Is the 2010 Senate race on yet? 

Attorney General Roy Cooper said he hopes to make a decision on whether to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr some time this spring, Rob Christensen reports.

"I want to continue with public service to the people of North Carolina," Cooper said Tuesday morning after attending a meeting of the Council of State. "I'm going to determine the best way to do that. I'm going to decide that very soon."

He said many people have been talking about him about the race. He said he has heard from the Democratic Senate leadership, which is trying to recruit him.  He declined to say who specifically has talked to him about it.

The national Democrats see Cooper, a three-term attorney general, as their strongest candidate against Burr.

Burr is using the Senate recess this week to make numerous public appearances in the Triangle and in Eastern North Carolina.

Among other events, Burr will speak at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce in Chapel Hill this evening, will attend a Veterans Administration Appeals Moot Court event at N.C. Central University in Durham Wednesday morning and will speak to the North Raleigh Rotary Club at lunch tommorow.

Then he is off to Oxford, Henderson, Tarboro, Rocky Mount and Wilson.

A mailer from the governor's race is also up for a national award.

The piece, called "Big Perks," attacked Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory for accepting a free trip to Paris while mayor of Charlotte.

"You could win a free trip to Paris..." the front of the mailer says, featuring a lottery ticket that says "Big Perks" on it. The back reveals the punchline: "...If your name is Pat McCrory." 

The mailer is one of the finalists in Politics magazine's Reed Awards. It was produced by Thomas Mills Communications, which has offices in Carrboro and Washington, D.C.

Two North Carolina TV ads from last year for Rep. Walter Jones and against Sen. Elizabeth Dole have also been nominated. 

A recent TV ad attacking U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was actually filmed in Bynum.

In a recent post, Dome wrote that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had filmed an ad featuring two old men in rocking chairs at an ice cream store near Hillsborough.

That was incorrect. The ad was filmed at the Bynum General Store in Chatham County by Squier Knapp Dunn, a firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York.

A follow-up Web video featuring two younger men in rocking chairs was filmed on the sidewalk outside of the Maple View Ice Cream Store in Carrboro.

The Web video was filmed without permission of the ice cream store owners.

Dome regrets the error.

Barack Obama is locking up the indie vote.

Not unaffiliated voters, mind you, but indie rockers. The Democratic presidential candidate will hold two concerts featuring independent-label bands Superchunk and Arcade Fire to encourage young voters to cast their ballots early.

Superchunk is a beloved Chapel Hill band best known for a song — whose title is unprintable here — about a particularly slothful Kinko's coworker. Arcade Fire is an arty Montreal band that draws on the Talking Heads for inspiration.

The bands will play at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Pavilion parking lot at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, and at Carrboro Town Commons at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 2. Tickets are free, with admission on a first-come, first-served basis.

The concerts are designed to highlight Obama's early voting effort, held early in the afternoon so that attendees can cast one-stop ballots afterward.

Barack Obama may hold a major rally in Carrboro on May 2.

The event has not been officially confirmed, but the Carrboro Citizen reports that town officials are planning for a rally and rock concert on Friday afternoon at the Town Commons.

Town Manager Steve Stewart said the event, a concert and rally for the Illinois senator and leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, would be unprecendent since it will happen during business hours, while typically large events at Town Commons are held on weekends. The Obama campaign asked for the time slot, he said, because they want to be able to encourage attendees to take advantage of the early-voting site nearby at Town Hall.

The Citizen reports that local indie legends Superchunk and current Canadian darlings Arcade Fire will be on the bill for the concert. 

The town expects between 3,000 and 4,000 people to attend. 

State Sen. Kay Hagan speaks to NBC 17 in Carrboro about her run against Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. A quick fact-check: Congress.org did not rank Sen. Elizabeth Dole 93rd; the consulting firm Knowlegis did, though the results were posted on Congress.org.

Hat Tip: Mark Binker

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird wants a woman to succeed her.

The Carrboro Democrat has not announced whether she will run again, but she says that she has asked nine women if they would run for her seat if she retired. All turned her down.

Meantime, a diverse slate has stepped up, including a black man, a gay man and a Hispanic immigrant.

Carrboro Alderman John Herrera, a native of Costa Rica, announced he would run for the District 23 seat. He joins Orange County Commissioners Moses Carey and Mike Nelson.

If Kinnaird does run again, Herrera said he would drop out of the race.

Kinnaird said she will keep looking for a female successor, because women are interested in serving the people "and not the business interest and special interest."

"Some people will say, 'What is this, ethnic or gender politics?'" she said. "What I would say to this is, When I went in 11 years ago, there were seven women." (N&O)