President Barack Obama presented Italian President Giorgio Napolitano this morning with a gift from North Carolina.

Obama, meeting with Napolitano prior to the G-8 Summit, presented the Italian president with a variety of American wines. Included in the package was a 2008 Raffaldini Vineyards Vermentino.

Raffaldini Vineyards is in Ronda, between Winston-Salem and Wilkesboro, and the vinyard's owners were thrilled to have their wine included in the gift.

“Raffaldini Vineyards is honored to have been selected to represent the U.S. and is proud that our preservation and promotion of our Italian heritage and culture have been recognized,” co-owner Barbara Raffaldini said in a release.

A release from the vineyard notes that the Vermentino grape is "most famously cultivated in Sardinia," and that Raffaldini Vineyards was among the first to plant the grape in the U.S.

The vineyard says the 2008 vintage "is characterized by its lively green apple and lime flavors and refreshing acidity."

The Democrats want your help in promoting President Barack Obama's agenda.

Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee, will be visiting Durham and Asheville next week as part of a "listening tour" in North Carolina. The stated purpose is for people attending "to offer ideas on how OFA should organize in their community to support President Obama's priorities."

OFA is scheduled to be at St. Joseph's AME Church in Durham at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, and at the Mountain Java Coffee Shop in Asheville at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The group says it plans to make visits to several other North Carolina cities, including Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

A federal stimulus program called "Race to the Top" could mean hundreds of millions of dollars for North Carolina's cash-strapped public schools.

But the state may be hobbled at the starting gate because North Carolina's cap on the number of charter schools could work against it.

"Charters (are) a high priority for President (Barack) Obama," said Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. "States that limit them put themselves at a strategic disadvantage in applying."

Under the federal stimulus program, the education department has nearly $4.4 billion in "Race to the Top" money for states that show innovation in education. Education officials call it the federal government's "largest one-time investment in K-12 public school reform."

States will be invited to submit proposals this fall. A handful will win grants early next year.

"You can bet your bottom dollar I have a team trying to get the money for North Carolina," Gov. Beverly Perdue told a Charlotte workshop on stimulus money this month.

In a conference call with reporters this month, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, "States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top Fund."

North Carolina is one of 40 states that allow charters, and one of 26 that cap the number.

The current cap is 100, though at least two bills in the General Assembly would raise it. One measure that passed the House would put it at 106; the bill is in a Senate committee. (Char-O)

NOBODY LIKES NOBODY: The popularity recession has settled in for most N.C. politicians. Gov. Beverly Perdue, with basement-dwelling approval ratings less than six months into her first term, travelled the state to rally support from unimpressed teachers and Democrats. The raspberries are bipartisan: both U.S. Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr's numbers are down. President Barack Obama is slipping, and his policies are less popular than the man.

SPARE A FEW THOUSAND DIMES? One state resident isn't worried about layoffs. Jeff Wilson of Kings Mountain took home $29 million, after taxes, when his father gave him a Powerball ticket that hit the jackpot. (Gotta figure Wilson is apologizing for having ignored any past fatherly advice). We get this question a lot, so before you ask, the lottery can't fix the state's budget problems because it raises only a small fraction of the state's education spending and state law mandates lottery profits go to four specific programs.

PLASTICS, PESTERING AND POTTY TIPPING: The legislature has been on an outlawing binge. It has banned plastic bags on the coast, bullying in schools and vandalizing portable toilets.

IN OTHER NEWS: The state got most of its deposit money back for a private jet officials decided not to buy after all. A new film production tax credit would lose money for the state at first. And Obama does still occasionally smoke, but that's not why he signed into law sweeping new regulatory authority over cigarettes.

While North Carolina voters generally like President Barack Obama, there is deep skepticism about his health care and energy proposals, according to a new state-wide poll.

The survey found that 44 percent of North Carolina voters had a favorable opinion of Obama’s health care proposals while 50 percent had an unfavorable opinion, with 5 percent having no opinion, Rob Christensen reports.

There was similar skepticism about Obama’s energy proposals. The survey found that 44 percent had a favorable opinion, while 45 percent had an unfavorable opinion, with 11 percent undecided.

Obama remains more popular than some his policies. The survey found that 50 percent had a favorable view of the president’s job performance compared with 37 percent who had an unfavorable view.

That is according to the first in a series of state-wide surveys of Southern states conducted for the Southern Political Report, a long-time political newsletter.

The poll of 894 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted June 22 by Majority Opinion Research in Atlanta, It had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

President Barack Obama says he is "95 percent cured" of his habit of smoking cigarettes.

During a presidential press conference at The White House this afternoon, Obama was asked about his smoking habits in light of legislation he signed this week to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.

Obama initially tried to steer the question back to the law, saying it is about stopping "the next generation of kids" from beginning smoking. But then he agreed to talk about his own battle with smoking.

"I constantly struggle with it," Obama said.

Obama said he does not smoke every day, and that he does not smoke in front of his children or other family members.

"I am 95 percent cured, but there are times when I mess up," he said.

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration now has authority to regulate tobacco products, under a new law signed this afternoon by President Barack Obama during a Rose Garden ceremony.

With children on stage and sprinkled among audience members, and with the new playground for the presidential daughters in the distance, Obama said the new law will curtail the “constant, insidious” advertising that tobacco companies target to kids, reports Barb Barrett.

He pointed out that nearly 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 18.

“I know; I was one of those teenagers,” Obama said. “I know how hard it is to break the habit once you’ve started.”

Among those at the White House this afternoon was U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat from Wilson, where auctioneers used to rattle off leaf prices after harvest each fall. He represents one of the heaviest tobacco farming districts in the nation.

“This has been a very difficult issue for me,” Butterfield said later. “But when I take a step back and look at it objectively, there’s no question we need to reduce smoking….We need to be realistic about the issue.”

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A national political group built on President Barack Obama’s campaign is coming to North Carolina.

Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee, is expected to announce Tuesday the hire of two staffers in Raleigh, Barb Barrett reports. The group will conduct what it calls "listening tours" around the state in coming weeks, focusing on education, energy and health care. The group hopes to build support for Obama’s agenda.

The group’s inaugural N.C. state director, Lindsay Siler, is a former field director and public policy director for Planned Parenthood in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. She also worked for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Iowa.

The new field director, Gregory Jackson, led the group D.C. for Obama, which sent volunteers to key states during the presidential campaign.

President Barack Obama’s popularity is slipping in North Carolina as the unemployment numbers continue to climb.

Obama’s approval rating is at 50 percent, down from a high of 54 percent in April, according to a new statewide survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm in Raleigh, reports Rob Christensen.

Although Obama's approval numbers are in decline, they are still higher than North Carolina’s two senators or governor, as well as those of former President George W. Bush.

Obama has the highest support in urban areas such as the Triangle, Charlotte, and in the northeastern part of the state. He is very popular among African-Americans.

His weakest support is in the mountains.

Obama surprised many people by carrying North Carolina -- a traditionally Republican-leaning state in presidential contests -- by a narrow margin in November.

The survey of 784 registered voters was taken June 12-14 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.