CNN calls for Kay Hagan. 

Barack Obama's consultant David Axelrod on CNN just now: "North Carolina looks interesting." 

He did not elaborate, but that seems to indicate they're thinking it's within reach. 

Ed Rollins says Sen. Elizabeth Dole should be "ashamed" of a new ad.

Speaking on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," the noted Republican strategist said that a recent ad criticizing Kay Hagan for a fundraiser hosted by an atheist is "desperate." 

"There has been a long history of despicable ads run by Republicans, led by Jesse Helms and his old Congressional Club, which I'm sure is now running Elizabeth Dole's campaign," he told Dobbs.

That's not entirely accurate. Two Helms alumni, Mark Stephens and Tom Fetzer, played a role earlier in the Dole campaign but are now in more minor positions. 

Rollins then speculated that the ad was the handiwork of Charlie Black, a North Carolina native who was also part of the Helms campaign and is now heavily involved in John McCain's presidential campaign.

"My sense is she got desperate, they came down and they did something desperate, which is so despicable and so unlike Elizabeth Dole that she should be ashamed of herself," he said.

There is no evidence that Black was involved in the Godless ad.

Alex Castellanos says Sen. Elizabeth Dole's latest ad is over the line.

Speaking on CNN's "Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer today, the Republican political consultant said that an ad attacking Dole's opponent, Kay Hagan, for accepting money from the founder of an atheist advocacy group.

"When you're making ads that say 'There is no God,' it usually means your campaign doesn't have a prayer," he said.

Castellanos, who grew up in Harnett County and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, got his start in politics with the campaigns of Sen. Jesse Helms, creating the famous "White Hands" ad that claimed Harvey Gantt supported racial quotas.

Now a national political consultant, Castellanos told Blitzer that Hagan's links to a founder of the Godless Americans PAC are fair game, but he thought the ad took the wrong approach. 

"There's a way to make this attack," he said. "There's a way to say, 'Look this lady goes to church, believes in God, but look who she's taking money from.' ... There's a fair way to bring up who you're associated with. This seems to cross the line."

He said the ad also leaves Dole vulnerable to a counterattack from Hagan. 

Political analysts Stuart Rothenberg and Nathan L. Gonzalez say U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is in trouble because she underestimated her opponent and believed her own press.

In a post on CNN’s political site, the analysts compare Dole's race with that of incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, Barb Barrett reports:

On the other hand, North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole, once regarded as a lock for re-election, looks as if she is about to fall at the hands of Democratic challenger Kay Hagan.

How did Dole become more endangered than Collins?

They say Dole didn't recognize that Hagan would pose a legitimate threat, and that Dole figured her early, strong poll numbers would hold up.

They also say the early advertising from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, along with the unexpected surge of support for Sen. Barack Obama here, are helping Hagan.

North Carolina is closely divided on the presidential race.

According to a new poll by Opinion Research Corp. of battleground states for CNN and Time magazine, Republican John McCain had 48 percent and Democrat Barack Obama had 47 percent.

Three percent said neither and one percent said other. Voters who were unsure were asked to say who they were more likely to vote for.

"But other polls in the state suggest McCain has a larger lead, and when averaged in a new CNN poll of polls out Wednesday, McCain has a 10-point lead," CNN writes. 

When third-party candidates were included in the question, McCain had 46, Obama 45, two percent selected Libertarian Bob Barr, two percent Ralph Nader and one percent Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. 

Only Barr would be on the North Carolina ballot in November.

The poll of 910 registered voters was taken Sept. 14-16. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 

CNN is opening a Triangle bureau.

The Atlanta-based news channel announced Tuesday that it will assign journalists to 10 cities across the United States, doubling the number of domestic cities where it has bureaus.

The one-man bureaus will use borrowed space from local news organizations to file reports for TV and the Internet, according to the New York Times.

Reporters are also going to Seattle, Las Vegas, Orlando, among other cities. 

It is not clear when the bureau will open, but a similar "one-man band" approach by MSNBC during the primary led to increased coverage of North Carolina's politics. 

Tony Rand would not expect to find his kinfolk in a TV documentary called "Black in America."

But there he was Saturday night, half-watching the tail end of the CNN show while reading a book when he heard a familiar last name.

At first, the Senate majority leader was intrigued by the story of the "mighty Rands" — a sprawling African-American extended family that holds a giant reunion in Atlanta each year. After all, he says, it's an unusual name.

Then matriarch RubyStein McGhee appeared onscreen, noting that her great-great-grandfather, William Harrison Rand, was a white man who was reportedly run out of North Carolina for living with a black woman.

Rand recognized the name. William Harrison Rand was the first cousin of one of his ancestors.

"I said, 'Great God, that's got to be us,'" he said.

Rand intends to connect with the black branch of his family, and he and his son, Ripley, already are making plans to go to the next reunion.

"You start shaking your family tree, and it's always really interesting," he said. "I can't wait to meet some of these relatives and find out more about all the people involved."

Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled McGhee's name.

CNN says North Carolina voters were split on Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The cable news network reports that its exit poll of voters today showed that 50 percent thought Wright's views were not important, while 48 percent thought they were important.

Those who thought they were important tended to vote for Hillary Clinton, while those who thought they weren't voted for Barack Obama.

In addition, the network said that voters who go to church regularly tended to think that Wright's views were more important. 

Jimmy Carter thinks the Democrats could carry North Carolina in 2008.

The former president, who was the last Democratic candidate to win the state's presidential contest in 1976, said in a phone interview today that he thinks the party has a shot this year again, Peggy Lim reports.

"I think we have a good chance to carry the Southern states," he said.

A supporter of Barack Obama, he also said that he did not think that race would cut against the Democratic nominee this time around.

"The race issue — it's still important, but for a lot of people it's fading away," he said.

Carter argued that the connections between Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, have been oversold.

"It's been greatly exaggerated on CNN and in news coverage," he said. "I think in a week or two, it's going to fade away."

Clarification: Carter has not officially endorsed Obama, although he has made favorable comments about him.