polling

(cross-posted at dKos)

Public Policy Polling confirms what we already knew--North Carolina is in play presidentially. However, news from the Senate race here isn't quite as encouraging.

On the presidential side, McCain only leads Obama 45-41--just one point over the margin of error. Barr gets 5 percent. Note, this is a Democratic polling firm--but as with the last poll from NC, from a Republican polling firm, there's virtually no good news for McCain.

On the Senate side, however, Liddy Dole appears to be pulling away from Kay Hagan. She now leads 51 percent to 38 percent ... and the trends suggest Hagan's got some work to do.

Civitas has a luncheon every month or so to spin the results of their push polls. These meetings are primarily used to offer advice to Republican elected officials and GOP campaign workers on how to win elections. Given that Civitas claims a 501(c)3 tax free status, this ought to be illegal.

As a staff person of the North Carolina Democratic Party I attended the lunch yesterday. Ric Killian (R, District 105) was the guest. We tried to tape the presentation, but a Civitas staff person prevented us from doing so.

Candidates spend a lot of time seeking out endorsements from various PACs or media outlets, but do they really matter?

Patrick McHenry seems to think of himself as some kind of celebrity. According to some friends in the GOP (as misled as they seem to be), Patrick McHenry didn't even show up to the Catawba County debate... he didn't send someone to speak on his behalf, either. Except for sending someone to "secretly" monitor the debate (I imagine with a shoe-phone and spy glasses from a cereal box), Patrick McHenry didn't care. So, the question has to be asked: where's McHenry?