this summer have been allocated.

[snip]

In the overall race for the nomination, Clinton leads with 187 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. She is followed by Obama with 89 delegates and Edwards with 50.

A total of 2,025 delegates are needed to secure the Democratic nomination.

On the Republican side, the Associated Press reports:

On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain won seven delegates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won four delegates and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won one. All 12 of New Hampshire's delegates to the national convention this summer have been allocated.

New Hampshire originally had 24 Republican delegates, but the national party stripped half as punishment because the state broke party rules by scheduling its primary before Feb. 5.

In the overall race for the nomination, Huckabee leads with 31 delegates, followed by Romney with 19 delegates and McCain with seven.

A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the Republican nomination.

It wasn't exactly Dewey defeats Truman, but a lot of scruffy media types were left scratching their heads Tuesday night.

The polls on the Democratic side of the New Hampshire primary were laughably wrong. I've yet to run across one in my archive that called the right winner. Pretty much all of them put Barack Obama ahead in a run-away over Hillary Clinton.

So what's the deal?

If you listen to the talking heads tell it, Clinton's "tearful moment" and loosening up with the media and voters played in her favor. Over the past five days she swayed people with her "more human" demeanor.

Meh. I don't buy it quite. Five days isn't quite enough to have that kind of a turn around. Some people, sure. A whole 10 or 12 points or so? Not so much.

My bet is no one thing went wrong, but a few things happened. Suspect number-one in my mind is - like with the Dewey vs Truman polling - some population wasn't getting surveyed or surveyed accurately in New Hampshire. Young, college-age women without landline phones, perhaps?

Also, there are a lot of Independent voters in New Hampshire who can choose which primary they vote in until the last minute. I've got to think that complicates the polling situation.

The bigger take away? There is a reason we hold the elections and county the votes rather than just do surveys. So the next time some scruffy media type - including yours truly - pushes poll results your way, view them with some skepticism.

For those who didn't get a chance to watch live, this was John Edwards speech following the New Hampshire primaries Tuesday:

Two big endorsements were announced in Nevada today.

As expected, the culinary workers union backed Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley backs Hillary Clinton.

I'll leave it to you to name the former North Carolina Senator left out of today's endorsement fun in the state where the next meaningful Democratic primary will take place.

More on why this is important (particularly the union endorsement) here and here.

Cross-posted from Capital Beat:

The Charlotte Observer was the first to report that Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory had filed the paperwork needed to raise and spend money for a run for governor.

Filing such paperwork doesn't commit one to a campaign or even get one's name on the ballot. But it is a leading indicator - people don't generally file campaign finance paperwork just for fun.

Previously.

The Associated Press just put this out:

MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) _ New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.

Richardson planned to announce the decision Thursday, according to two people close to the governor with knowledge of the decision. They spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the governor's announcement.

This is, I think, a little bit of good news for John Edwards. But if the former North Carolina Senator is going to make any kind of come back, he's going to need all the not-Hillary-or-Barack votes he can get. With Richardson out, there's one last person competing for those. This is particularly critical when the western states come into play.

Is anyone local to Greensboro planning to watch tonight's debate among the candidates for governor? If so, drop me a line at mark.binker@news-record.com.

In response to all the buzz that filing a little paperwork can get you, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's campaign put out this statement tonight:

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, in compliance with State Board of Election Law, has filed organizational papers which allows him to raise funds and explore the opportunity for a possible run for North Carolina Governor.

This is only the first step in the process for statewide office as required by law.

Pat McCrory will announce his intentions within the next week.

The Mayor is currently attending a meeting of the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition, a group of Mayors from throughout the state. This is an organization which McCrory established and organized six years ago.

They are discussing finding viable solutions to transportation congestion, gang-related crime, the environment and other issues important to towns and cities across North Carolina.

McCrory will return back in Charlotte late Thursday afternoon.

Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, sent and e-mail to supporters this morning naming his choice for a nominee this time around:

I want to share with you my conviction that in a field of fine Democratic candidates, the next President of the United States can be, should be, and will be Barack Obama. Each of our candidates would make a fine President, and we are blessed with a strong field. But for this moment, at this time in our nation's history, Barack Obama is the right choice.

Boy, that's gratitude for ya. John Edwards was the Number 2 on the Kerry ticket, but I guess they haven't kept up or something.

Here's my question: how much is that going to help Obama in states where he might need help? Anyone see a bunch of Southern Democrats being swayed by a northeastern liberal with funny diction who many of them couldn't bring themselves to vote for in the general election four years ago?

Me neither.

In some ways this release from Public Policy Poling on Democratic primaries makes perfect sense to me. Edwards trailing in NC? Sure - especially after losing two early primaries. About 67 percent of folks not having a choice in the Lt. Governor's race? Heck, I bet a good number of those weren't aware the Lt. Governor was elected separately from the governor.

But the U.S. Senate race results confound me.

No, not the part where 66 percent haven't made up their mind. I actually sort of expect that at this stage in the game.

But Greensboro Sen. Kay Hagan leads the field with 19 percent of the vote, 12 points ahead of Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal.

It's not that Hagan isn't a legit candidate with a good shot. But she hasn't been doing a lot in terms of outreach or grass-roots campaigning that I can tell. She's been doing fundraisers and getting her campaign team together, but that's not the sort of stuff that tends to give you an advantage in the polls.

Neal, by contrast, has been actively on the stump.

And it's a bit at odds with polls that tested Hagan and Neal against incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole, which showed they were pretty equivalent options among voters. So what gives? Some possibilities:

• * There is a certain segment of the population that will choose a female candidate over male candidates when presented with little other information. Hagan is the only woman in the field.

• * A derivative of my last thought, but primary voters may think that running a female candidate and/or one with a few years of legislative experience is their best shot of taking out Dole.

• * In those versus-Dole polls, some large percentage of voters are basically taking anyone who isn't Dole without much regard to policy or background.

• * Hagan's standing as a state Senator and the chairman of a powerful committee is good for more than just a coffee in the LOB break room.

• * For all of Jim Neal's early campaigning and grass-roots work, he's not hitting a broad segment of the Democratic primary audience. I know the on-line activists really like him, but they're not the bulk of the Democratic primary electorate.

One more note: PPP's Tom Jensen notes:

There continues to be very little movement in the race. Jim Neal barely out polls fringe candidates John Ross Hendrix and Duskin Lassiter. Hagan expands her lead over Neal from 9 points last month to 12 this month, but actually has her standing drop from 22 to 19.

In a poll with a margin of error of +/- 3 percent, I wouldn't get that excited about it. I'm more interested in the relative position of the candidates. But I'll be interested to see what Jensen has to say about that later this week.

This just arrived from the Edwards campaign, asking supporters to pitch in some dough:

John Edwards is taking his campaign to South Carolina, Nevada -- and on to the Democratic Convention, the nomination and the White House. It's a fight we're going to win -- and I'm asking you to help.

I'm challenging you to help us raise $1.8 million between now and January 26, the day of the South Carolina primary. Your support today allows John to keep fighting for the kind of America that all of us believe in.

I've no idea how much good $1.8 million will do him, although it sounds like a lot of money. But Edwards' money problems are not just on the fundraising side of the equation.

Because he's taking federal matching funds, he can only spend up to $50 million total for the primary, which sounds like a lot until you realize that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton can pour on pretty much whatever they can raise - conventional wisdom says this tops out out $100 million or so.

Even if Edwards can keep it close through January, that kind of disadvantage has got to hurt when it comes to the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries. There's no way the man himself can be in all 20-plus states at once, so to win elsewhere he's got to get on the air in some places.

Most of you will read this post the morning after the debate among gubernatorial candidates. There will certainly be lots of accounts out there.

First off, UNC-TV did well by us scruffy media types hosting the thing, providing wireless access in the building and all that. So thanks to them.

This post will cover the GOP candidates, who went first Thursday night.

The Republicans - former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham, and state Sen. Fred Smith - recycled a lot of their material from prior debates. I think there were a few new wrinkles here and there, but the bulk of what came up in their portion of the program I'd heard before.

I did find one part of the debate pretty interesting. The candidates were asked about immigration policy. Smith and Graham were pretty hard-line. Each gave a nod to the whole "nations of immigrants" concept, but their answers had more to do with law and order.

Orr also said that immigration laws needed to be enforced. But he was the only one to say that a lot of our state's businesses were using illegal labor and that their needs had to be taken into account.

Quotes and audio:

• * Smith: "We're a nation that needs to protect our borders... We've got a governor and president of the community college system that's picking and choosing which laws they want to enforce." Click here to listen to his full remarks.

• * Graham: "We have hundreds of thousands of illegals in our state. It's putting pressure on hospitals, it's putting pressure on schools, it's putting pressure on our infrastructure. We are a nation of laws and when people come to America they come here and expect we obey the rule of law...we have to insist they obey the rules."
  Click here to listen to his full remarks.

• * Orr: "The reality is that many of our large farmers, both in the east and tree farmers, Christmas tree farmers in the west, construction industries are using illegal immigrants in their workforce ... We've got to work on improving those programs that provide for legal immigrants to come to the United States to work."
  Click here to listen to his full remarks.

Yes, there was some substance to the Democratic side of the UNC-TV debate Thursday night. As it turns out, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore agree on many key issues.

What people will be talking about are the barbs that Perdue and Moore were lobbing at one another. This debate got a little rough and tumble.

Now, here's the thing. Not a lot of these barbs are new. The two Democrats' campaign teams have been slinging this stuff for months now.

What happened Thursday night is that Perdue and Moore took ownership of all the mud that's been slung. No longer is it just a faceless press release or a campaign operative making the accusations, it's the candidates themselves. If there was any doubt, they own all of this lock, stock and barrel now.

Because of the debate format, the initial punch and reaction aren't side-by-side in the tape. What I've done is taken the relevant smack and come back and put them next to each other on the audio. (I'm think you'll be able to tell which is Perdue and which is Moore:

• * In this clip, Perdue criticizes Moore for his involvement, or lack thereof in the Randy Parton Theater deal in Roanoke Rapids. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here.

• * In this clip, Perdue introduces her college promises plan. Moore then jumps on that, saying the tuition affordability plan only offsets tuition increases Perdue helped create. Perdue responds that Moore is ill informed.

• *In this clip, Perdue suggests Moore has more in common with Wall Street players than North Carolinians. Moore comes back to remind Perdue she's not the Democrat born and raised in North Carolina.

Click here for the print version of my debate story.

Audio of Republicans here and Democrats here.

The fun and games for the Democrats didn't stop when the debate was over. Perdue and Moore kept right on swinging, rhetorically speaking, although they did shake hands.

• * Perdue was asked after the debate whether she thought her jab about the Parton theater was fair. "Yeah, I think it's fair. We're in a race for whose going to lead this state next time, and the people of NC want to know the facts about what's going on and what decisions are being made."

• * Richard Moore took issue with Public Policy Polling's latest survey that showed Perdue opening up a double-digit lead in the primary.

  "That polling outfit, I really don't think you guys should even be carrying it. A good poll does not use a computer," Moore said. He also noted that PPP's former chief pollster now works for the Perdue campaign.

• * "I just think it's very unfortunate that the Lt. Gov. doesn't want to debate me on the largest tv station in North Carolina...I'm a little frustrated she doesn't want to participate in the Democratic process," Moore said.
  Perdue was asked about this.
  "I am debating myself to death right now ... I'm tickled to death to do this one," Perdue said. She noted there were other forums, including two more by WUNC and one with the NAACP coming up.

Of note on the Republican side:

• * The GOP candidates stuck mainly to policy and to the questions they were asked. I don't know if this is some sort of commitment to civility play or whether they hadn't figured out how to go on the attack with only 90 seconds per question.

• * Sen. Fred Smith's hair was not so much the preternatural shade of black that we scruffy media types had grown accustom to. This is completely superficial, but the more natural grey-brown he sported Thursday night suited him.

• * All three GOP candidates said taxes were too high, roads were too congested and water was too scarce. And all said they would lower taxes and pave more roads. None of the three was so clear on what to do about the water thing, except that growth needs to be controlled.

Finally, the next UNC-TV debate is on Feb. 7 and will focus on health care. If you might want to watch with larger group and give your thoughts afterward, drop me a line at mark.binker@news-record.com.

The Charlotte paper says Mayor Pat McCrory is coming to Jamestown on Tuesday.

Scott Mooneyham says it's awful late for McCrory to be getting in the game.

I don't disagree with Mooneyham entirely, but I think the dynamics of a four way race give McCrory a fallback position. With four credible candidates in the race, they would all probably be playing first to make a run-off election. Avoiding a runoff off would be a bonus.

In North Carolina, you have to win 40 percent of the primary vote to avoid a primary election runoff. If McCrory steps into the race, that's a hard number for any of the candidates to get to.

Between name recognition and a geographic base, McCrory should have enough votes for a top-two finish. At that point the Democratic nominee will almost certainly be chosen. So Republican voters will then get to choose which of their remaining candidates match up best with whoever the Democrats have. My guess is that's an election where McCrory would excel. The question for him is whether he could win over the hard-core Republicans who are more likely to vote in such an affair.

If you belive in polls PPP says McCrory is ahead among GOP contenders for governor. However, there is a big caveat for McCrory:

What's interesting about McCrory's rise is that he still hasn't gained any support outside his base. His increase is attributable to rising support in the Charlotte area. Last month his standing in his home region was 44%. Now it's up to 57%. He's received an amazing amount of media coverage locally as he's contemplated the campaign and that attention is improving his numbers.

This is John Edwards' latest ad in South Carolina.

Here's what our friends at the Associated Press had to say about it:

SCRIPT: John Edwards: "I'm John Edwards and I approve this message. I'm not running for president because I read something in a book. I'm not running for president because some political consultant told me what I'm supposed to say. I'm running for president because of 54 years of my life I have believed to my soul that the men and women who worked in that mill with my father were worth every bit as much as the man that owned that mill."

KEY IMAGES: A brief opening photo of Edwards during his approval note at the outset. Most of the rest of the ad is footage and audio of Edwards during a speech, with cutaway shots of the crowd listening and then cheering at the end. The ad briefly cuts away from the speech footage to show a snippet of Edwards standing outside his childhood home in Seneca, S.C., with his parents, with text underneath that reads, "John and his parents."

ANALYSIS: The ad continues the former North Carolina senator's populist campaign theme of trying to improve the lives of ordinary people and of speaking to the working class. In South Carolina, where Edwards won the primary in 2004 and which is seen as critical to his campaign this year, the textile industry has lost thousands of jobs. The ad also appears to reach out to black voters: Nearly every crowd shot has black people listening to or cheering for the speech. Blacks comprised nearly half the Democratic primary vote in South Carolina in 2004 and candidates are courting them heavily again this year.

State Treasurer and Democratic candidate for governor Richard Moore is going to put a 2 minute ad on during the Sunday morning political chat shows. His campaign gave reporters a preview although not a copy today. Here's the text:

I'm Richard Moore. Soon we'll be choosing a new governor, and I want you to know why I'm running and how I'll manage our state.

As state treasurer, I've been directly accountable to more than 700,000 public employees — teachers, police officers, you name it. They know what kind of results I've delivered, protecting their retirement and building one of the nation's strongest pension funds and making real reforms that allowed our state to invest millions more in education and health care. As governor, I will bring this same accountability to all of state government.

Look, we all agree what the big issues are: health care, schools, and creating good jobs. The big difference will be how our next governor approaches those challenges. The answer is not just spending more money and making more promises. It's about making better decisions, addressing our challenges head on and delivering results.

My top education priority will be to cut the High School dropout rate in half by teaching real job skills and holding our schools accountable. We will build schools faster and smarter with my school construction plan, saving millions to invest in quality teachers and reduced class size.

We will make sure every single child in North Carolina has health insurance, no excuses. We will improve the quality of health care by reducing waste and medical errors.

And we will build roads where they're needed, not where political insiders want them. It's time to end the slush funds and stop making transportation decisions behind closed doors based on special interests.

State government ought to spend less time studying problems and more time solving them. We need to stop pointing fingers and start pointing North Carolina in a new direction.

To do that, requires a governor willing to make tough decisions, a governor willing to take a different approach. Starting day 1, that's what I'll do.

Two minutes is a loooooong time for a campaign ad, which is why you're only going to see this one air Sunday morning. Reduxed 30-second versions will begin airing Monday.

Moore's campaign said they will spend about $200,000 a week on ads.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Moore's chief rival for the Democratic nomination, is scheduled to go on the air Monday but her campaign has refused to preview or release copies of the ad.

Update: Click here for Saturday's story.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

State Sen. Kay Hagan announced she had raised $561,836 in the last three months of 2007 for her U.S. Senate campaign. Really, that's the last two months of 2007, since she officially launched her campaign and filed paperwork on Oct. 30.

Her chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal did not release numbers today, saying "I know we had a good quarter but we could have done better." He forecasted that the first three months of this year would be “very big.”

Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole raised $1.1 million in the final three quarters of 2007, her campaign said. That would bring her total fundraising effort for the year to $4.8 million.

Conservative projections suggest the Democratic nominee will need to raise a total of $8 million to take on Dole, while others say the number could go as high as $12 million.

More on all this in Saturday's paper (I think).

Republican candidate for governor Bill Graham put out a call for a fetal homicide law in North Carolina today. (Click here for the news release.) The call was inspired, he said, largely by the case of a pregnant marine who went missing recently and was eventually found dead. The family of woman killed in another high profile case has called for such a law. Background from NCSL here.

One reason that people object to fetal homicide laws is that they fear it is a gateway to making abortion illegal. The logic goes that if you can be punished for killing an unborn child by killing the mother, that's not such a large leap from any situation in which a fetus is killed.

Graham says there can be "medical exceptions" drafted into the legislation that would avoid that debate.

North Carolina law says that if someone knowingly harms a pregnant woman in the commission of a crime and that leads to a stillbirth or miscarriage, the perpetrator can be prosecuted under a higher felony level - essentially the person can be punished more severely. But it is only an element of the same crime, not a separate charge.

Graham was already scheduled to stop by my office this morning so this was pretty much the first thing I asked him about. I have two bits of video for you. In part one, I asked him about the law and suggested he might get some push-back on it because of the abortion angle:

This was the answer to a follow up question I asked about fetal homicide laws being gateways to outright abortion bans:

So far, Graham's campaign has focused on economic issues: lowering taxes, building roads, lowering the high school dropout rate (yes, that's an economic issue). This is his first foray into the social policy arena and may win him some attention from more conservative Republicans who want to hear about that basket of issues in addition to taxes.

From the Democratic primary for governor, here are the first two ads out of the box.

Perdue's first ad:

Click here for more the text of Perdue's ad.

Moore's first ad:

Click here for more on Moore's ad.

Democratic Senate candidate Jim Neal put out the following on his fundraising for the third quarter of 2007:

"Our filing will show that as of December 31st we have raised more than $210,000. We are very proud of where we are. We are meeting our fundraising goals and we are building a strong grassroots campaign.

I'm most proud of the hundreds of small dollar contributors from across North Carolina supporting our grassroots campaign to defeat the special interests that control the political agenda, whether in Raleigh or Washington D.C.

Our movement will continue to grow and we will prove that North Carolina's citizens are more powerful than the special interests."

Previously, Hagan reported roughgly twice that fundraising number.

Margaret Arbuckle, who was mentioned as a possible contender for the state senate seat Kay Hagan is vacating, says she won't pursue it. Here's the statement she e-mailed this morning:

It has been very flattering and humbling for so many people from across the community and the state to urge me to run for the North Carolina Senate seat vacated by Kay Hagan as she is running for the U.S. Senate.

My name was first mentioned upon Mrs. Hagan’s announcement and since that time I have given much thought to whether it was the time in my personal and professional life to step forward as a candidate. It has been a very difficult decision but I have decided not to run at this time.

The work I am doing with Guilford Education Alliance to build community support for a stronger education system is not completed. It is critical that we work together to meet the needs of all of our students to be productive in our 21st Century economy. We must work together as parents and students, civic organizations, business leaders and elected officials to make opportunity for everyone. I am committed to focusing my energy on this goal at this time.

I look forward to this important work in our county community and invite others to join with us in making education the top priority of all citizens!

So far, Don Vaughan has the Democratic primary field all to himself.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory made his campaign official today after a month of doing his best Hamlet imitation: To be, or not to be, a Republican candidate for governor.

Alas, poor Yorik, his opening lines got stepped on by a passing train rolling through Jamestown.

"We knew the train was coming sooner or later," McCrory said.

Same could be said of all the speculation surrounding his campaign for the past two months.

I've been talking to various Republican officials for a story in tomorrow's paper. Most are convinced that a run-off is now inevitable, since the four front-running candidates now in the race are credible and will be slicing up the same 1 million or so voter pie. No one candidate, at this point, looks capable of pulling off 40 percent of the vote in the first go around which means a June 24 second primary would be in store.

Kay Hagan was scheduled to speak to a town hall meeting of Guilford County Democrats tonight. In fact, I find myself in Greensboro to attend and therefore find myself a bit disappointed. From the party via e-mail:

Due to adverse weather conditions, tonight's Town Hall Meeting with N.C. Senator Kay Hagan has been postponed. The meeting will be rescheduled within the next few weeks.

Hagan is running for U.S. Senate and is in a pretty good primary battle with Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal.

You can add another to the roster of candidates hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole this year.

Howard Staley, a podiatrist who practices in Sanford, sent word by way of a news release that he intends to run as a Democrat. You can click her for his FEC info.

State Sen. Kay Hagan and Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal are the front runners in the race. Also declared are John Ross Hendrix of Cary and Duskin Lassiter of Lexington.

In his news release, Staley writes:

"Instead of this Nation bolstering corporate profit, we need to be concerned with the genuine needs of American people," Staley said today. "We need to encourage pride in a United States of America that rewards its citizens with a guarantee of their basic needs - specifically good jobs, affordable housing, unadulterated food and water, and worriless healthcare."

I'm writing a story for this weekends papers (tentatively scheduled for Saturday but these things change) about how the leading candidates would deal with the state's current water shortage and what they would do to plan for the future.

(Update: I told you these things change. The water story is now slated for Sunday. Update2: And they change again. The story is now slated for Monday.)

Why am I writing this story? Other than it's a pretty timely topic - despite the snow and rain that's been falling this week - it's a question that was on the mind of Vivian Robinson of Jamestown. She wrote:

I would like to hear what all the candidates have to say on our exceptional drought problem and what they would do to help in the future.

Ask a question, get an answer. Pretty sweet, no?

Well, if you have a question for one of the candidates for governor, drop me a line by way of the comments link below or e-mail me at mark.binker@news-record.com. No, I can't promise I'll turn every question I get into a story, but I'll try to get to all the serious-mind policy queries I can.

In this story for Monday's paper, the front-running candidates who are in the Republican or Democratic for governor offer up what they would do to combat the drought.

Now it's your turn. Did any of the candidates slake your thirst for an answer? Or did you want to hear more from those who would lead the state?

I was listening in on a conference call with Presidential candidate John Edwards this morning. I'll be hitting the road in a few hours to check out how he's doing in South Carolina.

Edwards seemed buoyed by last night's debate. A lot of the pundit class said he did well and some focus groups among independent voters showed they liked Edwards' message more than Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

"There was a lot of squabbling in last night's debate," Edwards said. "I'm John Edwards and I represent the grown up win of the Democratic Party."

That said, Edwards is still running #3 in what is pretty much a three-person race. So is worried about running out of money?

"Money is not and will not be the issue," Edwards said. Rather, he said, the hard part was breaking through on television, newspapers and other free media. "The key for his is for me to be heard."

When asked when he might, you know, win a primary, Edwards got his fur up a bit.

"You want to talk about strategy, I'm not a political strategist," he told the questioner.

As for substance, the news bullet from the call was Edwards saying that Congress should not cooperate with President Bush on crafting an economic stimulus packages. The president's proposed tax cuts, he said, were the wrong way to go and Congress should resist.

"They ought to send him the right kind of stimulus package and then dare him to veto it," he said.

That's it for now. I'll check in from the road as time (and bandwidth) allow.

A story and blog entry from my first day in South Carolina on the presidential campaign trail.

Listen to Edwards' stump speech, click here to watch a short video from the trail, or just catch up on the stump.

More to come.

The Edwards campaign put out a call to supporter to help fund a new ad due to go on the air here in South Carolina.

What's interesting to me about the ad - other than its movie preview motif - is how the fundraising for it is being phrased.

"We're going to win delegates for John Edwards this Saturday in South Carolina -- and that's why we're expanding our boots on the ground efforts over the next two days," writes Jonathan Prince, a deputy campaign manager for the campaign.

You notice that? They're going to "win delegates," not just "win."

Edwards has been relentlessly upbeat about his prospects on Saturday, but that phrasing is a bit of a hedge, and maybe a nod to the reality that polling shows it's highly unlikely Edwards is going to take home a victory.

Here's the ad:

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards has accused Sens. Obama and Clinton of cribbing some of his policies. I've been doing some reading, and he's beginning to sway me on that point.

But it struck me as I followed him on the campaign trail that Edward had cribbed at least a line or two from his Democratic primary opponents.

"This is personal for me," Edwards said of his run for the White House and a anti-poverty work. "It is very, very personal."

Those phrases were prefaces to him criticizing the two other candidates for their focus on personal attacks rather than issues.

It echoed, to me anyway, Hillary Clinton's famous line in New Hampshire, without all the tears of course.

However, in reading up on this line, I found Edwards laying claim to it earlier on in the campaign. Even if that's right, has the line become a bit tainted? Heck, I follow this stuff for a living and possibly went the wrong direction with it. What does the average voter think?

Later in the same visit to a South Carolina diner, in the same stream of thought, in fact, Edwards called for Obama and Clinton to get past the back-and-forth.

"We need to move past that kind of politics, past these personal attacks," he said.

That, to me, smacked of Obama's earlier calls to form bipartisan coalitions, hold hands and get past politics as usual - what CNN called his post-partisan message.

Of course, since Obama has been busy blasting Clinton (and visa versa) it seems like he might have abandoned that line for the moment.

You ever wonder what a presidential candidate looks like amidst a throng of supporters? Like this:

We were here:

...when we scruffy press types climbed up on top of a fire truck:

...in order to shoot a picture of this:

Hollywood Actor Danny Glover has been spending a lot of time in South Carolina campaigning for John Edwards. Do you think Edwards knows what a shady character he's hanging out with? From the Associated Press:

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) - Danny Glover has been convicted in Niagara Falls, Ontario, for trespassing in a hotel during a union rally in 2006.

Glover, who wasn't in court, was convicted Thursday along with UNITE HERE union representative Alex Dagg and Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson.

Canadian Niagara Hotels charged the three with trespassing at their Sheraton on the Falls property during a Sept. 16, 2006, protest.

The 60-year-old actor took part in the protest as part of a larger campaign that aims to increase salaries and improve working conditions for hotel workers in the U.S. and Canada.

Sentencing is scheduled Feb. 8.

Update: Click here for Friday's story from South Carolina.

As of 8 p.m. tonight, the lede of the lead story on the New York Times website features none other than former NC Sen. John Edwards.

The very nice lady who brought me my dinner tonight didn't understand why I was laughing at my PDA tonight - truth be told she looked like more of a VH1 viewer than a CNN junkie. But you, dear reader, may actually get the joke.

The Edwards campaign has been railing all this week against "the media," specifically the national media. Consider this from a campaign appearance in Greenville, SC this morning, where Edwards talked about the advantages that his rivals in the Democratic primary enjoyed:

"They may have all the money, they may have the media, but I have you," Edwards said.

Earlier, local lawyer Carlyle Steele warmed up the breakfast crowd by offering up an oratory that was somewhere between Atticus Finch and Matlock.

"The Yankee pundits can say all they want, but the native South Carolinians are going to come swarming to the polls tomorrow and they're going to put John Edwards where he belongs, in first place," Steele said.

Now, for you folks reading this up North, "Yankee" is a term used down 'round these parts with in a self-conscious way, part inside joke among southerners while at the same time still delineating an "us" and "them." However, the term doesn't just mean someone from up north, it means "Someone from up north who acts the fool when they talk about us southerners."

In the eyes of Edwards supporters, the national media has been acting quite the fool in counting their man out. One gets the feeling that a few of them might have voted for Edwards just to mess with Chris Matthews and crew, never mind the fact they like the guy.

From the campaign trail this week: Click here to listen an audio clips that features John Edwards, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Congressman Ben "Cooter" Jones, Greenville lawyer Carlyle Steele, Madeleine Stowe, random campaign supporters and more Edwards.

Update: Click here for Saturday's newspaper story.

South Carolina is the first and only southern state in the early primary group for Democrats. (Delegates from Florida's Tuesday primary will not county because the state jumped in front of the Feb. 5 date set by the national party.)

Pollsters predict Obama will place first, with Clinton #2 and Edwards trailing third. Of course, there are a fair number of undecideds out there. (True story: this is the first election where I've met a lot of a undecided voters in a while.) They could really create some surprises tonight.

I'll see you back here this evening.

I've hit a few polling places here in Columbia, trying to gauge how things are going. Universally, it seems like pretty steady turnout. I don't know if I'm just picking all the right places, but even in presidential election years you can find pretty slow traffic at some Greensboro-area polling precincts. Not here, at least not today.

Edwards did one public meet and greet today at Greenwood Park. He wandered into the polling station, shook a few hands, answered some questions shouted out by reporters.

The one that got a laugh (seen below) was a reporter that reminded Edwards that his campaign had complained that "the media" was ignoring him. At today's stop, he was pretty much mobbed by camera crews.

"It'd be hard for me to complain about that," Edwards laughed.

After walking about some neighborhoods, I headed downtown to the state Capitol, where apparently it is something of a tradition for supporters of various candidates to occupy some sidewalk space and yell at passing cars and each others. Take a listen:

While I was down there, I ran into Rep. Pricey Harrison, of Greensboro, and Felita Donnell, also of Greensboro. The Edwards folks had set up shop away from the more boisterous Obama and Clinton crews.

"We're above the fray," joked Donnell, who was helping to prop up a massive campaign sign.

I'll be writing from Edwards' campaign celebration here in downtown Columbia tonight for Sunday's paper. If I have a chance, I'll update here. If not, I'll see you back in the Tar Heel State next week.

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards placed third in the South Carolina primaries but vowed to press on. Click here for the early version of my story from last night.

I'll have some more thoughts and notes from my trip south on Monday. Until then, the comment lines are open. (Any burning presidential primary questions out there?)

Two of the three Democrats running for governor have offered up their own health care proposals. Here are summaries and links to their online versions:

Richard Moore

Treasurer Richard Moore makes three broad proposals on health care by way of his web site: establishing a high risk pool to help cover the uninsured, offer health insurance to every child in the state and make health insurance more affordable for small businesses.

More on his plans for covering children can be found in this PDF.

Moore has also offered a plan to reduce preventable medical errors. In essence, he would stop state payments to hospitals for the treatment associated with preventable medical errors. In other words, if the hospital screws up, it has to pay the cost of getting the patient better.

Bev Perdue

Perdue, the sitting lieutenant governor, says on her web site that her goal is "to make North Carolina the healthiest state in America. While progress has been made, much more remains to be done - particularly in making insurance more affordable and accessible to North Carolina's families and small businesses."

Her detailed plan includes universal coverage for children, helping small businesses buy health insurance for their employees and increasing the amount of preventive care available. (Click here for a PDF.)

Dennis Nielsen

Nielsen is a long-shot candidate for governor. His website does not mention health or healthcare.

Each of the four Republicans running for governor have offered up their own health care proposals. Here are summaries and links to their online versions:

Bill Graham

The Salisburry lawyer writes on his web site:

WE must develop a market-based, consumer-driven reform plan that makes health insurance more affordable. As governor, I would institute a community risk pool for all uninsured North Carolinians. By doing so, WE can spread the risk among a large population and be able to offer affordable private health plans to our citizens, much like a large company would do for its employees. Similar pools already exist in other states on a smaller level. WE can do this for the uninsured citizens of North Carolina. As governor, I can broker affordable and accessible health care plans with private insurers who do business in our state by leveraging the combined bargaining power of our citizens and state government.

Pat McCrory

McCrory, the Charlotte mayor who just entered the race in January, does not mention health care on the issues page of his web site, but in a statement to WRAL in advance of an earlier debate, McCrory did write that he would liketo "ensure that every North Carolina resident has easy access to quality, affordable health care."

Bob Orr

The former Supreme Court justice writes on his web site: "We must work in concert with the private sector and our world class academic institutions to implement policies that maximize North Carolina's competitive advantages in providing quality care and driving growth and innovation in the medical field. Over the next two decades, we must revitalize our health care system, expand preventive care, and adopt a market-based approach to health insurance."

Fred Smith

The state senator writes on his web site that there are five things the state ought to do, including: "Use Health Savings Accounts to make healthcare consumer-driven. HSAs allow for more flexibility, individual control, tax savings, and future medical savings. Businesses are also using them with increasing effectiveness to cut costs," and "Reform medical liability laws. North Carolina's leading doctors should help shape those laws - not trial lawyers - so that good doctors can quit practicing defensive medicine."

Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards ended his 2008 presidential bid today. After writing on and off (mostly off) a about his campaign over the past 15 months (yeah, he was running before he was running) I have some a few thoughts to share.

• * As many folks liked the guy and wanted to see him do well, there was a sizeable population of folks who just could not stand the guy. The one way to almost guarantee that I would have someone cursing on my voice mail in the morning has been to write an Edwards story. I'm thinking that this antipathy is left over from his time when he was a U.S. Senator and not regarded as paying very much attention to the state.

• * One of the more curious phenomena of the past four months has been the folks demanding loudly that Edwards should drop out of the race. They have, by and large, been Republicans.

  I would have thought that it would have been Obama or Clinton supporters who would want Edwards to stop sucking votes from their candidate. Instead, it has been Republicans, who I would have thought would want Edwards to throw as many wrenches in the Democrat's nominating process as possible, who have been most insistent on the topic.

• * After talking to lots of Democrats here in North Carolina and last week in South Carolina, Edwards has seemed more and more like the little brother of the presidential race, his claims to represent the grown up wing of the Democratic Party notwithstanding.

  What I mean is that Clinton and Obama supporters were just as likely to say something nice about Edwards as they were about the candidate they were supporting. Yes, there were a few who slagged him, but overall he seemed like an acceptable alternative.

  Meanwhile, if someone was committed to Clinton or Obama, they were unlikely to say something nice about the other.

• * Edwards supporters I talked to today and over the past month find themselves more philosophically aligned with Obama. Some think Clinton would exasperate the angry back-biting that has come to characterize Washington politics while others just don't think she's carried the torch for the working poor well enough.

  This, I think, makes the question of who Edwards endorses moot. His supporters are going to go where they're going to go.

• * A lot of the political pundit class think it's unlikely that Edwards would serve another go round as the vice presidential nominee. I have no basis for an informed opinion on what Edwards might or might not do, but flip the question around. Who else, other than Edwards, is there to fill the slot.

  I have to think there are some portion of national Democrats who would see the Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama ticket as a bit too radical. So if it's not going to be the number 2 finisher, do you go to someone like Bill Richardson, an also-ran with a long resume and experience in Washington? Do you pull what the first George Bush did and pluck someone from out of the blue? Find a nice southern governor somewhere (paging Gov. Mike Easley)? What?

  Given the other options, maybe a second go-round as a veep candidate isn't all that much out of the question.

Alright, enough of my blithering. For those who missed it, here's the full text of Edwards' remarks form New Orleans today, as rendered by the campaign:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Like Daniel Day-Lewis trudging through the oil-soaked fields of early 20th century California, there's one thing you know when Sen. Fred Smith rides into town:

There will be barbecue.

An announcement from the Republican's campaign:

State Senator Fred Smith will be in Guilford County on Feb 5th - continuing on his statewide - BBQ tour.

[snip]

6:30-8:30 p.m. Extra Effort Tour - Guilford South BBQ, High Point Central High School, High Point, NC

Where as Republican candidate Fred Smith brings 'cue and slaw on the campaign stump, former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr brings is due to bring his own brand of cerebral campaigning to bear locally this week:

Retired North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a 2008 Republican gubernatorial candidate, will visit with students, faculty and staff at Elon University School of Law from 5:30-7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31. The event will take place in room 207 of the law school, located at 201 North Greene Street in downtown Greensboro. Orr¹s visit is sponsored by Elon Law Republicans.

Orr was appointed to the N.C. Court of Appeals in 1986 and served until his election to the N.C. Supreme Court in 1994. He was reelected in 2002 and retired in 2004 to lead the newly formed N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law.

UNC TV will air a debate among the candidates for governor - Republicans and Democrats - Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10 p.m. For more, info on the UNC debates click here.

This is one of three UNC is doing and this next one will concern healthcare and health policy. The candidates all have their own ideas for what needs to be done in the healthcare arena. (Click here for links to the Democrats' proposals. And click here for links to the Republicans'.)

I was interested in what you readers thought ought to be on their agenda. Earlier this week, we sent out a message via our Reader Advisory Network asking what the candidates should be tackling.

To get the discussion started here, I thought I'd share some of those comments.

The best way to "fix" health care, in my opinion, is to make medical care providers compete: disclose prices of procedures so that people can shop around. As it is, health care providers simply send us a bill and expect us to pay it no matter how outrageous. We also need to have more people buying their own health insurance, instead of relying on employer health insurance. Rather than having employers paying for health insurance, give employees the amount that would be paid on their behalf and let them shop around to buy the plan that best fits their needs (why should a single male pay for maternity care as part of his employer's "one size fits all" health plan). - Paul Daniels

-=-

The State needs a universal healthcare plan that could cover all uninsured persons in the state. I propose lumping all uninisured persons into a giant group and having the insurance companies bid on it. Low bid with the most coverage gets the business. Those who can pay the premium can pay it. These would be small business owners or employees of companies who do not now offer health plans. The company could contribut if it so chose. The State could and should help fund those who cannot pay themselves due to lack of sufficient income. - Charles Hook

-=-

Any firefighter would tell you it is less costly and certainly less risky to prevent fires than to extinguish them once ablaze. Likewise, any sensible healthcare policy would include strategies and provisions dedicated to prevention and early detection of disease. Practical policy prescriptions would include subsidized or free pre-natal care and well-baby visits, free if not mandatory screening for common cancers, and other preventative measures for the uninsured. The key is to reduce the number of times uninsured people use emergency rooms as doctors' offices. - Robert Goldberg

-=-

In response to your question, the next Gov should define what is meant by "quality health care." Once done, it should be made affordable to all citizens. How? Begin with health care savings accounts....pre-tax savings accounts invested in approved accounts, or allow a portion of 401k's to go towards health expenses tax free. - Stephen Jones

-=-

I think behavioral health is getting too big a slice of the pie, while our elderly keep getting their services tightened.Many young people on public assistance have learned to play the game: working just enough to qualify for housing and child care assistance but not working enough to get off assistance. The middle class has to shoulder too much of the tax burden.soon now the camel's back will break. - Sandy Thomas

-=-

I think one of the critical issues with health care is the fact that some seniors on a limited fixed income just don't have the money to purchase prescription drugs that are necessary for the health and safety. The cost of priscription drugs for seniors should be a number one priority for all of the future governors. - Paul E Sams

-=-

I think than all the talk about heath Care is just a mask for bigger government, either in increasing taxes or gain more control over people's lives.
You are to young to remember the days when almost NO ONE had health insurance. Health insurance became a perk for those being sought after to join a company, now it has morphed into a right. This is socialist creep that has taken away our liberties and changed capitalism into a thoughtful memory of the past. - Marcus Kindley

-=-

If someone saw the movie "Sicko" and they did not leave the theatre ticked off about the state of health care in this country, then that individual is either an executive with a health care company or they are in a coma. Everyone should be covered, period, no exceptions. For those that say that they do not want "Canadian" health care, I have family members with relatives in Canada. I do not hear horror stories from my Canadian relatives about problems with their health care system. If you have an emergency, you get treated. If it's not an emergency, you take your place in line, but you don't have to spend hours in an emergency room for a runny nose because you do not have health insurance. We have the greatest country in the world, but if you are poor, you cannot go to see a doctor? - Jim Galler

Now it's your turn. Just click on the comment link below to join the conversation. In the mean time, I'll be working on rounding up links to all the candidate's various health care proposals.

A few months back, Lt. Gov. Perdue accused State Treasure Richard Moore of using state resources, namely computers and internet, for his campaign for governor. At around the same time, Moore accused the Perdue of the same. Both Moore and Perdue are democrats and both want to be the one to replace Gov. Mike Easley. Who's going to win this little spat? I'll give you a hint: it's not a Democrat.

Click here for the history of this particular tit-for-tat.

So both campaigns call on the state auditor, Republican Les Merritt, to settle this political squabble about political squabbling. (State Democrats, by the way, have accused Merritt of his own political surfing at work.)

Merritt has come back today with reports on both Moore's and Perdue's activities. The conclusions:

The National Beer Wholesalers Association has been doing this online poll of which presidential candidate voters would rather have a beer with. The North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers held a similar event here in Raleigh Wednesday night down at the Flying Saucer.

I'm not sure that the event served any purpose other than to promote the beer drinking culture and show us scruffy media types that politics didn't have to be all up tight.

As for who won the caucus, who knows?

"I don't wnat to give it way, but the front runners are Ron Paul and Harrison Ford," said Dean Plunkett, executive director of the group.

Personally, I cast my ballot for Paul O'Connor, the curmudgeonly columnist for the Winston-Salem Journal. (And yes, boss, I paid for all my own beer.) Other votes were cast for Harry Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, Steven Colbert and "Dennis Kucinich's hot red-headed wife." I'm thinking there were some college students in the crowd based on that last one.

If there is a serious point to be had here, it's that how "likeable" a candidate is plays some role in whether they get elected. Supposedly this was a factor at work in 2004 when the more home-spun Bush was the candidate folks most would have liked to have a beer with. (I'm figuring you would have poured some Pinot Grigio at Kerry's pad anyway.)

Do I think this is going to decide either nomination? Absolutely not. If fact, I think the better question is which candidate would you least want to have beer with? My guess is that a lot of middle ground voters are going to be pushed away from a candidate this spring rather than drawn to one on Feb. 5 and beyond.

I've met a lot of Democrats who think that Obama or Clinton is an untenable choice, and are voting with the other one because of that - not because they are particularly enthused about their candidate. And I think there is a lot of that same feeling at play among Republicans, who see some fatal flaw in either McCain, Romney or Huckabee and will go in some other direction because of that.