* A Facebook group backing Cal Cunningham for Senate now has more members than one for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

* Former Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale says he's ready for a rematch against U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, who beat him 68-32 percent.

* Former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole joins husband Bob and other VIPs at 65th anniversary of D-Day event in France.

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr criticizes CNN for report on flavored "smokeless products," receives criticism from liberal blogger. 

What did Holden Thorp do in Atlanta?

A schedule provided to Dome shows the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor was pretty busy up through this morning.

On Wednesday, he flew to Atlanta on a state jet with his wife, two kids and three staffers. (One of the staffers then rode the plane back to Raleigh.)

That afternoon, Thorp toured CNN's headquarters, though a similar tour of the ABC News headquarters was canceled due to breaking news. That night, he was the guest speaker at an alumni reception.

On Thursday, Thorp toured The Westminster Schools, had lunch with philanthropist Charlie Loudermilk, met with the president of the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and then the CEO of SunTrust Banks, and went to a dinner party hosted by the CEO of the Marcus Institute and his wife.

This morning, he attended a three-hour meeting of heads of the other Atlantic Coast Conference schools, the last event on his schedule.

Thorp and his family return Sunday.

* CNN helps Sen. Tony Rand reconnect with long-lost black relatives after he recognizes common connection while watching documentary.

* Raleigh attorney Charles Coble takes a closer look at blog libel bill, says it violates First Amendment and the Communications Deceny Act.

* State bill would make skiers assume responsibility for collissions with trees or snowmaking equipment or because of terrain.

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr gives response to president's radio address, says Washington is overspending on the national "credit card."

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.