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Congresswoman Renee Ellmers said the Republican Party -- particularly its men -- made "unnecessary mistakes" that cost the party the presidential election.

Ellmers, a Republican who represents Dunn, argued that her party needed to focus more on President Barack Obama's record, particularly when it comes to appealing to women.

"As Republican women, we know what it takes to care for our families. We are the ones managing the household budgets, fighting for our children's education, and searching for the best healthcare for our loved ones. The policy issues that are affecting our nation affect us on a personal level and mimic the same tough choices we are faced with every day," Ellmers said in a Yahoo News chat Thursday about how the GOP can better appeal to women voters. "Oddly, enough, many of the mistakes were made by the men in our party. And this only fueled the misconception that the GOP does not care about women."

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Gov. Pat McCrory started his trip to Washington with an interview on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" with Chuck Todd, saying he is concerned about the affect of the federal budget sequestration on the state's military bases.

"We don't know what the real impact is going to be right now," he said.

ON TAP TODAY: Gov. Pat likes his new digs. The new Republican governor starts his term with a cabinet meeting Monday morning at his new home, the Executive Mansion. McCrory had the cabinet to lunch at the mansion Saturday, too. The event is closed-door but McCrory will give a press conference later in the morning before heading to the mountains for his first stop on his statewide introduction tour.

Worth noting: McCrory's "open house" events require advance tickets. Free tickets but nonetheless.

***Welcome to the new DOME MORNING MEMO. This daily feature will serve as a tipsheet for the day in North Carolina politics -- previewing the next day's big story, breaking news that drives the political agenda and reviewing the latest dispatches from the state's political scribes. Consider it a nod to Dome's favorite D.C. morning briefings from the likes of Politico, NBC and TPM. It's an evolving product, so send tips, ideas, thoughts or even a better name to dome@newsobserver.com. And thanks for reading. Much more below.***

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz will be in Raleigh Thursday morning as part of the Democrat's get-out-the vote effort.

She will be part of the GottaVote bus tour which will hold its first rally of the day at N.C. State University, at 2521 Dunn Ave. at 10:30 a.m. She will be accompanied by U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walter Dalton, and Congressman David Price. The group will then head out to Wilson, Greenville, and New Bern.

The NCSU campus will also see the Republican National Committee chairman later in the day. Reince Priebus will headline a rally at the brickyard at 2:45 p.m. Also attending the rally will be Congresswoman Renee Ellmers and congressional candidate George Holding.

The Republicans say their ground game in North Carolina this year is way ahead of 2008.

The GOP has made nearly 2 million voter contacts so far this year – or 23 times more phone calls than in 2008, according to Matt Connelly of the Republican National Committee.

The Republicans also say they have knocked on 188 times more doors than this time last year.

The GOP has vowed not to repeat 2008, when Republican John McCain lost the state to Democrat Barack Obama.

The information about North Carolina was released as an addendum to a an RNC “Weekend Memo – Ground Game and GOP Strength.''

When Democratic National Convention delegates head to Time Warner Cable Arena, they’ll file past tall sculptures outside the building that resemble spindles and bobbins – a nod to North Carolina’s textile past. It’s an image that also highlights one of the hottest issues in the presidential election: What happened to American manufacturing, and how can the country bring jobs back? Read more here.

More political news:

--Republicans drafting the party’s platform approved strong anti-abortion language Tuesday that makes no exceptions to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest victims, a statement of principle that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said is too limiting for his own beliefs.

Former state GOP chairman Jim Hastings – now a conservative radio talk show host at WATA in Boone – checked in with a Wilmington radio station (WLTT) on Thursday to say a few bad things about Congressman Walter Jones, who is running for re-election in a newly drawn district against fellow Republican Frank Palombo.

An element of the party is trying to outflank Jones on the right – aided by the National Journal’s ranking of the longtime incumbent as the most liberal Republican in the House. “He’s become more liberal the longer he stays up there,” Hastings said.

Pat McCrory is distancing himself from a Wake County GOP leader's remark that Gov. Bev Perdue is "the dumbest governor in America."

A spokesman for the Republican gubernatorial candidate told the Associated Press' Gary Robertson that "Pat doesn't agree with or condone those comments."

McCrory spoke at a Wake County Republican Party event Thursday but left before Susan Bryant, the local party chairwoman, made her remarks. According to the AP report, Bryant told the crowd: "We still have the dumbest governor in America" and the only thing "that she's done right is deciding not to run. Read AP's full story here.

A Public Policy poll from the weekend shows a new front-runner in the nascent GOP presidential race in North Carolina: Herman Cain. Yes, Herman Cain.

Fresh from a bounce in the Florida straw poll, the pizza magnate is getting new attention from potential voters, according to an analysis from Tom Jensen at PPP, the Democratic polling firm in Raleigh.

Cain took 27 percent verses Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich at 17, Perry at 15 and Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann at 6, the poll showed.

(It's unclear if Perry's slide is caused by his impolitic N.C. barbecue remark, or actual policy differences with Republican voters.)

Read PPP's a full analysis of the changing GOP race for president here.

The North Carolina Republican Party has hired a Washington D.C. hand with national TV experience to be its spokesman during the 2012 elections.

The hiring of Rob Lockwood to be the state GOP's communications director, suggests the importance the national party is placing on North Carolina as it tries to win back North Carolina in the presidential race and also capture the governor's race and pick up four congressional seats.

Lockwood was previously deputy executive director and communications director for the College Republican National Committee. In that job, Lockwood, last year appeared on CNN and on Fox News arguing why young voters were turning away from President Barack Obama.

Lockwood, a native of Massachusetts, is an alumnus of St. Johns Prep, and George Washington  University. He interned with the Republican Republican National Committee, Americans for Limited Government, and the National Republican Congressional Committee.