The Pilot (Southern Pines) has a nice backgrounder on the NCGOP pissing contest with Richard Morgan. They give special attention to Art "The Puppetmaster" Pope in his spending frenzy to purify the party he owns.

Art Pope, a longtime arch-enemy of Morgan and a former House member, has donated more than $100,000 — through his businesses — to a group running ads attacking Morgan. One of them uses a baseball theme that asks voters to “Call Him Out.”

Morgan has filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections, claiming that the money and advertisements are illegal because they name him. Morgan’s foes say the ads are from an issue-advocacy group, called the Republican Legislative Majority of North Carolina, which can accept corporate dollars as long as it doesn’t advocate for or against a specific candidate.

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Local Republicans warn faithful not to take races lightly

Armor, citing polls that suggest Taylor’s popularity may be waning, claimed that if Taylor wins the May 2 Republican primary, Democratic congressional candidate Heath Shuler will beat the eight-term incumbent in the general election.

The News and Observer delivers this perfect headline today on the sad state of Elizabeth Dole, who's out in Montana shilling for Conrad Burns, another neocon senator in trouble.

Dole stumps, takes lumps

BILLINGS, MONT. - The wind chased clouds of brown dust across the endless Montana landscape, a view so different from the rolling green of North Carolina's Piedmont. Volunteers tacked up fluttering banners for a campaign rally, and aides to Montana's junior senator prepped for the big event -- a visit by GOP superstar Elizabeth Dole, senator from North Carolina. Hours later, she would stand next to Sen. Conrad Burns, a man under attack for his ties to a lobbying scandal, and call him a man of integrity.

Only six more days until the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Raleigh next Saturday (Evan Bayh, keynote).

I took a study break to upload a couple of new features to the site. Take a look over the weekend and let me know if they're working for you.

1. Look for the link "chat" on the lefthand side of your screen. If anyone else happens to have their chat window open, you can, uh, chat. Being the weekend, you may have to wait a while to catch someone.

2. Admins, click "create content" and then "citizenspeak" and then drool.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if I messed anything up that needs to be put back right. Thanks!

You have to admire Art 'The Puppetmaster' Pope. He hedges his bets like crazy, always working to spin more plates in his circus just in case his ego starts flailing. One of his recent start-ups is the Civitas Institute, headed by his old buddy Jack Hawke. According to their 2005 filings, Civitas is running on chump change from the Puppetmaster, a mere $308,000 in annual contributions - which accounts for pretty much the entire Civitas operating budget. (See attachment.)

I won't embarrass Mr. Hawke and his Sideshow sidekick, Thomas Stith, by posting the piddling salaries they get for doing the Puppetmaster's dirty work. It's sad, though, to see grown men selling their souls for next to nothing to do nothing worth doing.

Like the man's politics or not, you've got to like the man's style:

Not long before his retirement, state Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. complained about courts being “nickled and dimed” by legislators and said courts should quit hearing civil cases until prosecutors catch up with criminal cases — or until the General Assembly gives courts the funds to do the job.

Fayetteville Online - Current Article Page

With so much emphasis on local and Congressional races, it's easy to lose sight of the critically important judiciary. Many people I know don't really know how to evaluate the candidates, and sometimes make their choices based on the ubiquity of yard signs. Here's a better option: Take the endorsements of the Independent to heart. Being a local boy with a contrarian streak, I don't always agree with the Independent about endorsements, but I think they nail these races. And I hope they don't mind if I post some excerpts.

State Supreme Court: Five candidates are vying for an open seat on the state's highest court, and we support sitting N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Robin Hudson of Raleigh. N.C.

KAIT - Jonesboro, AR: This is just gross. In Charlotte:

The eruption lasted 55 minutes, leaving four inches of sludge in the house.

Go Check It Out.

It's his take on Shuler outraising Taylor.