* Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, a Cabarrus County Republican, lets out his inner Erin Brockovich in argument over Alcoa project on Yadkin River.

* NAACP praises Gov. Beverly Perdue for choosing first black district attorney in Eastern North Carolina; second currently serving in state.

* Liberal talk show host Keith Olbermann labels U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx "Worst Person in the World" for Matthew Shepard remarks.

* More signs of Senate '10: Americans United for Change criticizes Sen. Richard Burr in press release for voting against Obama's budget.

A liberal group is running TV ads urging Sen. Kay Hagan to support President Obama's budget.

Americans United for Change, a liberal advocacy group that receives backing from labor unions, will spend at least $700,000 on ads in nine states, including North Carolina.

The states "just happen to be represented by some of the more conservative Democratic senators," MSNBC's First Read reports. 

The ad is one of at least three TV and radio ads in North Carolina. The other two target U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and Mike McIntyre, two conservative Democrats.

Hagan recently joined a group of moderate Democrats and has written a letter to the Senate Budget Committee protesting Obama's proposed cuts in farm funding.

After the jump, the script. 

Hat Tip: Mark Binker

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* Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin is urging legislators to reject bills that would shelve increases in homeowners insurance premiums.

* North Carolina native Brad Woodhouse will leave a labor-backed group to head communications and research for the Democratic National Committee.

* Democratic pollster finds 69 percent support, 13 percent oppose two-track sex education bill in survey of 1,020 voters from Feb. 13-15.

* Political consultant Thomas Mills reveals how an independent expenditure campaign for the SEIU helped Beverly Perdue win in the mountains.

The Woodhouse brothers are taking each other to the woodshed.

The two Raleigh natives are fighting directly over the North Carolina airwaves about the economic stimulus package being discussed in Congress.

Dallas Woodhouse, spokesman for the limited-government group Americans for Prosperity, is leading a radio campaign urging Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan to vote against the bill.

Brad Woodhouse, president of the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change, is running a radio campaign urging Republican Sen. Richard Burr to vote for it.

The brothers, who both graduated from Broughton High, started out in the middle of the political spectrum. After working for U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, Brad worked his way up the Democratic ladder in Washington, while Dallas went from being a TV reporter to a conservative advocate.

This is the first time they've directly campaigned against each other, but not the first time they've disagreed over politics.

"He tells me that I'm out to destroy America and stop progress," said Dallas, "and I tell him he's trying to tax us into oblivion and steal all our prosperity." 

A new radio ad running in Sen. Richard Burr's community of Winston-Salem urges him to support the economic stimulus package now being considered by Congress.

The ad, sponsored by Americans United for Change, references conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who said on his program on January 16, "I hope he fails," of President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan. The ad urges listeners to call the U.S. Capitol switchboard.

The radio spot, narrated by a female voice, points out that the bill received no Republican votes in the House, and that it now goes to the Senate.

"The question is, Will our senator, Richard Burr, side with Rush Limbaugh too?"

The ad will run this week at WSJS-AM in Winston-Salem, according to Americans United for Change. Also helping to pay for the ad are the MoveOn.org political action committee, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and the Service Employees International Union.

Burr, a Republican, is up for re-election in 2010. He has said he will not support the economic recovery stimulus bill as it now stands.

After the jump, the script.

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John Edwards wants to end the war in Iraq to help the recession.

The former Democratic presidential candidate announced today that he is joining a group of anti-war activists who are trying to spotlight the cost of the war and its effects on the U.S. economy.

Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, have joined the Iraq/Recession Campaign, along with John Podesta, CEO of the Center for American Progress, Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org; and Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, among others.

In a conference call this morning, Edwards said he met a lot of Americans on the campaign trail who had "angst" over spending on the war.

"People don't understand why we're spending $500 billion and counting in Iraq at the same time that we've got, you know, 40-plus million Americans who don't have any health-care coverage, 37 million living in poverty, people terrified about being able to pay their bills," he said. "It doesn't make sense to them, and they see no end in sight."

Edwards praised Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for saying the war should be ended. His wife, Elizabeth, said voters who are concerned about the economy should be concerned about Iraq as well.

Americans United for Change is targeting U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes. 

The Washington-based liberal advocacy group is joining other organizations in putting ads out to target the Concord Republican for his vote against expanding SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, Barb Barrett reports.

The group isn’t targeting any of the other N.C. members who voted the same way, including Democrats Mike McIntyre and Bob Etheridge.

President Bush vetoed the bill, and Democratic leaders are trying to get House members to change their vote to override the veto.

Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United, said he doesn't want to waste money and that McIntyre and Etheridge appear “unmovable” on the issue. Both oppose using an increase in the tobacco tax to pay for the expansion and say it would hurt the state’s economy.

More after the jump.

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