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Nine-year-old Will Cunningham's friends at school don't believe him when he tells them about his summer.

But now he has video proof. Will, the son of former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, and his sister Caroline, 10, met First Lady Michelle Obama in a private event in the Raleigh backyard of state Rep. Grier Martin. The Aug. 1 private visit was featured in the eight minute video introducing Obama at the Democratic convention Tuesday night. (Click below for video. 3:33 mark)

It's the final week at the N.C. General Assembly. And the sausage/law-making is getting messy.

Take the House Rules Committee meeting just before session. 

Republican Chairman Tim Moore of Kings Mountain amended Senate bill 382 to include a provision that will primarily benefit a Durham developer. (Read more about it here.) What's his interest? Moore said he thinks fairness is important. Pressed again, he said Cal Cunningham, a former Democratic state senator and the developer's attorney, approached him about it. The two are old college buddies from UNC-Chapel Hill.

The N.C. Democratic Party has begun a process to replace Executive Director Jay Parmley, who resigned Sunday after allegations surfaced about the sexual harassment of a party staffer and a secret financial settlement.

But it sounds like the process of finding a replacement -- which is especially important with North Carolina as a battleground state in this election -- won't happen immediately.

David Parker, the embattled party chairman, who is facing calls for his resignation, sent an email to party officials Tuesday naming a search committee that includes the eventual winner of the May 8 Democratic primary for governor. 

Cal Cunningham, a former U.S. Senate candidate, will not seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Cunningham issued a statement Monday saying he is too busy to launch a statewide campaign so late in the game.

"Elizabeth and I did not plan for a campaign this year," Cunningham said in a statement. "After careful reflection, I've concluded we cannot balance our existing professional, financial and family commitments with the full time demands of a statewide campaign at this late hour.  The only responsible decision under present circumstances is not to run."

The campaign is wide open after Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton decided to seek the Democratic nomination for governor after the departure of Gov. Bev Perdue from the race.

UPDATED: Amid the Democratic scramble in the governor's race, another tier of political names are considering a bid to replace Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton in the state's No. 2 post.

Dalton announced Thursday he would seek the governor's mansion. Among the Democratic names being mentioned as possible candidates: former U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham (see below), Sen. Don Vaughn of Greensboro, Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte and former U.S. Senate candidate Ken Lewis. Former state Rep. Linda Coleman is also exploring a run and expects to make a decision next week.

Cal Cunningham, a former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, is considering a bid for lieutenant governor after Walter Dalton announced plans to run for governor.

Cunningham issued a statement late Thursday saying he is "actively having conversations" about a potential campaign. Read his full statement below:

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham returned two weeks ago from an Army Reserve tour in Afghanistan as legal counsel to a Fort Bragg special forces unit. In an interview Friday, Cunningham sized up the war in Afghanistan, Gov. Bev Perdue's chances for re-election, Democrats chances of taking back control of the legislature and the political landscape facing President Barack Obama in 2012.

Cunningham, who lost in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary to Elaine Marshall, remained coy about his political future -- though he acknowledges a likely run for office again in the future. For the time being, expect to see Cunningham as a surrogate for Obama and a promoter for other party allies running next year.

Cal Cunningham, a former state senator who lost a U.S. Senate primary last year, is heading to Afghanistan, reports Charlotte Observer staff writer Jim Morrill.

Four years ago, the Lexington Democrat, a lawyer in the Army Reserve, deployed to Iraq. A senior prosecutor, he worked out of one of Saddam Hussein's old palaces.

In Afghanistan, he'll be one of two lawyers working with a special operations task force and doing “Village Stability Operations.” He writes about the new deployment on his blog.

He'll leave his wife and two children in Lexington, including the daughter born after Sept. 11, 2001.

"We were pregnant with Caroline on that horrifying September day ten years ago," he wrote. "If I can play some small role in helping make a world safer for her and for Will – and their generation – the time will be worth it. Given the stakes for our country, I am compelled to try."
 
Last year Cunningham lost a Democratic Senate primary runoff to Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

DURHAM – Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall, donning sneakers, was knocking on doors this afternoon in Durham before heading out to the State Fairgrounds.

Before heading into the neighborhoods to canvass, she gave a pep talk about about 40 volunteers who gathered behind the Southbank building in downtown Durham.

“This election is about who you are going to stand up for: whether you are going to stand up for middle class.. or are you going to to up there for the millionaires and billionaires who ship jobs overseas again and again,” Marshall said.

She was joined by her former Democratic primary opponent, Durham attorney Ken Lewis. Earlier in the day, she was introduced at the Orange County Democratic Party breakfast by another former rival, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Richard Burr was working his way toward the Triangle holding rallies in Fayetteville and Goldsboro. He will be in Five County Stadium tonight in Zebulon.

Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall is beginning to get some help from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

That was clear last week, when Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow appeared at a fundraiser in Charlotte with Marshall, reports Rob Christensen.

“I want to convey very, very strong unified support for Elaine,” Stabenow said Friday at a luncheon at the Duke Mansion.

The DSCC backed Cal Cunningham in the Democratic primary, deciding that Marshall was not the strongest candidate.

“We didn't get it right in the primary,” Stabenow said. “We made a mistake. ...The people of North Carolina know the right person."

But Stabenow promised things would be different this fall, saying “we are all in.”

But the level of support is still not clear.

Stabenow said Republican Sen Richard Burr was part of the Republican effort to try block every initiative put forward by President Barack Obama, from providing equal pay for equal work for women, to expanding health insurance to children, to making more loans available to small busiensses.

“She is running against someone who is part of the just say no caucus,” Stabenow said.