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Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx says North Carolina Democrats are preparing for a major battle in defending Sen. Kay Hagan's seat in 2014.

“It's gonna be one of the biggest Senate race in the country,” Foxx told POLITICO this weekend while in Washington to attend the inaugural. “And that's going to be a fight.''

North Carolina Democrats took a drubbing on election day.

“I think it's incumbent on North Carolina Democrats to do what national Republicans are doing, which is to huddle up and figure out what happened and to think about what the implications are and what happened and to think about what the implications are and what needs to happen going forward to build a case for progressive politics in North Carolina.''

A Politico article is raising an interesting question: Will U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan seek re-election?

Hagan, a Democrat, raised the specter herself by dodging Politico's question. Reporter Manu Raju writes: "There are surprise retirements every cycle, and some senators are cagey about their intentions this far away from the next election, even if they are widely expected to run.

“I’m definitely working hard to avert the fiscal cliff, focus on the tasks at hand right now, and that’s what I’m focused on,” said first-term Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, when asked about her plans."

The question will hound Hagan until she answers it.

Although this definitely falls under the category of getting the cart before the horse, Politco has an article about who might be in a second Obama administration that mentions North Carolinian Erskine Bowles.

“There are some people close to Obama who would like Treasury to go to Erskine Bowles, the co-author of the deficit reduction plant that will be central to the debate in the first 100 days,” write Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. “He is widely respected for his intellect, but many around the president are deeply suspicious of his loyalty.''

Bowles, the past president of the University of North Carolina system, is a Charlotte investment banker. He is a two-time Senate candidate, former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and former head of the Small Business Administration.

The article also mentions Roger Altman, the former number at treasury, and Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of the BlackRock asset-management firm, as having indicated to colleagues that they would like to be treasury secretary.

Two good Sunday long reads ahead of the Democratic convention in Charlotte:

From Politico's Jonathan Martin: "Ever since his national debut at the 2004 Democratic convention, Barack Obama’s calling card has been that he practices consensus-oriented politics that transcend traditional divisions. But four years after his historic presidential election, the country he sought to bring together is even more divided than when he launched his candidacy. And no place is more polarized than the South."

From National Journal's Beth Reinhard: "North Carolina crystallizes a key question looming over the 2012 election and those to follow: Can Hispanics translate their growing numbers into greater political clout on relatively unfamiliar ground? Although Hispanics’ voting participation lags their population numbers almost everywhere, states with long-standing Latino communities—such as California, Florida, New York, and Texas—boast battle-tested political infrastructures of liberal, minority, and labor groups that sweep Hispanic voters to the polls every Election Day."

Since the last presidential election, the number of registered independents in North Carolina has grown, but there has been a sharp drop off in the number of registered Democrats.

A study by the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way shows greater growth of independent voters in North Carolina than any other battleground state.

The number of independent or unaffiliated voters grew by 207,173 voters or 14.4 percent since 2008, reports POLITICO. In Mecklenburg County the number of unaffiliated voters rose 11 percent and in Wake County by 17 percent since the last presidential election.

The number of Democratic voters has dropped by 116,662 or 4.1 percent, while the number of Republican voters has dropped by 13,017 or 0.7 percent. President Barack Obama carried the state by about 14,000 votes in 2008.

A super PAC supporting Mitt Romney is preparing to blast North Carolina TV's with the latest salvo in the presidential race.

The Restore Our Future ad -- according to Politico -- slaps President Barack Obama for saying the private sector is "doing fine" and echoes an ad run by the Romney campaign. (Take an early peak below.) The total national ad buy is $6 million with the ad airing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada and Virginia, Politico reported.

Former U.S. Attorney George Holding says he has no regrets about prosecuting former Sen. John Edwards, even though the case ultimately was not successful.

“Political corruption cases are the most difficult cases,” Holding told POLITICO, a Washington -based publication. “If we had not taken on these cases, not taken on this case, it would have a dereliction of duty.''

Holding said he was not disappointed with the decision of Justice Department Criminal Division chief Larry Breuer to abandon the prosecution after a mistrial on most of the charges.

“I am not disappointed,'' Holding said. “This is the way our system works and I respect the jury's verdict. I respect Mr. Breuer's decision. He's had the final say on this case from day one. I didn't attend the trial...I'm not in a position to question his opinion.''

He dismissed charges that the prosecution was too expensive, saying that at most times his office had two prosecutors working on the case.

Holding, who successfully sought the GOP nomination for Congress shortly after stepping down as U.S. attorney, also denied any political intent in the prosecution.

“There are always going to be charges this is a political case,” he said. “That just comes with the territory. The defense made a motion that the case was brought for political reason and the judge ruled there was no evidence of that...I feel very comfortable that we did carry out our duties.''

But his Democratic opponent, Charles Malone, said otherwise.

“It is apparent now that Holding, while wanting government to cut to the bone otherwise, was willing to throw millions of the taxpayers' money away to settle old political scores while attempting to enhance his political career.''

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, former U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge and state Rep. Bill Faison spoke to nearly 200 members of the Young Democrats of North Carolina at their state convention at the Blake Hotel. They did little to differentiate themselves but kept the focus on the likely Republican nominee instead. Read full story here. 

In other news:

--Tens of thousands of North Carolina businesses are putting their employees at risk by failing to buy workers’ compensation insurance, a violation of the law that’s driving some injured workers to destitution and businesses into bankruptcy.

Though the state has the power to crack down on these businesses, it doesn’t act until a worker is hurt and left without a paycheck and with mounting medical bills. The state Industrial Commission rarely enforces penalties, and efforts to collect money for health care can drag on for years. Read the full investigation here.

-In his column, Rob Christensen recounts Charles Brantley Aycock roles in North Carolina politics. Read here. 

Congressman Walter Jones,in a speech against U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, called the Chinese “Uncle Chang,” in a reference to U.S. ties to China in financing the war.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Jones sharply questioned Gen. John Allen, the commander of coalition forces, saying he had been hearing the same message for the past decade about U.S. “gains,” according to POLITICO, the online political publication.

“When does someone say, 'We've done all we can do?' the Farmville Republican said..

“What is the metric, what is the event” he asked. “We are spending $10 billion a month that we can't even pay for. The Chinese, Uncle Chang, is lending us the money to pay that we're spending in Afghanistan.”

Allen said the coalition forces were in the process of handing over security responsibilities to Afghan troops and were on schedule to withdraw from the country in 2014.

Members of the state's Congressional delegation have drawn notice this week for not raising much campaign money.

"North Carolina Democrats," including U.S. Reps. Brad Miller, David Price, Larry Kissell, and Heath Shuler, were fifth on the National Journal's list of 10 House fundraising flops.

U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers was mentioned in a Politico piece about GOP freshmen's lackluster fund raising.