News-Record.com

John McCain wanted a running mate who would create buzz, and got her.

Sarah Palin is in the headlines again today, for an unexpected reason: She and her husband announced their 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant.

One reason for the disclosure now is truly bizarre. The Daily Kos, a popular-with-lefties blog, did a National Enquirer turn Saturday claiming that the Palins' infant son is really Bristol's baby, and that Sarah is covering up for her daughter.

Uh, oh. Apologies to the National Enquirer for the slur.

Well, the truth is interesting enough. An unwed teen mom-to-be in a veep candidate's family must be a first. A conservative Republican candidate, at that. One who, as governor, supports abstinence-until-marriage education for teenagers.

Someone didn't listen to mom.

Then again, when do teenagers listen to mom?

The Palin parents say Bristol is going to marry the father, they're proud of her decision to have her baby (they're anti-abortion, as the whole country knows), and they're proud of becoming grandparents. Beyond that, they're not saying anything except to ask for privacy.

That's not going to fly. The media aren't going to quit this story until they at least find out who the father is. The Palins might not feel entitled to reveal his identity yet, but it's going to come out sooner or later. The sooner it does, the less the media will have to dig for it.

OK, is this an issue? If so, how does it play?

Republicans can spin it favorably. Sarah Palin is standing by her daughter. This is a close, supportive, loving family. It is demonstrably pro-life: first with her decision to carry to term a Down syndrome baby, now with the affirmation of her teen daughter's pregnancy.

Democrats can spin it negatively. Was Palin paying attention to her daughter? Was she too busy with other priorities to notice? Does she really put family first?

I'd say that's risky for Democrats. After all, Americans aren't totally unfamiliar with circumstances like these. Look at the statistics. A lot of babies are born to unwed teenagers in this country. Faulting Palin will, by association, cast aspersions on all the other American women who've had out-of-wedlock children or whose daughters or granddaughters have.

The question is being asked: Did McCain know? I'm not sure there's been a straight answer yet.

But what if he did? Should he have disqualified Palin on account of her daughter's condition? I think it would have looked worse, politically, if it came out that he passed her over for that reason. John McCain, we should understand, is not a puritan.

One outcome of this revelation should be to spark more discussion about the issue of teen pregnancy. Yeah, it seems like it's been talked to death. Maybe that's why so many teens apparently tune out the yammering. Or they pay more attention to the cultural messages that tell them sexual activity is expected.

This also ought to warn off people who like to preach on the subject, declaring there's something wrong with your family values if this sort of thing happens. A couple of days ago, Sarah Palin seemed to represent ideal family values. Has that changed? Probably not.

So, what's next? I bet the buzz will continue.

Davidson College grad, artist, Navy SEAL, American hero.

Lexington native Joshua Thomas Harris, 36, dies in Afghanistan.

The Lexington Dispatch reports.

The caliber of our men and women in uniform is amazing. This is a tragic loss.

"A state-funded investigation of Scotland High Schools alleges that at least 115 students were removed from the rolls of end-of-course classes and put into non-existent classes to improve test scores," the Fayetteville Observer reported Saturday.

"Dr. Shirley Prince, superintendent of Scotland County schools, denied the allegations, saying the investigation was biased and full of deliberate omissions and inaccuracies. ...

"The investigation said Prince told principals on Feb. 1 that students who were not likely to be successful in the EOC classes could be 'recoded' out within the first 10 days of the semester.
Students were then placed into classes that did not exist, the report said."

Prince will respond to the charges and make her case to state Supertindent June Atkinson this week, the Observer reported. Maybe there's a good explanation.

Prince was one of two finalists for the Guilford County superintendent's job, which Maurice Green won.

However she fares with the bureaucrats in Raleigh, it's just as well that Prince isn't dragging this controversy to Greensboro.

Shades of the Duke lacrosse case:

In a strongly written opinion issued today, the N.C. Court of Appeals overturns the conviction of a Durham man because of willful, negligent and prejudical errors by the Durham District Attorney's Office.

Frankie Delano Washington isn't a rich, white college student but a 47-year-old black man and former crack user with a long history of trouble with the law. He was convicted in February 2007 of first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and attempted first-degree sex offense and sentenced to up to 74 years in prison.

And chances are he wasn't guilty.

Or so the opinion written by Judge Doug McCullough and joined by Judges John Tyson and Donna Stroud clearly implies.

Don't call these three liberal judges. McCullough is a former federal prosecutor. Tyson's probably the court's most conservative judge.

The mishandling of this case, though, should offend anyone who cares about justice. As a former prosecutor, McCullough might have particular reason to be offended.

The heart of this case is denial of a speedy trial. It took almost five years from the time of Washington's arrest until his trial. But the record also shows prosecutors ignored evidence that someone else committed the crimes that Washington was charged with.

The timeframe happens to encompass the entire tenure of deposed Durham DA Mike Nifong.

Which means that not only Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, but also Frankie Delano Washington, was Nifonged. In fact, Washington was really Nifonged. And until now, practically no one had heard of it.

The crime in question, a home invasion, took place in the early morning of May 30, 2002, in the Trinity Park neighborhood of Durham. The victims described the assailant as a young black man with light complexion, taller than 5-7, whose face was covered by a bandana.

After police were called, a search of the area began. Washington, who apparently had been smoking crack nearby, was picked up. Apart from being black, he didn't closely fit the description, but police brought two of the victims to an outdoor location, while it was still dark, and from 20 feet away asked them if Washington was the man who assaulted them. They said yes.

Later, police found articles of clothing apparently worn by the attacker and items taken during the robbery. It would take more than three years, despite several court orders urging it to act, before the DA's office would submit evidence to the SBI lab for analysis. When that work finally was done, it showed no link to Washington.

At trial, he was convicted on the basis of eyewitness identification and circumstantial evidence -- despite faulty memories of witnesses.

The appeals court found that Washington was denied his right to a speedy trial because of "repeated neglect and underutilization of court resources on the part of the Durham County District Attorney's Office." That was sufficient grounds to vacate his convictions.

But there was more. In the same Trinity Park neighborhood, in the months before and after Washington's arrest, a series of home invasions was taking place. They were similar in nature to the crime for which Washington was arrested. Eventually, a man named Lawrence Hawes was arrested and convicted for these crimes. Yet, Durham authorities never attempted to match the evidence from Washington's case -- which didn't implicate him, remember -- to Hawes.

The appeals court did not say it believes Hawes committed the crimes for which Washington was convicted. Instead, it said "we take judicial notice" of the circumstances. In courtspeak, that is saying police and prosecutors should have taken notice, too, and the fact that they didn't could have allowed an injustice to occur.

The Duke defendants were never tried because skillful defense attorneys destroyed Nifong's case before he could present it in court. They were lucky their parents could hire the best lawyers.

Washington was a nobody whose case never drew much media attention, if any. By the time he went to trial, the details had nearly faded from memory. When it comes to eyewitness identification, even fresh memories are often unreliable. Physical evidence needed to support conviction was lacking.

Fortunately, the Court of Appeals gave this case an honest examination and found it badly wanting. Denial of a speedy trial is not a technicality but a violation of constitutional rights, and in this instance for inexcusable reasons. The state did not meet its responsibilities, and it probably did not convict the right man.

My column today:

Americans are learning plenty about Sarah Palin’s family. The Republican vice presidential candidate gave up personal privacy when she accepted John McCain’s offer to join his ticket.

Her decision to carry to term a baby with Down syndrome rather than have an abortion, and now her unmarried teenage daughter’s pregnancy, are topics of conversation not only within the Palin household but in the national media and among millions of Americans. Her business is our business.

That just goes with the territory for someone who wants to become one of our nation’s top leaders.

Shift to a different territory, however, and the rules seem to change — probably for the better.

How much do North Carolinians know about the families of their top elected officials?

Very little. And, in this state at least, the public doesn’t seem to want to know more. ...

Ya gotta love Joe Lieberman.

Unless you're a Democrat. Then you might hate him.

You also might be plotting how to get even with him.

Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and 2000 Al Gore running mate -- seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? -- pitched for John McCain and declared Barack Obama not ready at the Republican convention last night.

Lieberman was re-elected to the Senate as an independent in 2006 after Connecticut Democrats dumped him in their primary. He was too hawkish and chummy with Republicans for their taste. He showed Dems he didn't need them -- in Connecticut, he's bigger than the party.

Last night, he told Republicans that he puts country ahead of party.

That kind of talk probably burned his last bridge with Democrats, with whom he still caucuses in the Senate.

Some of this is personal, too. McCain and Lieberman are great pals. I was convinced McCain would pick old Joe as his running mate and the two would live out the political version of "The Bucket List."

You know, the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman movie about two old guys with terminal illnesses who decide to have a helluva great time on their way out.

McCain-Lieberman would go down in flames, but they'd have a blast campaigning together.

Now, with McCain hitting the campaign trail with Sarah Palin, Lieberman has to return to the Senate, where he'll be due an unfriendly reception from Democrats.

Well, so what? Republicans and a whole lotta ordinary Americans just gotta love him.

Wake County's superintendent gets a 4 percent pay hike, raising his base salary to $273,000, The N&O reports..

The 136,000-student school system is the largest in North Carolina.

Del Burns, 55, has been with Wake schools for 32 years, starting in 1976 as an LD Resources teacher. He was the county's Principal of the Year in 1999 at Millbrook High School. In 2006, he was named superintendent.

That kind of homegrown leadership is rare in large school systems these days.

Guilford County is paying its new superintendent, Maurice Green, 41, a base salary of $250,000. The Guilford County system has about 71,000 students.

Sarah Palin laid it out early in her speech tonight when she defined the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull:

Lipstick.

The Republicans have themselves quite a woman here ...

A mother who promises to be an advocate for all of America's parents with special needs children ...

... and a high-heeled attack dog who might tear the pants leg off Joe Biden in a debate.

She had CNN's Wolf Blitzer so intimidated he immediately pronounced her address to the GOP convention a "home run."

She spoke fondly of her family, lauded her military son and nephew and all men and women in our armed forces, described her power-to-the-people style of governing Alaska and took a few shots at knocking the Democratic ticket down to size. Most emotional, though, was her tribute to John McCain's sacrifices in service to country.

Is the POW story overplayed? I don't know, but Palin played it very effectively.

Look, she still has a long way to go to convince a majority of voters she's ready to be president, if necessary. Something in her background still could trip her up, or she may stumble under the weight of a pressure-packed national campaign.

On the other hand, she showed tonight that she's made of firm fiber and isn't afraid of a challenge or a fight.

She also came across as someone Americans probably will like. I expect she'll draw a crowd everywhere she goes, and you couldn't say that about every No. 2 we've seen in presidential campaigns.

She just might help McCain, with or without lipstick.

Fibber Kay?

That's as bad as the ruby slippers.

A new TV ad by Elizabeth Dole brands opponent Kay Hagan a fibber, supposedly for distorting her Senate record.

They can disagree on the issues, but coming up with a term like that is demeaning.

True, Hagan's side started the negative attacks. And they began early on mocking Dole with the silly line of "give her her ruby slippers and send her back to Kansas." As if she was ever from Kansas.

A Dole spokesman said the Fibber Kay expression is a common refrain on the campaign trail. Doubtful. A Charlotte Observer-NewsChannel 36 poll released this week found 73 percent of respondents said they'd never heard of Hagan or had no opinion of her. She should address that by running positive ads about herself. She certainly hasn't been called dishonest during her 10 years in the state legislature.

Dole should go back to the positive formula as well. The sooner voters hear the last about Fibber Kay and ruby slippers, the better.

Thanks goodness the conventions are over and we can focus our attention on ...

... hurricanes.

It was exactly 12 years ago today, by the way, that Hurricane Fran slammed our coast, killing 24 people in North Carolina. Fortunately, Hanna isn't expected to match that.

I did not stay up to hear John McCain's speech last night, which I gather was not a hurricane-strength oration. I'm pleased he pledged to reach across partisan divisions -- which were widened by earlier speakers during the Republican convention. He'll have no choice if he's elected, though, because the Democrats will maintain solid control of Congress. But he'll have to sacrifice the support of his Republican base if he goes too far to accommodate Democrats.

Barack Obama also promises to unite Americans, but he's very unlikely to fulfill that pledge if he's president. His programs will appeal to Democrats, not Republicans. Why would Republicans, and the nearly 50 percent of Americans likely to vote Republican in the presidential race, want to unite behind an agenda they oppose? And, with the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to back his programs, why would Obama modify his agenda for the sake of bringing political opponents on board? It won't happen.

More thoughts about Sarah Palin and the idea that she can't possibly attract any Hillary Clinton supporters to the GOP ticket. Scoffers note that Palin and Clinton take opposite positions on the abortion issue and add it's insulting to suggest women voters will support Palin just because of gender.

The first concern assumes that all Hillary supporters were pro-choice, which I would doubt. Why couldn't some pro-life voters back Hillary for other reasons? There are plenty of pro-life Democrats, but because all the Dem presidential candidates were pro-choice, those voters would have to disregard the abortion issue altogether during the primary campaign. Why couldn't they switch to the Republican ticket for the general election, as many Democrats do in every presidential election?

Secondly, the idea that women voters wouldn't be drawn to Palin on account of gender assumes that women didn't favor Clinton because of gender. There was a significant gender gap between Obama and Clinton in the Dem primaries. That at least suggests that gender was a factor when some women chose their candidate. Let's not say it's impossible for gender to be a factor in November.

Speaking of gender gaps, aren't you glad that hurricanes can be given male names now?

Still, if we wanted to pick names from the four folks on the major party tickets, I'd say Hurricane Sarah sounds most fitting.

I mentioned in my post this morning this is the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Fran pummeling North Carolina.

Specifically, the first place Fran clobbered was Topsail Island.

And that was less than two months after Hurricane Bertha slammed Topsail.

It took years for the barrier island between Wilmington and Jacksonville to recover.

But Topsail has its fighting spirit back. People out there are thumbing their noses at Hanna, the Wilmington Star-News reported about a half-hour ago.

Hey, the weather's fine!

You gotta love the attitude.

Makes me wish I was there.

Nation's jobless rate climbs ... and 27,000 Boeing machinists will strike at midnight tonight.

The Post-Intelligencer reports: "In addition to an 11 percent wage increase over three years, Machinists would have received a $2,500 bonus if a majority had approved the contact. They also would have received a lump sum of either $2,500 or 6 percent of their annual wage, with overtime. On average, that would have amounted to $3,900, according to Boeing.

"The union was seeking a wage raise of about 13 percent.

"The average annual salary of a Machinist is about $54,000 a year, without overtime, but about 4,000 make less than $30,000 a year, according to the union."

Darn shame Boeing can't hire some laid-off textile or furniture workers from North Carolina.

If stormy weather keeps you in today, you might want to read up on the candidates for statewide judicial offices on their Web sites. Here they are:

N.C. Supreme Court

Bob Edmunds (incumbent) vs. Suzanne Reynolds

N.C. Court of Appeals

John Arrowood (incumbent) vs. Robert N. Hunter Jr.

Doug McCullough (incumbent) vs. Cheri Beasley

Linda Stephens (incumbent) vs. Dan Barrett

Sam J. Ervin IV vs. Kristin Ruth

Jim Wynn (incumbent) vs. Jewel Ann Farlow

These are important races and deserve your attention.

Mark's story today points out differences between Senate candidates Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan on organized labor issues.

Surprising differences.

At least to me. My jaw almost dropped during our interview with Hagan to hear her express support for federal legislation that would override North Carolina law that prohibits collective bargaining by public employees.

I fully expected Hagan, a state senator, to say this is an issue that should be left to the state. Why should Washington dictate rules pertaining to state and local government employees in North Carolina? Besides, in 10 years in the Senate, she's initiated no action to change the collective bargaining prohibition.

On the merits of the issue, I would worry about problems for state and local governments if they have to negotiate contracts with unions representing various groups of public employees -- a budgeting nightmare and bound to raise costs for taxpayers.

On another issue -- a measure pending in Congress that would make card-check elections the only recognized means of determining worker support for a union -- Dole says firmly no but Hagan says she's undecided but favorably inclined.

This would bar use of secret-ballot elections, a move that liberal icon George McGovern faulted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed as "a disturbing and undemocratic overreach."

Clearly, subjecting employees to card-check, where they have to openly commit or refuse to support the union, raises the potential for intimidation or worse. As Americans, we'd never accept anything but secret ballot elections when choosing our leaders or even voting on a bond referendum. When unions so strongly want to do away with secret ballot elections, it's not hard to figure their motives are, as McGovern said, undemocratic. But it's a top-priority issue for them as they desperately want to gain an advantage to reverse their decades-long decline. That's one reasons they're pouring millions and millions of dollars into Democratic campaigns.

Hagan has been a pro-business Democrat in the state Senate, which itself is generally favorable to business interests. Her record indicates she could be an effective, energetic U.S. senator for North Carolina. I just hope she won't feel she has to conform her views to the more liberal national Democratic agenda if she's elected.

1. East Carolina, 2-0 (No. 2 last week)
2. Wake Forest, 2-0 (1)
3. Carolina, 1-0 (3)
4. Appalachian, 1-1 (4)
5. N.C. A&T, 2-0 (6)
6. Duke, 1-1 (5)
7. State, 1-1 (7)
8. Elon, 1-1 (8)
9. Winston-Salem State, 0-1 (not ranked)
10. Lenoir-Rhyne, 2-0 (10)

No doubt East Carolina deserves to move up after an impressive win over nationally eighth-ranked West Virginia in Greenville while Wake Forest needed a last-minute drive and long field goal to beat unranked Ole Miss at home.

A&T gains a spot with its second win of the season while opponent WSSU looks good enough in defeat to join the Top Ten.

App, State and Elon get their first wins to solidify their rankings. Duke loses, but the Blue Devils still look like a better team than Big Four rival State. At least this season, on Nov. 8, the question will be settled on the field as the overinflated, football-weak ACC finally allows them to play each other.

Western Carolina drops from the Top Ten after a drubbing by Florida State.

Little Lenoir-Rhyne holds the 10th spot by whipping Concord.

Carolina was idle, contributing to a good start for the Tar Heels. Their seasons gets tougher at Rutgers Thursday night.

Investigative reporting by the Charlotte Observer today:

"An N.C. state senator stands to profit from a planned Gaston County expressway that he voted to fund and build.

"David Hoyle, a Gaston Democrat, and two family members invested in 327 acres by a proposed exit for the Garden Parkway. His group plans to build high-end homes and one of the county's largest retail centers.

"After buying the property two years ago, Hoyle cast at least three votes in the General Assembly to advance the parkway's construction. He is widely credited as the driving force behind the $1.25 billion expressway."

Here's the kicker:

Hoyle's actions might not violate North Carolina ethics rules.

Read the whole story.

I just don't think Raleigh politicians have gotten serious about ethics reform yet.

Washington isn't the only capital due for change.

With Sarah Palin due to give her first network TV interview, the pressure is on ...

ABC's Charlie Gibson.

If he's too soft on the Republican veep candidate, left-wingers will barbecue him.

If he's too tough, the right will go crazy.

Democrats have been saying the McCain campaign would shield Palin from media interviews, which was ridiculous. Why would McCain hide his best asset? He hasn't jumped in the polls just because Americans suddenly found out he was a POW during the Vietnam War.

Sure, there's a risk Palin will make mistakes in a one-on-one interview. She's bound to have some knowledge gaps, and she may be put on the defensive about some parts of her record as governor of Alaska and mayor of Wasilla.

But Joe Biden's prone to gaffes, and a tough interviewer could hammer away at his record, too, particularly on banking and credit card issues where there have been significant differences between Biden's and Barack Obama's views.

A lot depends on Gibson. If he conducts the interview well, he'll expose whatever policy deficiencies Palin has. That might rile up her supporters, but the public ought to know.

If he serves up softballs, he'll be hammered by Palin's opponents.

He'll also have to be respectful of her personal decisions and family issues -- even if that's what most viewers really want to know about.

I suspect how Palin does will be a matter of opinion. Those already in her corner will applaud, those against her might be appalled.

If Gibson isn't careful, they all might agree he blew it.

Kay Hagan called this morning to say she misspoke in our interview and does not support federal legislation requiring states to give collective-bargaining rights to public employees.

This is my earlier post expressing surprise at her previous statement, and Mark's story Saturday on Hagan and Elizabeth Dole's views on labor issues.

Today, Hagan admitted to having had some confusion about the question, but she is adamant now that this is a matter for North Carolina to decide for itself. North Carolina law prohibits collective bargaining by state and local government employees.

That certainly sounds more like Hagan, who has built a pro-business record in the state Senate.

Thanks to the Elon University Department of Political Science and Public Administration for hosting a program for media types today with guest Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report.

Cook rolled off plenty of interesting observations, but for the sake of keeping it local I'll only report his take on the Dole-Hagan U.S. Senate race.

And, at considerable personal risk, I'll disagree with him a bit.

In his latest assessment, he says North Carolina leans in Dole's favor.

Of course, Dole should have a stronger advantage but this is a very tough year for Republicans. It's worse for Dole, Cook implied, because maybe she wasn't as aggressive as she should have been as a first-term senator and maybe she wasn't as visible in North Carolina as she needed to be.

In any case, he said, this election will be all about Dole and how she's perceived -- as a long-time Washington insider not relevant to the lives of North Carolinians, or as an effective, influential advocate who gets things done in Washington.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee must agree with Cook, by the way, because it's spending millions on TV ads attacking Dole's effectiveness. Dole has answered with ads touting her accomplishments.

But what about Hagan? "Kay Hagan is a vessel," Cook said.

Ouch! Not a word the five-term state senator from Greensboro would choose.

And not a fair word.

Cook made sure to clarify that he wasn't calling Hagan a nobody, but he said he's not so sure you "can't beat somebody with nobody" given the current circumstances when this election is going to amount to a referendum on Dole, not Hagan.

That's where I disagree, though.

Hagan has to step up and show herself to be strong where she says Dole is weak.

She has to introduce herself to voters as hard-working, responsive and in touch with their concerns. She's been working on that, and she has to keep sharpening the image.

North Carolina voters have elected "vessels" to the U.S. Senate before. The late John East in 1980 is the best example in my lifetime. He was largely unknown to voters but was elected on the strength of a relentlessly negative campaign against Sen. Robert Morgan.

Usually, however, voters are better at discerning who's a credible candidate and who's not.

Hagan's not a vessel. She's been in elective office for a decade, rose to responsible positions in the state Senate, and has a long public record. Voters should get to know her and weigh the pros and cons of both candidates, not only one.

I believe the voters who do that, those who give Hagan a good look, will be the swing voters in the Senate race.

Addendum: On a related subject, Cook warned Democrats of the dangers of winning too much power in this election.

"I just think both parties have enormous self-destructive tendencies," he said. "You give them the White House and House and Senate and it's a ticking time bomb."

If Obama wins the presidency, with stronger Democratic majorities in Congress, "it's only a matter of time before they self-destruct ..."

Reasons include arrogance, complacency and overreaching, Cook said. They can't say no to some of their constituencies, and they go too far.

For Senate Democrats, Cook added, bumping their majority to 60 seats "might be too much of a good thing."

Obviously, if she stands to be No. 60, Hagan wouldn't agree.

Rassler Ric Flair gets in an unscripted tussle in Chapel Hill, and police Taser his 22-year-old daughter.

The Charlotte Observer reports.

Wow. That should have been on pay-per-view.

Justice Mark Martin's recusal from the lottery case argued yesterday before the N.C. Supreme Court wasn't good news for lottery opponents.

The issue is whether the lottery is a tax. If so, it was approved improperly by the N.C. General Assembly three years ago and would be legally null and void. The bill was rushed through in a single day instead of in two separate votes on two days.

The N.C. Court of Appeals took the not-a-tax view in a 2-1 ruling issued in March.

While I rarely see partisanship in North Carolina judicial actions, I saw this case as a possible exception.

Gov. Easley and Democratic leaders in the legislature are heavily invested in the lottery.

The two judges taking their side in the Court of Appeals decision were Democrats; the dissenter was a Republican.

The Supreme Court consists of four Republicans and three Democrats. I figured the Supreme Court to lean toward the it-is-a-tax view and overturn the lower court's ruling.

Indeed, the lines of questioning by some of the justices yesterday -- according to the reports I read -- hint at that inclination.

However, Martin is a Republican. His absence from the case changes the math. Very significantly.

It leaves the decision to three Democrats and three Republicans.

A 3-3 deadlock will not overturn the Court of Appeals decision.

Instead of a possible 4-3 ruling unfavorable to the lottery, a 4-2 count is required to reverse.

To get there, one Democratic justice would have to join the three Republicans.

That's not impossible. Chief Justice Sarah Parker, a Democrat, takes a conservative approach to many legal issues. She very well could take the conservative view of the tax question here. If there's doubt, rely on the original intent of the constitutional provision which clearly was to give the public ample warning of legislative initiatives likely to cost them money.

The intent of the lottery, without question, was to raise money from the public and put it to the use of the state.

That's how I believe the court should rule, but there's a lot of pressure on this case. Although judges are nonpartisan, they still rely on their parties' assistance at election time.

I'm not suggesting any justice would compromise his or her integrity for partisan reasons, but when a decision could legitimately go either way, well, you can't ignore the possibility of a slight partisan edge.

So, why did Martin recuse himself? A justice isn't required to give his reasons, and Martin isn't.

I placed a call to him this morning, and he had the court's clerk call back to say he won't say.

That's disappointing, not only because it may alter the outcome of an important case in a way I won't like, but because I believe the public has a right to know what entanglements can keep our Supreme Court justices from doing their job.

We've only got seven justices, and when one of them does not participate in a major case, an explanation should be offered.

Jennifer's story today:

"A mother must spend four months in jail because she consistently failed to send her children to school.

"A judge sentenced Istana Renee Smith, 34, on Friday for not sending her three children to school, court records show.

"Smith, of 2706 Annmore Circle, Apt. A in High Point, had previously been convicted for violating the state’s school attendance law. She received a 30-day suspended sentence and five years of probation in 2002, according to court records."

That sounds harsh, but then, kids are supposed to go to school. And this woman had been put on notice before.

The man who made the unusual call in this case, by the way, is not an elected Guilford County District Court judge.

He's Roland Hayes, a retired judge from Winston-Salem who fills in occasionally on an emergency or temporary basis when a regular judge is out.

It's necessary to use fill-in judges at times to keep the courts operating daily, but I am bothered a bit by the lack of accountability to Guilford County voters. I don't know how you would remedy that problem unless you elect backups for your judges.

My column today:

My wife and I are dog people. We’ve owned dogs throughout our marriage and made them a real part of the family.

Our current dog is our favorite. Maybe that’s because our kids are grown and gone and we’ve replaced them, emotionally, with a pet. They would tell you the dog is treated better than they were and, except for meal time, that might be true. They were never fed dog chow.

OK, just kidding. That’s not the only exception.

We haven’t sent the dog to college. And we wouldn’t provide the same medical care.

Our dog gets annual checkups by an excellent veterinarian and necessary vaccinations. If some exceptional and unusually expensive care were required, however, we wouldn’t automatically approve.

So, when the N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine announced last week it’s preparing to offer bone-marrow transplants for dogs, and it was reported these procedures would cost $15,000, our reaction was immediate:

We love our dog, but there’s just no way we’d pay that much money for medical treatment. ...

My wife belongs to NCAE and NEA, and proudly so.

I just see part of her paycheck going to support the teachers' unions' political activities.

Almost every day, it seems,. the mail brings NCAE or NEA promos for Democratic candidates. NEA is giddy about Barack Obama. A glossy mailing that arrived Monday touted his support for higher pay for teachers. Normally the president and Congress don't have anything to do with setting pay for teachers. That's up to state, and to a lesser extent local, governments.

Obama laid out education proposals yesterday, however, that include providing federal funds for teacher incentives. To his credit, his ideas depart significantly from the usual NEA demand for higher pay for all teachers across the board.

Obama calls for higher pay for teachers who accept more responsibility, take on tougher assignments and get better results.

I hope he'll introduce strict accountability measures to make sure the plan works, but he's definitely on the right track.

The same goes for his recommendation to give parents more choice by funding new charter schools in areas where traditional schools are under-performing.

Obama won't cross the "vouchers" line, which most Democratic politicians seem to regard as toxic (see Beverly Perdue).

But one wonders why not. Why, after all, would you spend tax money to create a charter school across the street from a failing public school but not spend the same amount of tax money, per student, to help families send their kids to an existing private school across the street?

Both options arguably take tax money from the traditional public school. But the point is to use tax money to give kids a good education, not a lousy one.

I'm not for a blanket voucher program. Mine would have three requirements:

1. Vouchers only for families that can't afford private education for their kids.

2. No vouchers for religious education.

3. Participating private schools must accept all applicants regardless of academic abilities, except for kids with long records of serious disciplinary problems.

As Mark reports, Perdue and Pat McCrory engaged in a spirited debate about vouchers last night. Perdue is an ardent opponent who says McCrory's voucher plan is dangerous, threatening to take $900 million out of public schools. But Perdue's statement is a fabrication; McCrory has no such plan. He favors selective vouchers but hasn't laid out any details. In any case, $900 million is an absurd figure.

Fear-mongering about new ideas for education won't get us anywhere. Obama is willing to put forward some new ideas that may not go far enough but at least promise to break away from the status quo. Frankly, I don't expect to see a mailing from NEA that endorses his call for pay incentives for teachers who work the hardest and get the best results because that would leave out most of NEA's membership. But I hope Obama follows through, anyway.

I haven't yet heard Perdue, who's supported by NCAE, go nearly as far as Obama in calling for change. Her education program includes endorsement of programs already implemented that are promising but nothing particularly bold. Maybe she should borrow from Obama's plan, even parts that might not please NCAE.

Elizabeth Dole's new "Fibber Kay" TV ad is out of date and inaccurate.

Although not entirely. It points out that Kay Hagan and her husband have ownership stakes in oil wells in several states.

But then it says Hagan opposes offshore oil drilling and implies she takes that position for personal financial reasons.

That's not true. As recently as June 21, Hagan did say she opposed drilling off the North Carolina coast, but she changed her position and now favors congressional action allowing North Carolina and other states decide whether to allow offshore drilling for oil and gas.

Dole made a similar turnaround. As far as I can tell, she and Hagan have taken a similar track on this issue.

This ad might be very effective, but it's based on misinformation.

Dole should pull it and drop the "Fibber Kay" slur. It's demeaning.

For her part, Hagan would do well to stick to positive ads.

Latest from Kay Hagan's campaign:

"Elizabeth Dole owns $3 million in oil stocks. Each time you buy gas, her cash register goes 'ka-ching.'

"But it’s not just that…

"Dole’s funded her campaigns with nearly $300,000 in contributions from Big Oil.

"And she’s voted to give them $17 billion in tax breaks.

"Elizabeth Dole gets richer. Her campaigns get richer. Big Oil gets richer.

"And working families? They’re paying the price."

I get it. Hagan's striking back in response to the tasteless and inaccurate "Fibber Kay" ad.

But making an issue of Elizabeth Dole's ownership of oil industry stock, and making a political target of the oil industry in general, isn't smart ... and not just because Hagan herself is invested in the industry.

Millions of Americans, most of whom aren't nearly as wealthy as Dole or Hagan, are also invested in oil.

As the Washington Post reported in July:

"Soaring fuel prices that are burning a hole in the wallets of consumers are not only benefiting oil companies and Middle Eastern producers. They are also lighting up the investment returns of pensions funds, which millions of ordinary Americans are counting on for their retirement."

Get that? Each time you buy gas, the retirement fortunes of millions of ordinary Americans become a bit more secure. Maybe your own, too. You're not just paying the price, you're reaping some of the benefits.

Politcians of both parties are trying to win votes by ripping the oil companies, which have made "record profits" this year. Some, including Hagan, favor windfall profits taxes. But I haven't heard any explain what level of profit is acceptable and what should be subject to a windfall tax. In other words, how much profit should the U.S. government allow a company to make? And should this policy apply to industries that are more profitable than oil, or just to oil because, well, it's a politically easier target? Then, what might be the unanticipated consequences of such an action by the government? A decline in stock values and subsequent losses for millions of ordinary Americans' pension funds? Less oil production, forcing a further escalation in price? Less inclination to explore for more oil or to fund research into energy alternatives?

Whatever the answers to those questions, Dole and Hagan aren't contributing to an enlightened discussion of the issue. They'd do better to put their campaigns on a positive track.

Sept. 11, 2001, was a long day of powerful, coursing emotions.

What's happening?

We're Americans. This is the United States. At times like this, we set aside our differences and pull together into one great family. God bless America.

In the seven years since? What lingers for me is sorrow for the lives lost, not only the victims of 9/11 but our men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. And sorrow that, despite the cost, we still haven't accomplished the work begun seven years ago. The enemy has not been destroyed, and in fact still poses a threat.

Even worse, our political divisions have widened and Americans are splintered. Only briefly united in a common cause, we're back at the destructive politics of the past.

Seven years after Pearl Harbor, the United States was more powerful, influential and respected than ever before. Seven years after 9/11? I wish I could say the same.

Our memories of that terrible day are keen, but it seems as if we're forgotten the lessons we should have learned.

I enjoyed Robert Bell's multimedia feature today about the music that drives area high school cross-country runners.

My competitive distance running days ended long before iPods came along, but I often psyched up with rock music before races. My favorite was the aptly titled "Running Hard" by Renaissance.

When it comes to plugging into iPods, or listening to music on headphones, while running, however, I agree with Northwest coach Paul Egleston: It's a safety issue.

When I'm running, I need to hear what's coming at me. It might be a car, someone on a bicycle, or an angry dog.

When it comes to racing, some think music provides a competitive advantage -- which is why portable audio players are banned at many events.

You've got to run to the tunes in your head.

There are fair questions about Sarah Palin's record and abilities, and there are cheap shots.

A letter writer today takes a cheap shot by repeating a question Palin asked in an interview weeks before she joined John McCain's ticket: “What is it exactly that the VP does every day?”

The writer infers that Palin doesn't know what the vice president's role is.

Before arguing further, let's look at the context, which usually helps.

Here's the full quote, a response to a question of whether she'd be interested in taking the job if McCain asked:

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I'm used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we're trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question."

Does that mean she doesn't understand the role of the vice president? Or that she doesn't know what role in McCain's administration the vice president would have?

Obviously the latter.

The fact is, there's no set job for the vice president except, in a mostly ceremonial way, to preside over the Senate. How he, or she, fills the rest of the day depends on the president's use of him or her.

I doubt any two vice presidents in American history have had the same day-to-day duties. Some may have had very little to do, which Palin clearly indicated she wouldn't be interested in.

She made a perfectly reasonable response, and twisting it around to make her appear ignorant is dishonest.

That said, she certainly had no clue when ABC's Charlie Gibson asked her yesterday about the "Bush Doctrine." She tried to fake it, unsuccessfully.

I have to admit I was at a loss as well. If I'd had to guess I might have gone with:

"Never say you're sorry."

"Bring it on."

Or, returning to our original subject:

"Ask Cheney."

I was not impressed that Palin tried to plow through when she should have said, "You've got me there, Charlie. What the heck is the Bush Doctrine?"

Turns out it's Bush's idea that you ought to attack the other guy before he attacks you. Honestly, I didn't know that was a formal Doctrine. I thought it was an impulse.

Palin appeared to be a little too sure of herself when telling Gibson that she absolutely believes she's ready to be president if required. Come on, she's got to have some doubts. I do.

I think her answer was meant to avoid the "gotcha" politics and journalism of the day. If she had admitted any uncertainty, she would have given a sound bite for the news, which also would appear shortly in Democratic attack ads.

My smarter-than-I-am wife said Palin should have answered by saying, "All I could do, or any president can do, is serve our country to the best of my abilities every day."

Palin had other difficulties in the interview, but I find that understandable, and not necessarily because of personal deficiencies. Her position compels her to try to answer policy questions with McCain's views, not hers. I imagine there are some issues that she hasn't had time to discuss yet with McCain. If she gives an answer that isn't the answer he would give, the media and the Barack Obama campaign would make hay out of it.

The same could happen to Joe Biden, although he has the advantage of having worked with Obama in the Senate for the past four years, so he knows his boss well. But no one seems that interested in hearing from Biden much anyway.

As the campaign goes on, Palin should grant many more interviews. I expect she'll do very well at times and make some mistakes.

When criticism is fair, let's have at it. Let's also try to avoid cheap shots.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the Dole-Hagan Senate race.

Nothing in the article you don't already know.

Its tone seems sympathetic to Dole.

The UNC Board of Governors probably made the best of a messy situation today, approving the big pay raise granted by N.C. State to the governor's wife.

Since this was reported a couple of months ago, it has appeared that Mary Easley was given a plum position at State because of her relationship to the governor. She has good professional credentials and all, but no one else was considered for her job. Then getting a pay hike from roughly $90,000 to $170,000 really made headlines and, in fact, was improper unless specifically authorized by the Board of Governors.

The board could have played hardball, and maybe would have earned cheers from much of the public if it did. Instead it found a softer approach, which is worth at least mild applause.

N.C. State will find nonstate funds to pay $55,250 of Mrs. Easley's salary, The N&O reported. And she will work 12 months, instead of only nine months, to earn it.

Obviously, that's a way for the taxpayers to get more for their money. Plus, it avoids embarrassing Mrs. Easley and the governor. And puts a fairly gentle end to this episode.

It was a respectable solution.

I hope the gas in your tank can last you a while. Who knows where the price is going.

My wife wisely filled up in Davidson County on her way to work this morning for $3.57 a gallon.

When she passed the same place on her way home the price there was $4.29.

That's up 72 cents, or 21 percent in one day!

Yeah, we're staying home this weekend.

Update, Saturday morning: Gas selling for $3.83 at one Main Street, High Point, station. People filling up, no line.

A couple of other stations appeared to be out of gas, however.

East Carolina earns a tough road win at Tulane to move to 3-0 and solidify its position as North Carolina's best college football team.

But UNC makes a statement at Rutgers, pressuring idle Wake Forest for the No. 2 spot and pointing to a meaningful showdown later in the ...

... nevermind. Thanks to overinflated ACC football scheduling, Wake Forest and Carolina won't play this year unless they happen to meet for the conference championship. Any bets on that?

Winston-Salem State and Lenoir-Rhyne lose and, without other teams worthy of rising into the Top Ten, we'll go with the Top Eight this week.

Tar Heel Top Eight

1. East Carolina, 3-0 (no. 1 last week)
2. Wake Forest, 2-0 (2)
3. UNC, 2-0 (3)
4. Appalachian State, 1-1 (4)
5. Duke, 2-1 (6)
6. N.C. A&T, 2-1 (5)
7. Elon, 2-1 (8)
8. N.C. State, 1-2 (7)

If you're producing a Shakespeare drama, you'd better make sure you cast a heckuva good actor in the title role ...

Macbeth ,,,

Hamlet ...

Richard III ...

Henry V ...

Othello ...

and definitely King Lear.

Success depends on it.

The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival is fortunate to have Graham Smith tackling the assignment. Smith, a veteran of many seasons on the High Point stage, has aged grandly into Lear. Wispy thin, yet capable of projecting a thunderous voice, Smith delivers a king who's frail and vulnerable but at times commanding and ferocious.

We sat in the second row at NCSF's preview performance Saturday night, a great vantage point to observe Smith's skills at close hand. Mediocre actors recite Shakespeare well enough, but good ones reveal the emotions in a teary eye, a shaky lip, a sigh or a cold stare. Smith is a convincing Lear in every respect.

He's supported by other talented performers, especially Ellen McQueen as Goneril, Matt Daniels as Edmund, David Foubert as Edgar and Michael Stewart Allen as Kent.

Smith is well matched with Henson Keys as the Fool, a part perhaps meant for a younger actor. His age works well here, however, as the obvious affection between the characters seems to flow from long familiarity, like two friends who've grown old together.

This is a powerful play, where foolishness, craving for power, ego and pride lead to tragic consequences. Lear, in giving to those unworthy of receiving, and Edmund, in trying to take from those he thinks less deserving, set into motion forces that end up destroying them and, well, just about everyone. There's no happy ending here. So, to enjoy this play, one has to appreciate the artistry of its language and the portrayal of its raw emotionalism.

The direction is crisp and the acting is superb. NCSF and Graham Smith offer a very fine "King Lear."

At $4.085, the average price for regular gas in North Carolina is ninth-highest in the country, AAA reports today.

Greensboro is higher than that: $4.106.

It's odd to me how states line up. Naturally, Alaska and Hawaii are highest.

Also higher than North Carolina are South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, usually cheaper.

But Virginia? How's $3.784 sound?

Even cheaper than that? Texas, at $3.686.

Let me see if I can figure that out. The hurricane that tore up coastal Texas forced gas prices to jump in North Carolina ... but not in Texas?

Is this price gouging? Gov. Mike Easley and Attorney General Roy Cooper are on the case.

Yipee.

Gas prices spike for a few days and North Carolina politicians are all over it.

Where have they been all these years when we've been paying more for gas than consumers in neighboring states because of North Carolina's higher taxes?

Never mind, that's different. Government doesn't gouge.

My column today:

You could subtitle Anna Hayes’ brilliant biography of Susie Sharp, “The previously secret lives of judges.”

Not just for its most surprising revelations: that Sharp, a lifelong spinster thought to have no serious romantic interests, maintained intimate relationships with three married lawyers.

More importantly, Hayes gives clear insights into one of North Carolina’s greatest legal minds and provides an open window into the workings of its highest court.

It’s a view few ever gain of the most mysterious branch of government. Even with judicial elections approaching, most North Carolinians know far less about their courts today and the men and women who run them than they can read about Sharp and her court in the pages of Hayes’ richly detailed account. ...

What Taft reports today is totally expected: When the economy gets worse, people buy more lottery tickets.

The only surprise is that an experienced lottery director like Tom Shaheen would try to deny it.

The trend has been noticed.

It's the same principle, amply documented, that drives poor people to spend relatively more for lottery tickets.

So, if more people become poor, lottery sales rise.

For a few of those poor people, their dreams will come true and they'll win a big payoff.

But most will get a little poorer with every $10 or $20 they spend for a worthless chance at fortune..

So, is it good news or bad news for North Carolina when state lottery sales increase?

If a sex offender lives in your neighborhood, you're entitled to know about it under the state's registration program.

But what if that potentially dangerous person actually lists an address somewhere else?

A N.C. Court of Appeals ruling issued yesterday deals with that question and finds the law isn't sufficiently "clear and unambiguous" in how it determines an offender's address.

In other words, there's a loophole. A law that North Carolinians assumes gives them certain information in reality might not.

You can read the ruling, written by Judge Rick Elmore of Greensboro, here.

The Guilford County Sheriff's Office, which maintains a local registry, is aware of the problem and tries to make sure offenders give the address where they really live, Cpl. John Daniel of its sex offender registry unit told me today.

Nevertheless, yesterday's court ruling recognizing the legal loophole makes the job of enforcing accurate registration more difficult.

The legislature has some work to do.

Questions about Sarah Palin's qualifications ought to be raised, but some of the personal attacks are over the top.

A letter writer today demands to know why she refused to go immediately to the nearest hospital when she was showing signs of labor but says that question is deemed off limits because it's a "private family matter."

Yeah, it is a private family matter. Nevertheless, the question was answered -- months ago in the Alaska press, as a matter of fact.

Here's the story, as reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner of April 22:

Palin, eight months pregnant, was in Texas to give a speech. Her husband, Todd, was with her.

She noticed amniotic fluid (not "her water broke"), but gave the speech.

She called her doctor and asked if it was OK for her to fly home. He granted permission.

She was having minor contractions and not showing signs of active labor.

Having given birth to four children previously, she felt it was safe for her to return home.

The flight to Anchorage was uneventful. So was the drive to the hospital after they landed.

The baby was delivered, just fine, seven hours after Palin arrived at the hospital.

Is everyone satisfied?

The same writer also thinks he ought to be told why an abstinence-only advocate can have a daughter carrying an out-of-wedlock baby.

He should be able to figure that out for himself. The daughter didn't practice abstinence only.

Here's a news flash: Some teenagers who are taught about birth control DON'T USE IT.

And another bit of information: Sometimes birth control fails.

Some foolish assumptions have been made about Bristol Palin's pregnancy, primarily that she must not have known anything about birth control and got pregnant out of ignorance. Well, maybe that's true. But maybe it's not.

In either case, yes, it is a private family matter and Sarah Palin doesn't owe this letter writer or the public in general an explanation.

The state jet was public business. Here, Palin is being made out to be a phony.

If John McCain has said she sold the jet on eBay for a profit, that's unfortunately a misstatement, at least, because it isn't true and she never claimed that. She said she PUT it on eBay.

It didn't sell on eBay for the asking price of $2.5 million. It was turned over to a broker and eventually sold for $2.1 million.

Critics note it was sold "at a loss" (the state paid $2.7 million for it), and to a "campaign contributor" at that -- making it sound like a corrupt deal.

Give it some thought. If you sell your car, don't you expect to do so "at a loss"? Do you think it's going to appreciate in value while you're driving it?

So it was sold for less than the original purchase price. But it still brought in $2.1 million that the state would not have had if it had kept the jet. Plus, by getting rid of it, the state no longer was paying to maintain and operate it. It doesn't sound to me like Palin made such a bad deal.

What about this "campaign contributor" who bought it? So what? He shelled out $2.1 million, which apparently was the best price going at the time. Remember, the deal was arranged by a broker, not by Palin. Would anyone expect the broker to turn down the best offer because the buyer was a campaign contributor?

It's sad there are people so desperate to discredit Palin that they have to attack her personally or twist the facts to support their arguments.

They certainly can fault her relative inexperience or her positions on the issues. If she thinks she understands Russia because you can see it from some Alaskan island, or if she has no clue what the Bush Doctrine is, ream her out. But this personal stuff just has to go. There shouldn't be any place for it in a campaign.

The Durham County Bar Association held a forum yesterday featuring the candidates for N.C. Supreme Court, Justice Bob Edmunds of Greensboro and Wake Forest Law Professor Suzanne Reynolds of Winston-Salem.

VoterRadio.com has a podcast.

I get at least one "Dear Douglas" email from Barack Obama every day.

Obama takes a formal approach to first names. He figures if he calls me Douglas instead of Doug, I'll call him Barack instead of Barry.

I don't pay much attention to most of his emails, anyway, especially the inevitable request for a donation.

But the one he sent this afternoon strikes me as his most effective to date, by far. Here are the highlights:

"Dear Douglas,

"The economy hit a new low this week, and in every part of the country, people like you are feeling it.

"The recent financial disasters -- from the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the historic drop in the stock market -- are not just a string of bad luck. They are the result of years of bad decisions made in favor of big corporate special interests instead of America's working families.

"More than 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Home foreclosures are skyrocketing, and home values are plunging. Gas prices are at an all-time high, and we're still spending more than $10 billion every month on a war in Iraq that should never have been waged. ...

"For eight years, Bush-McCain economic policies have favored reckless deregulation and huge tax loopholes for big corporations. Now, as these corporations crumble, American taxpayers are facing costly bailouts.

"More of the same failed ideas are not going to solve our economic problems.

"I'm calling for a $1,000 tax break for middle-class families -- not just because they need help dealing with the rising costs of gas, food, and health care, but also because our economy needs to be reinvigorated from the bottom up, not the top down.

"I'm proposing a second stimulus package to save over one million jobs and provide immediate relief to struggling families.

"And I'll end the "anything goes" culture on Wall Street with real regulation. We can see clearly that our economy is stronger when we protect investments and pensions, and avoid devastating bankruptcies and bailouts.

"This is no ordinary time, and it shouldn't be an ordinary election. Help keep the discussion focused on the issues."

He adds a link to a new two-minute TV ad outlining some of his proposals for the economy ... here.

Now, I don't know whether Obama has the magical potion that's going to cure what ails the economy. I tend to doubt it. And this is not an endorsement or declaration of support. But at least he sounds sure of himself. McCain just seems confused.

If most undecided voters draw the same conclusion, this marks a bad turn of events for McCain. Unless Sarah Palin can suddenly deliver enough Alaskan oil to bail out Wall Street overnight, McCain's chances of winning in November may slip away with the stock market slide of September. Obama is making a big play to exploit this opportunity.

Politically, I see it as being potentially decisive.

Update, Friday morning: Never mind. The administration and Congress are going to fix the economy. Once that's settled, we can get back to the more important issues, like whether Obama's a Muslim and Palin is a bad mother.

Pat McCrory and Bev Perdue debate again this morning.

Gary Pearce says in a post about Democrats feeling confident, mostly:

"But there is near-panic on the governor’s race. One Democratic consultant said letting Bev Perdue debate five times amounts to political malfeasance."

McCrory would like to debate every day. His only problem is that the debates aren't getting much of a statewide TV audience.

Ryan's story today ought to make clear that Attorney General Roy Cooper is on a gas-gouging snipe hunt.

Michelle Obama cautions against voting for someone because "she's cute" ... then says she was referring to herself. OK, she asked for it. Candidates' spouses: Michelle, Cindy, Jill or Todd?

April Fool's in September: Brad and Britt replace "Dan Rather" with "Brad Harvey" to appease (but really poke fun at) conservative critics. Well done, guys. But bring back Dan.

Who would have thought? Florida State, the team that for years couldn't lose in the ACC, now can't beat Wake Forest. The Deacons' third straight over the Seminoles propels them to the top of our weekly ranking, replacing East Carolina.

They're also one of only two undefeated college football teams left in the state of North Carolina. The other, Wingate, joins our rankings this week on the strength of its win over Elizabeth City State and 4-0 record. We're not counting Charlotte, which hasn't lost but isn't actually playing until 2013.

The Pirates' loss at Raleigh dampens their hopes of a magical season and makes N.C. State suddenly look like a credible opponent for Duke and Carolina, if not Wake. In fact, since State beat ECU, who beat Va. Tech, who beat Carolina, it looks like the Wolfpack has to jump all the way to second in our rankings.

Tar Heel Top Nine

1. Wake, 3-0 (No. 2 last week)
2. State, 2-2 (8)
3. ECU, 3-1 (1)
4. UNC, 2-1 (3)
5. Duke, 2-1 (5)
6. Elon, 3-1 (7)
7. Appalachian, 1-2 (4)
8. N.C. A&T, 2-2 (6)
9. Wingate, 4-0 (NR)

Someone around here must think it's the Fourth of July, because the normal tranquility of a Sunday evening in my High Point neighborhood was just blown to heck by a first-rate fireworks show.

I can't say for sure, but the colorful explosives appeared to be launched from the vicinity of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, a couple of blocks from my house. I was close enough to feel the percussions on my patio.

Since it's not actually the Fourth of July, there must have been another reason for the display. A farewell from afar to Yankee Stadium? A celebration of autumn?

Only problem: It terrified a couple of the elderly widows on my street, who didn't know if we were under attack or what.

Nope. Just the Fourth of July on the eve of fall.

Update, Monday: Police say the fireworks were launched by a private party in the 900 block of Rockford Road, with a permit. A professional pyrotechnics company -- NO KIDDING! -- handled the fireworks.

Rockford is a residential street near the intersection of Chestnut and Westchester. Given the comment below from the person on Burton Avenue, the explosions could be heard a good distance away.

But I don't think the problem was so much the noise itself as the surprise. Nearby residents didn't expect fireworks on a Sunday night in September, and some were frightened. This wasn't neighborly.

Leonard Pitts says Sarah Palin is dumb as a rock -- oops, sorry, anti-intellectual -- because she believes the Bible is literally true and she once tried to ban a book called "Daddy's Roommate" from the Wasilla public library.

To the first charge: It's just more evidence that Pitts, liberal minded on most social and political issues, is pretty darn bigoted when it comes to people's religious beliefs. As there's no "religious test" for holding public office in the United States, what Palin believes about the Bible isn't relevant to her qualifications in this election. Attacking her because of them is out of line and blatantly intolerant.

To the second charge: Shame on Palin for firing a town librarian over book selection when she was mayor of Wasilla. I hope she's matured as a leader since then.

That said, let's put this issue in perspective. Pitts writes from the standpoint that "Daddy's Roommate" deserved a place in the Wasilla library and that any view to the contrary was an anti-intellectual stab at censorship.

Well, who decided the Wasilla library should have that book?

Does the Wasilla library have every book?

Probably not. It looks like a good-size library for a small town, but no way can it fit every book there is.

So someone selects which books the library acquires and which it doesn't.

Is it censorship and anti-intellectual to NOT select certain books? Not censorship, surely. Maybe it's anti-intellectual, depending on the reason for the decision. But then, the public isn't likely to know one way or another. After all, they don't get to vote on book selections.

The issue is, once someone selects some books and not others, is it permissible for a member of the public, a resident of the town, a patron of the library, a taxpayer, to question those decisions?

And to express a contrary opinion? Even to object?

Or, when someone does that, is that person a censor and deserving of ridicule and rebuke?

"How dare you suggest this book has no place in our library? You have no right to speak, you stupid censor!"

Addendum: The author of "Daddy's Roommate" agrees with Pitts.

An investigation by the N&O's Dan Kane and Benjamin Niolet, published yesterday, uncovers a familiar pattern for North Carolina politics. In this case:

* A Jacksonville, N.C., businessman raises money for Mike Easley's 2000 gubernatorial campaign.

* After the election, Easley appoints him to a seat on the state Board of Transportation.

* In that position, he helps steer state funds to road projects that benefit his own business interests.

* Now he's raising money for Bev Perdue's gubernatorial campaign (reported in the Charlotte Observer's version of the story).

The state's transportation secretary, after conferring with the governor, says he'll refer the matter to the state ethics commission.

What took so long? Someone should have recognized the possible conflict before hearing about it from the press.

I hope appropriate rules will be applied to this situation. In general, here's the problem with governors rewarding big campaign fundraisers or contributors with seats on the board of transportation or other state jobs:

It suggests that important decision-making positions are sold to political cronies, who can use those positions to benefit their own interests. And, because that's part of the deal, the governor simply looks the other way.

Maybe you can't prohibit the appointment of people who raise money for or contribute to political campaigns. But while those people hold appointed public positions, they should be barred from further political activity. And, definitely, conflict-of-interest rules should actually be enforced.

Such steps might take much of the fun out of North Carolina politics, but it's about time to clean things up a bit. It's possible to promote better government in Raleigh and do away with the same old, same old.

Going to Asheville?

Better fill up before you get there.

Gas shortages, long lines, fights at the pump, the Citizen-Times reports.

Also high prices, according to AAA:

$4.156 average price for regular, compared to $3.881 in Greensboro.

Unless the situation improves, the fall sight-seeing season will be disappointing up in our mountains.

Guilford County Schools' "Mission Possible" is working, JLF's education analyst Terry Stoops reports.

The Guilford County Unity Effort forum this evening drew an excellent turnout of candidates and a few voters to the High Point Theatre.

The program was divided into four panels. The smallest and most unusual grouped June Atkinson, N.C. superintendent of public instruction, a Democrat; Ty Cobb, a Republican running for Congress in the 12th District; and Mike Munger, Libertarian candidate for governor.

Props to all three for accepting the invitation. Their opponents didn't.

"I'm here tonight, and the others are not," Munger said, referring to Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory. "Half of life is showing up."

I believe Munger was referring to McCrory and Perdue again when he added: "I'm not bought and paid for by special interests, and I'm not tied in to the political machine that runs the state as a cartel."

Atkinson also understands that showing up is important: "I've traveled in all 115 school districts," she said.

Cobb, a retired Army officer who lives in Salisbury and is challenging Mel Watt, said most congressmen don't live like regular folks: "They're millionaires, they're lawyers, they're having a jolly time." Meanwhile, things aren't so good. Cobb says he's running for his grandchildren: "I will not turn this country over to them the way we're going now."

Munger, a political science professor at Duke, always gives thoughtful answers to questions, which means he does not simply recite the usual Libertarian anti-government jargon.

For example, when asked about support for mass transit, he didn't come out and say that's not something the state ought to be doing. He said the state shouldn't be pouring money into new highways that mostly benefit developers. Instead, it should repair streets and bridges in areas where poor people depend on them. And, by the way, without huge subsidies for highways, mass transit (built privately) will be more competitive.

An A&T student asked him about making college more affordable. Munger, who taught at UNC-Chapel Hill before moving to Duke, called it a mistake that the state constitution promises higher education at the lowest possible cost for students. At Carolina, he recalled, some of the students drove cars worth more than his house. (What kind of cars do Duke students drive?) Those students should pay more, Munger said, which would leave more funds to offer scholarships to poorer kids.

Munger will appear with Perdue and McCrory in a televised debate next month, and I predict he won't come out third best. In fact, if McCrory doesn't bring his A game, Munger won't come out second best, either.

The entire event was well done and should have been better attended by the public. Thanks to the organizers and the candidates, especially those who came from outside the area.

Atkinson, Cobb and Munger made an especially good threesome.

My column today:

Mark Harris patrols the halls of Ferndale Middle School, exchanging special greetings with smiling students: a raised right hand, palm turned forward, then twisted side to side.

“We wave and salute at the same time,” Harris explains.

That fits. Harris lives two roles simultaneously: friendly educator and battle-tested ex-Marine.

The blend just might produce the ideal principal. ...

Country first?

Or political ploy?

John McCain suspends his campaign to concentrate on the financial crisis, CNN reports.

He asks Barack Obama to do the same.

He wants to postpone Friday's debate.

Is this legit? McCain's dropping in the polls. Maybe he just wants to arrest his negative momentum.

On the other hand, he and Obama both are senators with big roles to play in determining whether to approve the Mother of all Bailouts.

Members of their parties are looking to them for leadership. Neither Democrats nor Republicans in Congress want to saddle the next president with (a) an economy reeling from lack of effective action by Washington or (b) a disasterous debt burden on taxpayers.

The Friday debate is supposed to focus on foreign policy.

Are you kidding me? Foreign policy, now?

Should the candidates really be prepping for verbal sparring on overseas affairs when the economy is in turmoil?

I agree with McCain. He and Obama were elected to do a job, and they ought to get at it. Running for another job can wait.

Now is a time to put country first.

President Bush says failed executives will not profit at taxpayers' expense ...

... so he's giving up his pension?

Anyone else notice Bush's eyes looked red, like he'd been crying?

So, he's invited John McCain and Barack Obama to the White House tomorrow. Maybe he's planning to hand over the keys three months early.

Tonight's gubernatorial debate on UNC-TV turned out to be quite a Bev Bash.

Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue declined an invitation to attend, and Republican Pat McCrory and Libertarian Mike Munger are no gentlemen. They don't mind talking unkindly about a lady behind her back.

There are no social niceties in politics. Perdue gave up the chance to defend herself, although she can always come back with TV attack ads -- which likely would reach more viewers.

Critics have predicted North Carolina's next governor would inherit a budget deficit.

To his credit, the outgoing governor is trying to minimize it by ordering spending cuts.

A big concern is all the borrowing the legislature pinned on taxpayers in the current budget -- without a vote of the people.

Maybe Gov. Easley should put a freeze on some of those projects before North Carolina falls into a fiscal crisis of its own. If finances allow next year, Gov. McCrory or Gov. Perdue could unfreeze them.

Oh, let's not forget that, until this year, state spending was accelerating at an unsustainable annual rate of about 10 percent. That won't happen again for quite a while.

News that The Grateful Bread, a High Point bakery, has closed is very sad.

Owners David and Teresa Mackey are friends. They're very fine people. Teresa runs the bakery (David's primary employment is elsewhere), and she's worked very hard to build an outstanding and well-liked enterprise.

Times are tough for bakeries and many small businesses. If you've bought flour at the grocery store recently, you're familiar with one ingredient of a serious financial pinch.

The quality of Grateful Bread products has been first rate. Breadheads will be disappointed at this turn of events. I'm sure they'll join me in wishing Teresa and David a speedy resolution to their problems and in hoping they'll be firing up their oven again soon.

Looking for cheaper gas?

Try New Jersey. At $3.407, Garden State drivers enjoy the lowest average price in Eastern America, AAA reports today.

North Carolina? At $3.899, we're paying more than motorists in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia and Illinois.

We're still in much better shape here in the Triad than our cousins in Asheville and Charlotte.

Here's AAA's North Carolina report for today.

Don't ask. Yes, I do feel foolish for backing John McCain when he suspended his campaign until the financial crisis was dealt with.

No agreement has been reached in Washington, but McCain has retreated from his previous stance. He's going to the debate, after all ... then get back to work in the capital.

Maybe the wiley veteran thinks he can polish off the kid without breaking a sweat. That might be another miscalculation, but we'll see. If the topic is still foreign policy, he ought to have an advantage.

McCain's not having a great week. If he doesn't clearly win tonight's debate, he's in serious trouble.

As I said the other day, instead of showing up to debate her rivals, Bev Perdue could simply produce a TV attack ad.

Here it is.

You have to wonder how the voters of North Carolina's most progressive and vibrant city could elect a dangerous character like Pat McCrory seven times.

The Obama campaign says no signs and banners allowed at today's rally.

Palm branches instead.

(Good job, Roch Smith, for busting the "no signs and banners" edict. The rally's being held on public property. The public has First Amendment rights.)

I scored the debate about even, with Obama strong on domestic issues, McCain steadier on foreign turf. Obama amply demonstrated, however, that he is very knowledgeable, forcefully so, about foreign affairs.

McCain gains when he talks about his personal experiences -- where he's been, what he's done, with whom he's met.

Back on domestic, I'd say Obama was more effective in knocking McCain's tax policies than McCain was at attacking Obama's spending plans.

If the debate had stuck entirely to foreign policy, McCain would have had the win he really needed. As it was, he failed to make Obama look inexperienced and unready. In terms of outcome, probably a better result for Obama because the debate won't provide a momentum shift back to McCain.

The top three from last week's poll all badly underperformed Saturday, clearing the way for Carolina to move up on the strength of a big win at Miami.

The formerly No. 1 Wake Forest Deacons threw it away against Navy, leaving Wingate as North Carolina's only unbeaten team. Duke moves up to a surprising No. 3 by crushing Virginia.

Tar Heel Top Nine

1. UNC, 3-1 (No. 4 last week)
2. Wake, 3-1 (1)
3. Duke, 3-1 (5)
4. State, 2-3 (2)
5. East Carolina, 3-2 (3)
6. Elon, 4-1 (6)
7. Appalachian, 2-2 (7)
8. Wingate, 5-0 (9)
9. N.C. A&T, 2-3 (8)

In my view, Grandfather Mountain is the grandest place in North Carolina. So the idea that I, as a resident of this state, can become a part-owner of sorts for whatever my share of $12 million purchase price will come to is just remarkable.

This might be the best land deal since the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia for $7 million in 1867. That transactions was foolishly ridiculed as Seward's Folly after the secretary of state who negotiated the agreement. Maybe this will be called Easley's Steal -- except the Morton family isn't being robbed. They're in effect making a huge donation to the people of North Carolina.

Compare this to the state's acquisition of Chimney Rock Park last year. That cost $24 million for 1,000 acres -- and sounded pretty good to me. Chimney Rock is a jewel.

But Grandfather Mountain comes with 2,600 acres for a price that works out to a dollar and change for every resident of North Carolina. Thank you, Crae Morton and family.

Most of that acreage is rugged wilderness, which now can be preserved forever -- a priceless treasure.

But the park also includes valuable development -- a road, a visitor center, a museum, wildlife habitats, McCrae Meadow where the annual Highland Games are held, the famous Mile High Swinging Bridge and an extensive trail system. The hiking up there is outstanding, and the views are unsurpassed in Eastern America.

My only concern is maintenance. I hope the state will do a good job of keeping it up. I'll guess the state will continue the current admission charges, or close to it, to pay for upkeep.

Grandfather Mountain has always been a great asset for North Carolina. The Morton family has operated it almost like a public trust. I suppose the danger was that, someday, they'd no longer be able to do that. So now they're entrusting it to the public, and it's going to be an asset of North Carolina. Let's do it justice and enjoy it as long as it stands against our western horizon.

Yesterday was a rotten day for this country, and there was no shortage of spoilers.

Those include the House members who voted down the bailout plan. If their attitude is to let the market solve its own problems, well, they should have seen some immediate indication that's not going to work. Let's hope today brings a turnaround on Wall Street, but the mood isn't optimistic.

Some Republicans blame Speaker Nancy Pelosi for issuing partisan remarks before the vote. OK, she was wrong. She's speaker of the entire House, not just leader of the Democrats, and she should have set a tone of bipartisanship.

But come on. Did some Republicans really shift from support to opposition because of something Pelosi said? If they did, what kind of statesmanship is that?

Yeah, Democrats aren't accepting their share of blame for this fiasco. Some of them opposed attempts at regulation of Freddie and Fannie years ago because they so badly wanted to boost homeownership by people who should not have been able to borrow so much money. But Republicans shouldn't pretend they've been champions of regulation and watchdogs on Wall Street.

Some Democrats say John McCain fouled the deal by shining the light of presidential politics on the deliberations. That's baloney. If presidential politics were a primary consideration, House Republicans wouldn't have pulled the rug out from under McCain. This failure hurts his campaign.

Lots of people blame Henry Paulson. The roof is caving in, and he was saying the floor would collapse as well if a deal wasn't approved immediately. Did his statements cause yesterday's panic? Maybe they contributed.

Some say President Bush didn't explain the plan adequately to the American people. They didn't understand how their own fortunes would sink if Wall Street tumbled. I agree. I hope his second attempt this morning has a better effect but, unfortunately, his credibility level is practically below ground at this point.

Congress does have to try again. Those who voted no, like Howard Coble, ought to spell out what they need in order to vote yes and help make it happen.

By the way, I've got a call in to Teresa Sue Bratton to find out how she would have voted.

Yeah, calls from constituents were running heavily against the plan, from all across the country. Sometimes Congress has to do what seems to be necessary even if the remedy isn't absolutely certain and is definitely unpopular.

We can't stand many more rotten days.

If financial institutions like Wachovia can teeter, leaving the great city of Charlotte in likely distress, no community is safe.

Addendum: Sen. Dole would have voted against the measure presented to the House yesterday but is working on improvements she could support, aide Brian Nick tells me.

Update, 2:20 p.m. Teresa Sue Bratton, Howard Coble's Democratic opponent, returned my call from this morning. She would have voted FOR yesterday's bailout proposal.

Some of her comments:

"I believe it was the best bill available at the time."

The financial crisis already is being felt on Main Street, and things could become worse if nothing is done.

She has no reason to doubt the response to Coble's office, which said most callers opposed the plan: "A number of people in the district see this as a bailout for failed policies in the financial markets," Bratton said.

But she's also heard from people who want something done to restore liquidity and stability to the markets.

Now, she says leaders in Washington have to look at their options, analyze the options and move forward.