An item in Dome Tuesday gave incorrect information on Democratic Treasurer candidate Janet Cowell. As a member of the state Senate, Cowell served as a member of the appropriations committee and was co-chairwoman of the subcommittee on general government and information technology.

Dome regrets the error. 

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will support the Democratic nominee.

A spokeswoman for the Lillington Democrat took exception to a recent Dome post that took a guess that he was not endorsing either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama because he does not want to be tied too closely to the nominee in a conservative district.

Joanne Peters noted that Etheridge endorsed John Edwards in 2007 and campaigned for him in Iowa. He also endorsed Edwards in 2004 and supported the Kerry-Edwards ticket that year.

"He's supported and campaigned with other Democratic candidates in the past and fully intends to support the Democratic nominee in 2008," she said.

She said Etheridge is not endorsing because he "wants the process to play out," but she would not say whether that meant he would announce after the final primary on June 3, before the national convention or after one of the candidates drops out.

There are gradations of support after all. For example, endorsing a candidate long before the primary. Endorsing a candidate shortly before a primary. Saying you'll vote for the winner of your district. And waiting until someone is the nominee to endorse them.

Etheridge also supported Al Gore in 2000, but went out of his way at a debate to say he wouldn't be "cowtied by any president." And Edwards, a native son and a candidate popular in rural areas, is a different situation entirely.

Two state agencies charged with cleaning up state government are fighting over who gets to hold the broom.

The N.C. State Ethics Commission, created in response to corruption scandals that sent powerful officials to prison, says it has the sole responsibility to enforce the state's ethics law.

State Auditor Les Merritt says the commission is prohibited by law from investigating anonymous complaints and that he has the right and duty to follow up on credible tips about problems in state government.

The debate has been quietly simmering since at least January. It boiled over Friday when the commission voted to ask the legislature to settle the dispute.

"We think the legislature gave it [the commission] the sole authority for implementing, interpreting, investigating and enforcing the ethics act," Perry Newson, executive director of the commission, said in an interview. "It's not the job of other agencies."

More after the jump.

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Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said on MSNBC that he would likely endorse the candidate he voted for in Tuesday's primary. Some observers think Edwards says he voted for "him" at the 10-minute mark, though Edwards quickly denied it.

Why did Pat McCrory beat Fred Smith?

As with the Democratic gubernatorial race, it's dangerous to draw sweeping conclusions, but here are a few educated guesses about how the Charlotte mayor won the primary.

He had a strong base. As a seven-term mayor of the largest city in North Carolina, McCrory had a larger pool of supporters than Smith. Playing on his childhood in Jamestown, he made a strong play for the Triad, where no candidate had a base.

He raised money. Aided by his ties to the Charlotte business community, he quickly made up for lost time, raising $1.2 million in the first half of the year — more than any of his Republican competitors, all of whom had been running for a year.

His ads were effective. McCrory had four ads in heavy rotation on jobs, immigration, corruption and leadership. Smith had two ads; Bill Graham just one. McCrory's ads were distinctive, with a clean white background that stood out.

He learned quickly. After initial missteps in his "garage-band" phase, Smith shuffled his staff and brought in a star consultant. He picked up on concerns about illegal immigration and corruption in Raleigh, cutting into Smith's core message.

His competitors ran poor campaigns. Smith ran an old-school campaign based on barbecues and spent money on a book and a song. Graham ran his TV ads two years too soon then parted ways with his consultant in the home stretch. Bob Orr was underfunded.

To endorse or not to endorse?

That's the question for the five remaining uncommitted superdelegates from North Carolina in the presidential primary contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Here's a roundup of them and our best guess on why they haven't decided yet.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre: Met with Clinton Thursday and his district went for her narrowly. Told AP that superdelegates should "let the process work." Translation: Does not want to be tied to Democratic nominee in conservative district.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge: Met with Obama Thursday and his district went for him substantially. Repeatedly says he has no plans for endorsement. Translation: Does not want to be tied to Democratic nominee in conservative district.

Carol Peterson, Buncombe County commissioner: County voted for Obama by double-digits. Willing to wait until the Democratic convention. Obama and Clinton have both called her personally. Translation: Enjoying the attention.

David Parker, Statesville attorney: Impressed with Obama; interested in economy. Concerned about racial inequality. Does not think superdelegates have to follow the wishes of voters. Willing to wait until convention. Translation: Enjoying the attention.

Muriel Offerman, Democratic National Committee: Concerned about racially lopsided victory of Obama in North Carolina. Met Clinton, Obama several times. Says she won't decide until all states have voted. Translation: Will announce after June 3.

A legislative office created to examine the benefit of public programs was ready to give its report  Thursday on the state's mental health services.

Anyone could tell from the title "Compromised controls and lack of focus hampered implementation of enhanced mental health services" it wasn't full of compliments, Lynn Bonner reports.

The report got cut from the agenda about a week before the Joint Oversight Program Evaluation Committee met.

A News & Observer investigation this year found that the state has wasted at least $400 million on a service one on of the enhanced programs, called community support. The federal government is holding on to $175 million in payments to the state because of suspected abuses in the program.

A chairman of the committee, Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord, said the report was taken off the agenda because the committee didn't have time to talk about it. The mental health report was the only item removed from the revised agenda distributed in advance of the meeting.

Hartsell said the committee would get the mental health report back on its agenda. "End of session, probably," he said.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards says Barack Obama appears to be the nominee on the "Today" show this morning.

Gov. Mike Easley gave a preview of his 2009 budget.

In a meeting with reporters, his staff introduced proposals for $31 million for programs to benefit uninsured children, farm and poultry plant workers and sexual assault victims.

"One of the most important roles of government is to look after and protect the basic human rights of those who cannot stand up for themselves," he said in a statement.

Easley will make his full budget public  next week when the legislature returns to Raleigh. The proposals released so far are less than 1 percent of state spending from last year.

They include $10.4 million for child health insurance coverage and $600,000 for uninsured women to receive rape kit examinations. (N&O)

Barack Obama faced a tough choice at a downtown Raleigh bar Tuesday.

If Obama had ordered a non-alcoholic beverage at the Raleigh Times Bar, such as unsweetened tea, he might have presented himself as a teetotaling, arugla-chewing lightweight, Michael Biesecker reports.

However, the choice of cold-draught Pabst Blue Ribbon — signature beer of the blue-collar worker — could be viewed as either a down-to-earth choice of a man with simple tastes or a naked pander to the working-class voters courted by Hillary Clinton.

And in the contest to be the candidate voters would most like to share a drink with, Clinton had preemptively set the bar high with shots of Crown Royal whiskey at bar in Indiana last month.

PBR is also the cheapest beer on draft at Raleigh Times, displaying a measure of fiscal conservatism. Though with an $18 tip to the barkeep, Obama made a play for charity as well.

Obama avoided controversy by not selecting the next beer over on the tap. One can only imagine the fun Rush Limbaugh would have had if a Democrat who wants to pull our troops out of Iraq had ordered a beer called Surrender Monkey.

(Not to mention that its 8 percent alcohol content might have hurt his oratorical skills.)

Regardless of what he drank, Obama effectively courted the home of flue-cured tobacco by entering the smoking section first.

Many uncommitted superdelegates have been swayed by the primary.

For elected officials, especially, the vote in their district or their state can be a pretty hard argument to overlook, since they will face those voters again.

So it's worth noting that uncommitted superdelegate Carol Peterson is a Buncombe County commissioner.

Buncombe went for Barack Obama, 55 to 44 percent.

Peterson told ABC News 13 in Asheville on Election Night that she wasn't ready to declare and may wait until the Democratic convention. 

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge attended a meeting with Barack Obama today in Washington, but he did not go to a similar meeting with Hillary Clinton.

The Lillington Democrat, a superdelegate, hasn't made a decision about endorsements, said spokeswoman Joanne Peters.

"He has no plans to make an endorsement right now," Peters said.

So, when might he decide?

"He doesn't have a timeline," she said.

Etheridge's Second Congressional District went for Obama, 57 to 40 percent.

Update: Peters notes that Etheridge was not invited to the Clinton event. 

Previously: Etheridge uncommitted after election.

Tom Campbell says Richard Moore will be back.

The N.C. Spin columnist says that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has not run his last campaign.

Richard Moore isn’t through. Even though he was defeated by a wide margin Tuesday most observers believe they will see him on a ballot again. In two years Senator Richard Burr will stand for re-election. You can expect his Democratic opponent to be Moore.

Moore previously lost a Congressional race in 1994 and bounced back to run successfully for state treasurer, thanks in part to Gov. Jim Hunt, who appointed him secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety.

The next question is: What would Moore do between now and 2010?

Though it may be a while before we find out the answer, we've asked the Magic Eight Ball: Will Moore run for U.S. Senate in 2010? It's answer: Without a doubt.

Hillary Clinton reportedly met with U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre today.

MSNBC reports that the Democratic presidential candidate met with undeclared superdelegates at a townhouse near the Democratic National Committee this morning.

The Lumberton Democrat previously said he would not make any endorsements before the state primary.

He is one of two state Democrats whose Congressional districts were won by Clinton. The other, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, said he will cast his superdelegate vote for Clinton because she won his district.

Clinton won the Seventh Congressional District, 49 to 48 percent.

Update: McIntyre told the Associated Press he would wait to see how the primary process plays out before making a decision. He also noted that his district went for Clinton, while the state went for Obama.

"I think we should give the primary process every opportunity to work," McIntyre said in a phone interview. "Our job (as superdelegates) is to really to broker a final determination" if the primary doesn't do that."