Pat McCrory canceled two campaign events today to scurry back to his day job and tend to the gas shortage and sale of Wachovia in Charlotte.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate scrubbed a "Meet the Candidate" lunch at Fat Buddies Ribs & Barbecue in Waynesville and a rally at the Transylvania County Republican Party headquarters in Brevard.

"He's back on his way to Charlotte now," campaign spokeswoman Amy Auth said around 10:45 a.m.

McCrory scheduled a press conference at 11:45 a.m. in the mayor's office.

More after the jump.

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Beverly Perdue's media strategy is focusing for the moment on the Charlotte media market — the only market where an anti-Pat McCrory ad did not run.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee says that's a sign of possible coordination between his Democratic rival and the Alliance for North Carolina, the so-called "issue advocacy" group that is running a TV campaign attacking McCrory, David Ingram reports.

"Negative Bev is back in full force," McCrory spokeswoman Amy Auth said in an e-mail to Dome. "She has one very negative attack ad and another ad that is well-coordinated with two negative ads from a group funded by labor unions."

Perdue's campaign released its "Leader" ad Tuesday, telling reporters in a news release that it was adding Charlotte to its media buy. According to numbers gathered by the McCrory campaign, Perdue had placed a buy for $69,000 in the Charlotte market and $71,000 in the rest of the state combined.

In an interview, Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley said the campaign is on the air statewide with two ads, but he would not comment on spending from market to market.

"There's absolutely no coordination," Crowley said. "Bev Perdue's campaign had all intentions of having Bev's message up in every TV market in North Carolina, and that's what we're doing."

Pat McCrory and his wife flew to Paris in 2000 with tickets given by an airline.

A recent TV ad by the Alliance for North Carolina notes that the Republican gubernatorial candidate "accepted free travel to Paris for himself and his wife," citing a April 14, 2000, story in the Charlotte Observer.

The article notes that the McCrorys flew first-class to Paris compliments of U.S. Airways for a two-week trip that combined a trade mission to France and Germany with a vacation.

The couple then paid for their own tickets to Italy for a vacation, and the airline paid for their flight back from Italy. McCrory noted in the article that the return flight would have cost the same whether it was from Rome or Paris.

He was not the only public official to get the perk. U.S. Airways also flew then-Gov. Jim Hunt and a state trooper to France for the trade mission for free. Expenses for other state officials on the trip were paid for by the state.

"This trip was not a frivolous use of taxpayer dollars (i.e. there were no limos or $60 hamburgers for Gov. Hunt, Mayor McCrory, or their spouses) and it was approved by the city attorney," noted McCrory spokeswoman Amy Auth in an e-mail to Dome. "Every one of Pat's travel records were released to the media during his tenure as mayor."

Is the Alliance for North Carolina breaking the law?

Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory and the state Republican Party sent almost simultaneous press releases today arguing that the Democratic 527 had not disclosed its donors on time.

Under state law, third-party groups must submit a list of donors within 24 hours of running an ad. The Alliance' began running an anti-McCrory TV ad yesterday, David Ingram reports.

"This secret 527 group has launched over $300,000 worth of negative television ads without disclosing any information whatsoever," said McCrory spokeswoman Amy Auth in a statement.

But Kim Westbrook Strach, deputy director of campaign reporting for the State Board of Elections, said that they received a "timely" report today.

The report only stated that the Alliance received money from two other 527s run by the Democratic Governors Association and the National Education Association. It did not say where those donations ultimately came from.

But Strach said that met the state's legal requirements.

"I don't think the law requires the disclosure of what made up those organizations' funds, so I think this complies what the statute says they're required to disclose," she said.

Pat McCrory has not decided yet on offshore oil drilling.

A spokeswoman for the Republican gubernatorial nominee said that he did not yet have a position on drilling off North Carolina's coastline.

"Pat McCrory is not closing the door on the possibility of offshore drilling," said spokeswoman Amy Auth. "He will carefully weigh the economic needs against any potential environmental impact."

Auth said that McCrory will have a "more detailed policy" later in the campaign.

On Wednesday, McCrory's Democratic rival, Beverly Perdue, said she is "100 percent opposed" to offshore drilling, while Gov. Mike Easley attacked a proposal from Republican presidential nominee John McCain to end a moratorium.

Pat McCrory has hired a new spokesperson.

Monday was the last day for Tom Gardner, McCrory's previous media person, said Jack Hawke, McCrory's chief strategist.

"We're going into the general election and we needed somebody with experience who had dealt with the media before," Hawke said. "Tom was a good man. I don't think he'd ever been a press person before. He did a good job for us during the period of time he was with us."

Hawke said Gardner had another job lined up.

On Thursday, Amy Auth, a former spokeswoman for Sen. Elizabeth Dole and U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, will start as McCrory's new press person. Hawke said the campaign was going to send out a news release about the change, but as of Monday, he didn't have a press person to send a release.

Earler in his campaign, McCrory replaced another high ranking campaign official.

Hat Tip: David Ingram