McClatchyites Mark Johnson and Ben Niolet want to know who’s running Cultural Resources these days.  Agency chief Libba Evans has been on unpaid personal leave since May.

Johnson, who apparently had a busy week, also posted a really interesting profile of Gov-elect Bev Perdue’s chief of staff Zach Ambrose.   

The N&O's Dan Kane says a turf war between AG Roy Cooper and Treasurer Richard Moore will keep NC out of a leadership role in a multi-state class action suit against Freddie Mac.

Greensboro’s Jonnelle Davis reports President George W. Bush is expected to visit the Triad Tuesday to honor local volunteer programs.   

Charlotte's Jack Betts gives thanks for UNC prof and former journalist Ferrel Guillory.  (Amen, Jack!)

Greensboro's Mark Binker says officials at the NC Zoo want the facility to expand, but that’ll require some administrative changes...and, of course, more money.

Asheville’s Jordan Schrader reports on the new female majority on NC’s Council of State.   

Outgoing NC Senator Liddy Dole’s "Godless" ad made #7 on CNN’s Bill Schneider’s Top Ten Political Turkeys of 2008. 

Musical Chairs, GOP style

The Insider’s Scott Mooneyham reports GOP Senators Bob Rucho (Meck) and Pete Brunstetter (Forsyth) are expected to challenge current Minority Leader Phil Berger for the corner office when the caucus meets in Greensboro next weekend.   Rucho confirmed as much to Mooneyham.

Rucho said that his pending retirement from his dental practice means that he can devote needed time to both the Republican legislative agenda and the important 2010 elections. Legislative redistricting will follow the elections. "I have all the respect in the world for Phil (Berger)," Rucho added.

Rucho served four terms in the Senate before losing his seat in the 2004 redistricting, which would have forced him into a primary against fellow Meck GOP Sen. Bob Pittenger.  He came back to the chamber this year as an appointee to Pittenger’s seat after the latter resigned to run for Lt. Gov.  

Mooneyham also reports Henderson Senator Tom Apodaca is giving up his leadership post.

Related:  The House GOP leadership might just be up for grabs, too.  Longtime Jones St. Republican aide Joel Raupe says he was “let go” earlier this month by House GOP Leader Paul Stam.  Raupe says Stam “just shrugged” when Raupe asked whether he’s running for a second term.  More here.  

(Update:  Raupe emailed me to say he was dismissed a couple of weeks ago, not last week, as an earlier version of this post stated.)

Meanwhile, off Jones St.

The N&O’s Alan Wolf says Red Hat has cancelled its swanky holiday party this year.

"We felt it was the wrong time to be spending a lot of money on ourselves," said DeLisa Alexander, Red Hat's senior vice president for people and brand.

She declined to say how much money Red Hat will donate, but it's enough to pay for about 800,000 meals at food banks run by Feeding America. In the Triangle, the group runs the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Taking off my jaded reporter hat for a minute, I've gotta say it:  Very cool.

The N&O's Rob Christensen took a break from politics this weekend to weigh in on driving habits.  (Rob, I'm an early merger, too.  Thanks for letting me know it doesn't really help.)

And some very sad news:  Former N&O editor Weta Ray Clark lost her long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Saturday.  She was just 44.   She'll be sorely missed by her friends and colleagues.  David Ranii has more on Clark's life.

'Tis the season

On a much lighter note, NYT’s Claudia La Rocco had a great story about the wrangler teacher who trains the kids for the City Ballet’s Nutcracker. 

On Dasher, on Dancer:  The AP reports the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, IL is selling “magical reindeer gem” ornaments this season.  Guess what the gem is.  (Hint: They were produced by actual reindeer.)     

And some timely shopping advice for my gentlemen readers:  Step away from the vacuum cleaner if you know what's good for you.

Comments? Drop me a line.

Okay, it’s only Tuesday -- but for reporter types, the holiday season is already upon us.  Thanksgiving week is always slow, and this one’s no exception. (Think about it:  the top news story every day this week has been rampant speculation about various, often obscure, appointments in the Obama administration.  I rest my case.)

Anyway, long story short, you’ll be hearing a lot of stories from me on the air this week about Things That Could Set Your House On Fire.  That’s what we’ve got to work with this time of year. I make no apologies.  

Not that there’s nothing going on, of course...

Tops of the Day

The N&O’s Michael Biesecker reports two former Cherry Hospital techs are on trial for beating a mentally disabled patient in August. 

A release from the NC Homebuilder’s Association today announced that Paul Wilms is stepping down after 8 years as chief lobbyist.  Somehow, I feel sure there’s more to this story.   

Charlotte’s Mark Johnson says longtime Dem strategist Mac McCorkle is headed for the seminary -- not as a student, but as a (temporary) development fellow for the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton.  Mac says he's “slowly extricating himself from politics.”  I’m not sure that’s possible without a bone marrow transplant, but here’s wishing Mac the best of luck.  

President Bush’s former top domestic policy advisor and Helms spokesman Claude Allen has received a 90-day suspension (aka a slap on the wrist) from his legal peers in DC for a series of shoplifting thefts from Target.   According to the Legal Times, a review panel recommended the “modest” punishment because, 

“as an adviser to Bush during Hurricane Katrina, which occurred shortly before the thefts, [Allen] internalized some of the suffering he witnessed during the crisis.”

Think that would've worked outside the Beltway?  Me neither. 

Charlotte’s Jack Betts says it was a good year for straight-party votes, especially for Libertarians.   

And just for fun, meet the Triangle’s latest celeb -- Mr. Fuzzy McFabulous, aka “Santos.”  The N&Os Leah Friedman had a brilliant tongue-in-jowl profile today.  

Comments? Drop me a line.

Sorry no post for Monday, but I have an excellent excuse:  I was working on this story about the fabulous folks at the Interfaith Food Shuttle in Raleigh.  They just finished their Thanksgiving turkey distribution. 

Here are a few of the folks whose voices you hear in the story:

From top left, clockwise (photos mine):

1. Miss Ann Bumgardner, queen of the Farmer's Market
2. Shuttle founder and President Jill Staton Bullard
3. The volunteers' turkey brigade
4. Food Shuttle Executive Chef Terri Hutter

Back to politics later today...stay tuned!

Comments?  Drop me a line.

Now that the dust on the campaign trail has finally settled, the NC press is turning its attention back to the state's balance sheet.  Yikes.

• The N&O's Ben Niolet says new numbers from the Fiscal Division show revenues are down 5%, widening the hole in next year’s budget.
• Asheville’s Jordan Schrader checks out the local impact of a shortfall out west.
• Fay-O’s John Ramsey looks at tanking sales taxes in Cumberland.  
• The VA-Pilot’s Catherine Kozak says Outer Banks officials are promising to maintain public services.

Related: The N&O's Kristen Collins reports the declining economy and stricter law enforcement may be shrinking NC’s illegal immigrant population. Excellent story.   

Sour economy aside, one NC charity can apparently afford to turn down a check.  Union Mission in Roanoke Rapids rejected a Sikh donor who wouldn’t remove his turban in their building.

 "She said, 'Sir, you have to take your turban off. This is the United States,'" Khera recounted.

WRAL has the rest of the story here. 

Otherwise

The N&O's Rob Christensen has a great column today on rough-and-tumble Tar Heel politics.  “North Carolina was polarized before polarization was cool.”  Check it out.

Charlotte's Jim Morrill says odd election results in Mecklenburg are new ammunition for those who say judges ought to be appointed, not elected.  Looks like Morrill had a busy week - he also has this profile of Mecklenburg’s newest Dem legislator, former sheriff candidate Nick Mackey.   

Char-O's Jack Betts has a fascinating piece on the creation and erosion of the Outer Banks.

Speaking of the beach, Wilmington’s Si Cantwell reports the cold snap sent 22 new patients to the Karen Beasley Turtle Hospital in Topsail.

Out there

It’s official:  last night, President-elect Obama named longtime spokesman and NC State alum Robert Gibbs White House press secretary.  The AP’s Joan Lowy has a nice profile of Gibbs here.  

Politico’s Jonathan Martin shuttered his GOP blog this week in a move that may prove premature, given that Mike Huckabee’s already back in the Hawkeye State.  The Iowa Independent reports Huck's doing robocalls for the National Right to Life Center.  Only 1400 shopping days left!  

Just for [bleeps] 

SNL’s best skit of the week didn’t make to air:  it’s this web-only Andy Samburg riff on Obama COS Rahm Emanuel.  Warning:  every bit as profanity-laden as you’d expect – hey, it’s Rahm -- but very, very funny.

Comments? Drop me a line.

Senate Pres pro tem Marc Basnight announced today he and House Speaker Joe Hackney have agreed to set up a joint study commission on offshore drilling energy exploration. 

Basnight’s never been a fan of the idea (he’s from Manteo, remember), and from what he said today, that hasn’t  changed.  But he pointed out that the issue got considerable political traction this year.   Hear his uncut comments on that here.

Basnight says the commission is a way to cut through the spin to the actual facts about the feasibility and results of drilling off NC’s coast.  Campaign season polls showed a majority of NC voters think we should drill.  Basnight says that’s because they were under the impression that it would lower their gas prices (an argument frequently advanced by Republican gubernatorial contender Pat McCrory).

Basnight says oil company research from the '80s shows NC is unlikely to have much if any oil. But he’s open to the idea that newer technologies might find more deposits: 

"If the study were to come back and say we have this incredible find and it is larger than anything man has seen, I'd have to look at that."

Even so, Basnight made it clear he’s more interested in alternative energy sources, especially a current UNC study on windfarms.  He says some parts of the coast would be perfect sites for wind power, thanks to shallow water and high wind, and they’d be out of sight of people.  Invoking T. Boone Pickens’ windfarms in the Texas panhandle, he said NC has the potential to raise wind power's profile around the world.

Basnight said he doesn’t know how long it would take the drilling commission to find solid conclusions. He estimated it would cost 100K, though if they need much scientific research, the pricetag’s likely to be substantially higher.  Basnight says they'll start naming members in the next week or two.

The state GOP, predictably, called the whole endeavor a waste of money.  The N&O’s Ben Niolet has the details. 

You could argue it’s all pretty much moot, anyway.  The state only controls the first three miles off the coast.  The feds are looking at 50 miles out, and the state wouldn’t have any control over that.  Still, Basnight seems to be hoping the study would turn popular sentiment and influence the state’s congressional delegation to vote against federal proposals.

Not according to Hoyle

State Senator David Hoyle’s name has been popping up a lot lately in discussions about Perdue’s cabinet.  The notoriously “business-friendly” Gaston Democrat is considered a frontrunner for the top job at Commerce.  But Basnight said today that Hoyle, his friend and roommate, isn’t interested in a move to the executive branch.

The grapevine also puts DOT Board member Lanny Wilson in the frontrunner spot for DOT Secretary.  Wilson is one of three major Perdue fundraisers on the DOT board --  the other two resigned under a cloud – and critics say his appointment would send a clear signal that Perdue will carry on business as usual on Jones St.  But Basnight said today he doesn’t see a problem with naming a fundraiser to head the department, calling Wilson “highly qualified” for the job.

Breaking it down

Democracy NC’s Bob Hall sent out a really interesting breakdown today of early voting vs. Election Day voting patterns around the state.  According to the report, Obama, Hagan, and Perdue all “lost” on Nov 5th, but each amassed enough early votes to prevail anyway. 

Hall says statewide turnout was 70% - the highest it’s been in 40 years – with some counties (notably Chatham) hitting the 75% mark.  And it turns out most NC voters were smart enough to figure out the whole non-presidential straight ticket ballot issue – the undervote for the top race was down to 1%.   More details at Democracy NC’s site. 

Comments?  Drop me a line.

Sometimes the only thing worse than a story that blows up in your face is one that doesn’t.  At least when you’re talking turkey.

Yesterday, the Cary Fire Department held its annual Holiday Hazards event, featuring flaming Christmas trees and exploding turkeys.  No, I’m not making fun of it – watching a turkey deep-fryer turn into an enormous fireball (last year’s story) is something you don’t forget.  Helping people to avoid that is a worthwhile endeavor.   

But sometimes Mother Nature just won’t cooperate. 

It was flurrying hard and brutally cold yesterday behind Cary Fire Station 1, where three shivering reporters gathered around a sacrificial Christmas tree waiting on the driveway. A turkey deep-fryer bubbled off to the side. The firemen were ready with their hoses.  

Then a call came in, sending almost all the firemen to the truck and out of the station. As the sirens faded, Fire Education Specialist Kathy Ellis borrowed some protective gear and found a volunteer to man the hose.  Then she tried to set the tree on fire. 

This turned out to be far more difficult than you'd expect.  The tree hadn’t been watered for two weeks, so it was definitely flammable. But Ellis was up against a stiff 25 mph wind, a snow shower, and a lighter that wasn’t working.

Eventually, a page of newsprint was rounded up to help hold a flame, and that worked much better.  The tree transformed into a torch – a roaring, searing fire that took one minute (I timed it) to turn a six-foot pine into a smoking skeleton.  Pretty impressive. 

Moral:  Water your tree, people.  A lot.

Part 2: the Turkey

A lot of turkey-fryer fires happen because too much oil gets too hot.  (The recommended temperature is usually 350-375, but many older fryers don’t have thermostats.) For the demo, Ellis and her crew were aiming to heat the oil to about 500 degrees, which made for a really effective fireball last year. 

But this year, it was so cold and windy that the oil wouldn’t get hotter than 450 degrees.   Eyeing the frostbitten reporters, Ellis opted to go ahead anyway.

No dice. Even though the fryer was overfilled and the bird was still partially frozen, the darned thing refused to blow up.  It just overflowed, flamed a little, and settled down.  A fireman (back by this time) settled a lid on the fryer with an air of resignation, nodding when a reporter asked whether the turkey might be salvageable for the station's dinner. 

Don’t count on cold weather to save you. Some safety tips: 

• Pre-measure the oil level using your turkey and water (the bird displaces the liquid).  Then dry the fryer completely. 
• Make sure the oil isn’t hotter than it’s supposed to be.
• Thaw and dry the bird completely.  Water plus boiling oil equals 911 call.
• Do NOT set your fryer on a flammable surface, especially a deck (flaming oil could go straight down into all those dead leaves trapped under it) or under an overhang or roof of any kind.  It’s bad enough to lose your turkey dinner to a fryer mishap - don’t lose your house, too (and yes, it happens).
• Don’t ever leave the fryer unattended, and keep kids and pets well away from it.  The noise and smell is pretty much guaranteed to attract curious members of both groups.   And remember that even after you’ve turned off the fryer, the oil stays hot for a long time.

Those tips are courtesy of Education Specialist Kathy Ellis, who joked to the firemen, “Hey, at least you don’t need to worry about me starting a fire.” 

Ellis wins the “PR Pro of the Day” award for undaunted determination and a great sense of humor in the face of recalcitrant poultry and unseasonable weather.  The next time you think flacks have it easy, think again.

Comments? Drop me a line.

Capitolbeat rocked

The 2008  Capitolbeat conference is over, and I’m thrilled to say it was apparently a big success.  (I didn't get to see much - I was burning up shoe leather with the rest of our Raleigh conference committee, making sure everything/ everyone was where it/(s)he was supposed to be.   But I have a USB copy of the presentations, and I can't wait to see them.)

We had around a hundred statehouse reporters from 26 states (including the Virgin Islands) plus Japan (!), as well as great presentations from an all-star line-up of national news names and local luminaries like Gov. and Mary Easley, Kay Hagan, Pat Stith, Ferrel Guillory, Bill Leuchtenburg, Hodding Carter, Ken Eudy, David Crabtree, Chris Roush, Chris Fitzsimon, and too many others to name.   All the sessions were well-attended, none of our young reporter attendees got lost or arrested, the food was good, and everyone says they had a great time.

Conference chair Mark Binker (Greensboro) was elected VP.  I was re-elected President.  And UNC-TV’s Eszter Vajda earned a spot on the board.   Big thanks to our local committee members Eszter, Jordan Schrader (Asheville) and James Romoser (Winston-Salem) for helping make the conference a success.


Best keynote ever?

At Capitolbeat, we’ve had a long tradition of keynoters who are huge industry names, but aren’t exactly fun or uplifting.  I’m happy to report we broke the latter part of that tradition with this year’s keynoter, Pulitzer winning veteran N&O investigative reporter Pat Stith.  He was as funny, charming, and smart as usual.  You can find audio of his remarks here. 

Stith retired on a buyout from McClatchy earlier this fall, a fact he noted at the beginning of his remarks. But I know I’m not the only one who noticed he talked about reporting in the present tense – a hard habit to break after 39 years, I guess.  And he had what you might call a “tell” in poker terms: whenever he talked about something he loved, like breaking a story or getting into someone’s head, he’d put his hands out in front of him and flutter his fingers as if he were typing – a subconscious gesture that spoke volumes about his love for the trade.

Pat brought his wife, Donna, with him to Saturday's dinner.  They’ve been together since they were 17, and almost fifty years later, she's still not tired of hearing him talk about his job. She was beaming the whole time he was on stage.  She was also the subject of the night’s funniest moment  - Stith’s description of assuming vacuuming duties after his retirement.  Listen to the end of Part 2 of the Q&A here.


The Tavern's satellite bureau

Legislative uber-staffer Gerry Cohen kicked off the conference for us Thursday night at a reception in the rotunda of the old State Capitol.  Cohen’s actual job is heading up the bill drafting division, but he’s even more highly regarded as the guy who knows more than anyone else about the history of NC politics. He recounted some of the more interesting facts about the old Capitol, like:

• It’s allegedly haunted – by Union soldiers, no less.
• The building was ridiculously expensive, costing the state more than three years’ budget when it was built in 1840. 
• Lawmakers turned an upstairs office into a speakeasy during Prohibition.
• The third floor clerk’s offices were only accessible by spiral staircases so steep the clerks used chamberpots to avoid navigating them.

Cohen’s prepared remarks are here.


Elsewhere

• Word on the grapevine is that State Senator Ellie Kinnaird either just married or is about to be married to her beau, Kenan Prof Emeritus Dan Pollitt.  Pics of the very cute couple with Barack Obama here.  Congrats, Senator! 
• The N&O’s Rob Christensen had a fantastic profile today of Obama’s NC director, Marc Farinella.
• Former State Sen Hugh Webster says his political enemies are to blame for the fact his own aunt helped the SBI indict him for swindling her.  Look, I know things have gotten pretty partisan this year, but …seriously? 

Comments? Drop me a line.

Capitolbeat

The 2008 national Capitolbeat conference descends on the City of Oaks this weekend. Conference Chair Mark Binker (Greensboro) and I are running around like headless chickens, trying to tie up loose ends and make sure our 130-some guests from 26 states (!!) have a good time in Raleigh. 

So be patient – I’ll be back here more often next week.  And if you run into some tipsy inkstained wretches downtown this weekend, please be nice to them.  I can’t afford to bail them out.

Want to come to the conference? The agenda's here, and yes, we offer onsite registration - just let me know.

A new First Pooch for NC?

Since I haven’t had much time for reporting this week, here's some great tape from the not-so-distant past that never made it to air.

There’s been a lot of talk about what kind of dog the First Family-elect should bring into the White House.  But – little-known fact -- the Governor’s mansion is about to acquire a pack of its own. 

Make no mistake about it, Perdue is a Dog Person. She has two Tibetan Terriers:  Dosie, whom Perdue got in 2000, the year she was elected to the state's #2 office, and Dosie’s daughter Zipper, whose delivery caused Perdue to miss a crucial basketball game (but no regrets).

Two Tibetans officially qualify as a handful, but the Governor-elect is hoping to convince her husband Bob to let her add a third pup – a Labrador retriever. (Sounds like a great idea to me, but then I’m biased - see below).  Here's what she had to say about it in our Sept. interview: 

And a new Tavern mascot, too

I’m delighted to introduce the Tavern’s newest mascot, a (formerly) homeless black lab pup named Boxcar Willie.  He was found wandering around a Food Lion parking lot with a bum leg we’ll have to fix once he’s done growing.  He loves everyone he meets, and everyone who meets him says he’s the Sweetest Guy Ever – especially when he takes a break from eating the furniture.

Adding a 7-month-old lab puppy to your house during campaign season is certifiably nuts – no argument there – but you know, it’s actually pretty good for your mental health. It’s kind of like having an adorable court jester who destroys stuff.  If you can minimize the latter, the former is a great reminder of what really matters. 

Elsewhere, news-wise

The N&O’s Lynn Bonner reports Gov-for-life Jim Hunt doesn’t want to go to DC to serve in Obama’s cabinet.  (Palin, however, is open to the idea.) 

Also at the N&O, Rob Christensen says former GOP Gov candidate State Senator Fred Smith is weighing a run at the state party chairmanship next year. No word yet on what incumbent Linda Daves thinks about that.  She hasn’t said whether she’s interested in a second term. 

The AP says Jim Black protégé Drew Saunders (D-Meck), who lost his May primary, resigned from the state House yesterday so he could go to work a month earlier as a lobbyist for Electricities.  The 2006 Ethics reform bill required a year-long cooling off period between serving in the legislature and lobbying.  But last session, it was shortened to six months.  Guess who pushed for the change? Charlotte’s Mark Johnson has more. 

And – my favorite story of the day – carjacker David Lee Fourney is on the run in western NC. We know his name because he left his dog Roxy at the crime scene, wearing tags with a name and phone number.  You cannot make this stuff up.

Comments?  Drop me a line.

Sorry it's been so quiet around here.  It's not just post-election burnout, believe it or not.  My national group, Capitolbeat, is holding our annual conference here in Raleigh this Thursday through Saturday, so I've been spending a lot of time on it, as has conference chair Mark Binker.  

It seemed like such a good idea at the time.  "Sure," we said.  "We can host the '08 conference in NC, because hey, we're not a swing state.  Heck, we haven't been one in 30 years.  Nobody ever campaigns in NC.  We'll have tons of time."

Anyway, the conference is open to the public -- schedule and registration info are here.  It's going to be a good time, but that means it's also going to be a light week around here.   Sorry about that!

NC Ink

The N&O's Rob Christensen has the backstory on Dole’s "Godless" ad.  (No, it doesn’t redeem it.)

Greensboro’s Mark Binker says Gov-elect Perdue’s gearing up to take on the budget.

McClatchy's Ben Niolet and Mark Johnson wonder whether Perdue can really enact all the reforms she’s promising, given her close relationship with longtime Senate leader Marc Basnight.  Bonus:  a clip-'n-save "who’s who" on the folks who actually run this state. 

Speaking of Basnight, W-SJ’s James Romoser has a closer look at the pro tem's relationships with Perdue, Rand, et al. Very nice.

Want to see how Obama turned NC blue?  NCSU’s Christopher Healey has some cool new cartography.  Check it out. 

Elsewhere

My favorite story of the week, hands down:   WaPo’s Wil Haygood had an amazing profile of Eugene Allen, a black man who worked in the White House for 34 years.  Do NOT miss this story, and read the whole thing. Keep the Kleenex handy.   

At the Boston Globe, former Romney Communications Director  Eric Fehrnstrom posts an op-ed on the ups and downs (well, mostly downs) of managing a campaign in the digital age.    

Over at TPM, Greg Sargeant and Eric Kleefield point out that Guilford County -- the place Sarah Palin called a “pro-America part of America" October 16th  - went for Obama by 18 points.  Ouch.  

Just for fun

Back in 2005, when presidential aspirations were just a sparkle in Barack Obama’s eye, he took part in a charity roast of Rahm Emmanuel.  Here’s what the president-elect really thinks of his new chief of staff. 




And for those of you feeling a tad verklempt as the dust settles on the campaign trail, the uber-spoofers over at the Onion are feelin’ your pain.  (H/T Fiona Morgan).

Comments? Drop me a line.

(Or is it Tuesday late?  Must. Sleep. Soon.)

Wow.

I was at the Democratic HQ last night in Raleigh.  You could’ve run a city off the energy in that room.  I’ve covered a lot of campaigns, winners and losers, but this is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to an irresistible political force.

One of the drawbacks of radio is no pictures.  So in lieu of, here’re some of my favorite images from last night:

• An entire family – grandma to grandkids – decked out in matching T-shirts.  (They all canvassed for Obama, too.)
• A group of seven white suburban hockey moms dressed in blue, toting a sign (on a hockey stick, natch) that read "Hockey Moms for Obama." One told me her nine-year-old son Ian had held a bake sale for Obama at his school.
• Two "Red Hat" ladies, one white, one black, shuffling around the Marriott lobby in their purple outfits. One was wearing glasses framed in blinking red lights.
• Attorney General Roy “Dignified” Cooper whooping like a teenager when CNN called Ohio for Obama.
• And my favorite, a little old lady named Maurice.  She was 80, tiny, black, bundled up in a coat and beret, ensconced on the couch in the Marriott’s cavernous lobby.  She watched the returns on a bank of flatscreen TVs while she told me about the days when Fayetteville St., outside the door, had “colored” drinking fountains.  She had tears in her eyes.

Eating Crow

Okay, so I was one for three.  Or maybe one and a half.   Good thing the bets were small, right?

Dem US Senate candidate Kay Hagan cleaned R incumbent Liddy Dole's clock by a healthy margin of 53-44.  Jessica Jones had this wrap-up.  

McCrory did not win by a hair as I predicted. Instead, Bev Perdue pulled it out by three points, 50-47.  It’s a squeaker compared to recent gubernatorial races, but a win's a win, regardless.   Here's my story on it. 

And for now, we still don’t know who won NC's presidential race.  As of 8 am, Obama had an 11K lead (that’s out of 4.2 million, mind you) over John McCain, but provisional ballots haven’t been tallied yet.   My editor was counting his blessings. “If it [the national race] had been close,” he said with a visible shudder, “we’d have been the next Florida.”

Leoneda Inge had a story this morning on local African-American reax.  That's here.

State House and Senate

Neither chamber saw much of a shift, though it’s safe to say several Dems who’d been targeted probably owe Obama handwritten thank-you notes. 

Senate Dems lost one seat:  Dalton’s seat flipped to R for former Rep. Debbie Clary.  Dems Hoyle, Soles, and Boseman survived tough challenges.  Janet Cowell’s and Kay Hagan’s open seats stayed D.  John Kerr’s seat stayed D, too, disappointing former GOP Rep Louis Pate, while Fred Smith’s seat stayed R.

In the House, nothing changed.  The Rs held onto 9 open seats (a remarkable feat this year), but Bill Daughtridge’s and Charles Thomas’s seats went D. 

The Ds held onto two open seats (Mary McAllister’s and Drew Saunders’s), and picked up two R seats (Daughtridge’s and Thomas’s), but two incumbents -- Walt Church and Jim Harrell -- lost to R challengers.

More later, after I get some sleep.

Comments?  Drop me a line.