Ten North Carolina mayors are going to Washington this weekend.

The group will join over 250 mayors from across the country to call for local help in the upcoming Congressional stimulus package.

Expected to attend are Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the former GOP gubernatorial candidate; Durham Mayor Bill Bell; Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne; Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines; Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy; and the mayors of Asheville, Concord, Gastonia, Salisbury and Waxhaw.

They will be attending the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The conference will release a report this weekend on projected job losses in metropolitan areas, a particular concern for McCrory, who founded the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition to concentrate on urban issues.

SALISBURY — Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory helicoptered across the state Saturday, reminding voters of his pledge to overhaul Raleigh and work with both parties.

McCrory, the Republican candidate for governor, started his day in Concord. He  stopped at his alma mater, Catawba College, joking: "I found the library" as he spoke from in front of the building, Mark Johnson reports.

He accused Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic candidate of lying in her ads.

"She's trying to win this election by not telling the truth," McCrory told a crowd of about 75.

Running ahead of schedule, McCrory asked the helicopter pilot to land at 11:30 a.m. in the Wal Mart parking lot in Mocksville, where he shook hands.

"I need your vote, now," he said, sticking his hand in a car window to greet a voter.

U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes is taking heat for his warm-up act.

Speaking at a John McCain rally in Concord Saturday, the Republican said that opening speakers need to "make sure we don’t say something stupid" because the liberal media would distort the remarks.

He then accused Democrat Barack Obama of "inciting class warfare” and said that "liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God," according to The New York Observer.

A spokeswoman for Hayes, who is running for re-election against Democrat Larry Kissell, at first denied that Hayes had made the remark to the Washington-based political newspaper Politico, calling its account "irresponsible journalism."

However, a reporter with local radio station WFAE had audio of the remarks. (Politico posted the audio here.)

"I genuinely did not recall making the statement and, after reading it, there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way. I actually was trying to work to keep the crowd as respectful as possible, so this is definitely not what I intended," Hayes then said in a statement.

John McCain praised Joe the Plumber. Barack Obama decried his opponent's attacks.

At a rally in Concord, the Republican presidential candidate told 7,000 enthusiastic supporters that an Ohio plumber was the real winner of the debate.

"Joe won, because he's the only person to get a real answer out of Sen. Obama about his plans for our country," he said.

The 30-minute speech was interrupted by chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A!" (Char-O)

At a rally in Fayetteville Sunday, Obama warned voters not to be "hoodwinked" by a series of Republican charges in the final weeks of the campaign.

He said Republicans were assailing his character and leveling baseless charges of socialism in speeches, robocalls and campaign fliers.

"Senator McCain's campaign actually said a couple of weeks ago that they were going to launch a series of attacks on my character," he said.

He spoke to more than 10,000 people at Crown Coliseum. (N&O) 

Barack Obama will hold a rally in Fayetteville Sunday.

The Democratic presidential candidate will make his sixth trip since the May 6 primary.

Republican John McCain will be in Concord on Saturday.

Further details on the Obama trip were not yet available. 

John McCain will be in Concord Saturday.

The Republican presidential candidate will hold a rally at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center. Doors open at 8 a.m., and guests must be in by 10 a.m.

Tickets are available starting Wednesday at 2 p.m. at McCain campaign offices around the state. They will be distributed four-to-a-person on a first-come, first served basis.

His wife, Cindy, was in Concord last weekend for the NASCAR Bank of America 500. 

CONCORD — One thing North Carolina's two main gubernatorial candidates agree on: Economic development will be a top priority of the next governor.

Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Beverly Perdue spoke to more than 230 people at the N.C. Economic Developers Association conference at the Concord Convention Center, Jim Morrill reports.

"As mayor and as governor, a major priority will be jobs, jobs, jobs," said McCrory, the mayor of Charlotte. "The number one goal of the governor is to sell the state."

McCrory outlined a 10-point plan for development, including new and traditional energy initiatives, a 50-year transportation plan and stopping what he called the "ridiculous internal competition" between regions.

He said one of his top priorities will be replacing the Yadkin River bridge on Interstate 85.

Perdue, the current lieutenant governor, said she would push for development in all 100 counties. She toputed her role in keeping the state's military bases open said North Carolina should be on the forefront of developing a "green" economy with wind and solar power.

And a one-time opponent oil drilling off the N.C. coast, she said, "Yes, there's a real role for off-shore drilling in the future."

Hillary Clinton told voters to look at the presidency as a job vacancy.

The Democratic presidential candidate said in Charlotte Monday that the campaign was essentially a hiring decision where experience matters.

"Think about it as if you're hiring a surgeon to perform an operation on a loved one," she told more than 4,000 supporters at Time Warner Cable Arena. "Hire somebody who is prepared on Day 1."

She was greeted by Bobcats owner Bob Johnson as she entered the arena. 

She also spoke on rising gas prices and the Iraq war in a 45-minute speech. Earlier in the day, she met with 300 supporters outside Troutman's Bar-B-Q in Concord. (Char-O)

The owner of Lowe's Motor Speedway will get $80 million in incentives.

Billionaire Bruton Smith had first threatened to leave Concord two months ago for somewhere else in the Charlotte region after the City Council voted against his plans for a $60 million drag strip, The Charlotte Observer reports.

After the threat, Cabarrus County leaders put together the incentives package.

Details were still not public at a press conference announcing the deal, but Smith provided a "wish list" to the county earlier. Most of the money will go toward road construction. The state will provide about $20 million of the incentives.

The most interesting incentive? Speedway Boulevard, which connects to Interstate 85, will be renamed Bruton Smith Boulevard. 

He also said he has no further plans to move. "We're here forever," he said Monday.