Barack Obama will give a speech on the economy at the N.C. State Fairgrounds today.

Dome is at the event, where doors opened about a half hour ago.

So far, we've spotted a few of the usual suspects: U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, state Sen. Floyd McKissick, state Reps. Dan Blue and Ty Harrell, former lieutenant governor candidate Hampton Dellinger, former Raleigh City Councilman Brad Thompson and Capstrat founder Ken Eudy.

The campaign of Sen. Janet Cowell, who is running for state treasurer and lives nearby, is handing out fliers at the front of the Exposition Center building.

Update: Also in the crowd: Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, House Speaker Joe Hackney, Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, superdelegate David Parker, former state Auditor Ralph Campbell, state Reps. Linda Coleman and Jennifer Weiss, and Raleigh businessman John Crumpler.

State Treasurer Richard Moore just wandered through the press section by mistake and Dome asked what he was doing in our less illustrious section of the room.

"I don't know, but I'm going to do my best to get out of here," he said. 

Citizen participation will be on The State of Things today.

Host Frank Stasio will lead a roundtable discussion on civic engagement and influencing public policy with authors Joel Blackwell and Val Atkinson; Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina; Erin Byrd, civic engagement coordinator for Blueprint NC; and former Raleigh City Councilman Brad Thompson.

From the schedule:

Can ordinary citizens play the game of politics without lots of money and connections? And does our political system work well for groups who have historically been shut out of it? 

The show airs at noon on 91.5 in Chapel Hill, 88.9 in Manteo and 90.9 in Rocky Mount.