Sheriff Andy Taylor would vote for John McCain and Beverly Perdue.

According to a survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the fictional Mayberry sheriff played by Andy Griffith would split his ticket in state and federal races.

In the presidential race, 35 percent of likely voters said he would vote for McCain, followed by 25 percent for Barack Obama and five percent for Libertarian Bob Barr.

In the gubernatorial race, 34 percent said he would vote for Perdue, 23 percent for Republican nominee Pat McCrory and six percent for Libertarian Mike Munger.

"The good Sheriff always came across as a moderate Democrat, and the voting pattern respondents think he would adopt is one that explains why North Carolina votes Republican for President election after election while continuing by and large to elect Democratic Governors," writes pollster Tom Jensen.

On a separate question 56 percent of voters had a favorable impression of Griffith, nine percent an unfavorable opinion and 35 percent no opinion.

The automated survey of 648 likely voters was taken June 26-29. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

One of the nation's largest unions will target North Carolina.

In a conference call with reporters, secretary-treasurer Anna Burger said the Service Employees International Union will assist the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and one of the gubernatorial candidates.

"Our members are incredibly excited about the electoral process," Burger said, according to a New York Times story. "We expect to be the most aggressive union on the ground and on the air across the country."

The union has set aside $75 million for the election for staff and advertising on radio, television and the Internet. Members will also participate in canvassing, phone banking and voter registration.

SEIU spent money on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine in 2004, but neither it nor any other union has campaigned for a presidential candidate in North Carolina in recent memory since the state has been a reliable red state since 1980.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina recently affiliated with SEIU.

Correction: SEIU has not made an endorsement in the governor's race, a spokesman says.

Thomas F. Schaller argues that Barack Obama is wasting his time in North Carolina.

In a guest column in The New York Times today, the author of "Whistling Past Dixie" writes that even vastly increased black turnout will not be enough for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to win Southern states.

He argues that black voters actually already vote at a higher rate than their white peers, while the higher percentages of black voters in Southern states makes white voters more likely to cast their ballots for the Republican candidate. 

"Mr. Obama can write off Georgia and North Carolina for the same reasons that Mississippi is beyond his reach — although the math in those two states is slightly less daunting," he writes. 

The one exception is Virginia, which has seen a "huge influx of upscale non-Southerners."

That's true in North Carolina — been to Cary lately? — but perhaps not in large enough numbers to make a difference here given the other factors cited by Schaller.

John McCain continues to lead against Barack Obama.

In a survey by the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had 45 percent, while the Democrat had 41 percent and Libertarian Bob Barr had 5 percent. Nine percent were undecided.

The numbers mostly line up with previous polls by the conservative Civitas Institute and Rasmussen Reports, despite a patriotic-themed ad that began airing around the time of this survey.

"The race continues to be tight in North Carolina," said president Dean Debnam in a statement. "This may not be the year Democrats win the Presidential contest here, but the data showing Obama leading among non-natives is an indication that this state could become bluer as more and more people move here in the coming years."

The automated survey of 1,048 likely voters was done June 26-29. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says health care should be on the list.

The Winston-Salem Republican is one of a handful of first-term senators who are trying to make health care an issue in the November races without much luck, the National Journal reports.

"When was the last time you saw a Republican presidential candidate lead on health care?" said Burr, who has long been a supporter of presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

Polls show more voters trust presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama on the issue.

But Sen. John Ensign of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that the fall elections will be focused on the issue of energy, specifically offshore drilling and high gas prices. 

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's second ad of the general election campaign has begun airing in North Carolina.

How closely have North Carolina's senators worked with Barack Obama?

A quick search of legislation filed this session shows that U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have each cosponsored one bill with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Dole signed on to an Obama bill to authorize state and local governments to divest from companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector.

Burr signed on to an Obama bill to accelerate research into the genetic causes of disease in order to improve medical diagnoses.

Obama has not signed on to any Dole- or Burr-sponsored bills.

Is Kay Hagan hoping to run on Barack Obama's coattails?

The Washington Post included the Democratic Senate nominee on a list of candidates who are hoping for a boost from the presidential race: 

Democratic Senate campaign spokesmen for Tom Allen in Maine, Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Al Franken in Minnesota and Rick Noriega in Texas all said they had reached out to the Obama campaign and are pleading for either a visit from the candidate or his wife. Their efforts are not entirely surprising, given Obama’s strength in those states during the Democratic primaries.

Hagan did not attend a Raleigh rally in mid-June, citing scheduling conflicts.

David Plouffe says North Carolina is "front and center" in Barack Obama's campaign.

In response to a question from Dome in a conference call today, Obama's campaign manager said that the state is not in a second tier of battleground states.

"North Carolina is something that we think is highly competitive and very winnable," he said.

He said that he views states like South Carolina, Mississippi or Kentucky as second-tier states where Obama will be sending staffers but not yet spending a lot of money in search of an upset. In North Carolina, he said that increased turnout of young and African-American voters will help.

"We'll be fighting as hard as we can in North Carolina," he said.

Dome had read this earlier interview with Obama's field manager as saying that North Carolina would not receive as much attention as Iowa, New Mexico, Ohio and Nevada.

John McCain may go on the air in North Carolina soon.

In a conference call with reporters, Barack Obama's campaign manager said that he's heard McCain will begin airing ads here soon.

During a discussion of the Obama campaign's strategies, David Plouffe repeated his contention that North Carolina is one of a number of states that could put him over the top.

He argued that McCain will have a hard time in states that John Kerry won in 2004, which means Obama would only need to pick up a couple more states to win the Electoral College. As an example, he cited a combination of Iowa and North Carolina.

"Virginia and North Carolina are two states that have not been part of the presidential dialogue much in the last few cycles," he said. "We are in a strong position right now in both of those states."

Plouffe also rebutted claims that Obama's recent 18-state ad buy — which included North Carolina — was not an attempt to drain McCain's coffers.

"There's not a head fake in any of these states," he said.