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* An anti-torture coalition is seeking to disbar Davidson College graduate William J. Haynes II, among others, for Bush-administration memos.

* The anonymous backer of a "Draft Coop" blog tries to determine who he should support now that Attorney General Roy Cooper is out of the Senate race.

* Between opening day and the crossover deadline, 303 Senate bills and 424 House bills passed, including substanial numbers during crossover week itself.

* It will be tricky for Democrats to replace U.S. Attorney George Holding in the middle of an investigation into former Gov. Mike Easley. 

Communication professors from around the country have signed a statement calling on the campaign of Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin to stop "incendiary mendacity" and "false and inflammatory" statements about Democrat Barack Obama.

The statement, found here, urges both presidential campaigns to halt "blatant misrepresentations of their opponent's positions." But the professors say the McCain/Palin campaign's discourse — on the stump and in robocalls — "is unethical and stokes the fires of racism."

"We see an effort to color code the election as between an urban, African-American Obama falsely linked to terms like 'terrorist,' 'unpatriotic,' and 'welfare,' versus small town, white 'patriotic' Americans like the mythical Joe the Plumber," the statement said in part.

The Web site also singles out U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina for his recent comment that "liberals hate real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve and believe in God."

The statement was signed by 140 professors, including 14 from North Carolina. The N.C. signers are: Carole Blair, Renee Alexander Craft, Lawrence Grossberg, Dennis Mumby, Della Pollock, Michael S. Waltman and Eric King Watts, all from UNC-Chapel Hill; Jessica Katz Jameson, William J. Kinsella, Craig Allen Smith and Sarah Stein, all from N.C. State University; Spoma Jovanovic and Chris Poulos from UNC-Greensboro; and Kathleen J. Turner from Davidson College.

Kathleen Sebelius will lead a voter-registration drive for Barack Obama Thursday.

The second-term Kansas governor will speak at Davidson College near Charlotte at 2:45 p.m. as part of a last-minute drive to sign up college students to vote before Friday's deadline.

In a press release, the Obama campaign noted Davidson's recent loss to Kansas in the NCAA tournament.

"Though they were rivals in the recent NCAA Tournament, fans and students at Davidson and the Governor have found common ground in supporting Senator Obama's campaign for change," it notes. 

Sebelius will also speak at a women for Obama event at the campaign's Charlotte office at 5:30 p.m. and at a community event in the Heritage Room in Salisbury at 7:30 p.m.. 

Bob Orr won the NCAA gubernatorial bracket.

The former Supreme Court justice got 106 points out of a possible 193 for his picks, which correctly predicted UNC-Chapel Hill and Kansas, and Memphis and UCLA facing off in the Final Four.

Like every other candidate, he lost points for predicting UNC to win the tournament, though he was right about Memphis making it to the final game.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue was a distant second with 88 points. She correctly picked UNC, Kansas and UCLA to make the Final Four, but lost points for favoring Texas over Memphis.

Salisbury attorney Bill Graham came in third with 78 points. He correctly picked UNC and Memphis, but lost points for choosing Wisconsin and Duke to make the Final Four.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory came in fourth with 74 points. He correctly picked UNC and Memphis for the Final Four, but lost points for choosing Davidson and Duke as well.

And Richard Moore came in last, with 72 points. He correctly picked UNC to make the Final Four, but lost oints for favoring Davidson, Purdue and Texas.

Of course, Moore's Final Four pick was more of a joke than a prediction.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle argued that Barack Obama would win North Carolina in November.

At a press conference at the campaign's Raleigh office this afternoon, he argued that Obama would make North Carolina a battleground state in the presidential election.

After an introduction by former House Speaker Dan Blue, Doyle noted that Wisconsin was the most closely won state in the 2004 election, with John Kerry winning by just 10,000 votes out of 3 million cast.

He told a group of about three dozen reporters and supporters that Hillary Clinton led early on in the state, but Obama won the state by 18 points after "changing the equation" with significant turnout.

"He won everybody," he said. "He won every demographic group. He eliminated the gender gap. The independent vote came to him in a big way."

Doyle also joked about Davidson College's recent upset win over the University of Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament. 

"I was wondering whether I should show up here," he said. "We were expecting to play (UNC-Chapel Hill) about a week ago."

Janet Cowell also submitted bracket picks.

The Democratic candidate for state treasurer turned in her picks before the tournament started, but Dome had the day off and did not get around to posting them.

For the record, she picked UNC-Chapel Hill's men's team to beat Duke University, 80 to 74. Davidson College and Memphis were also in her Final Four. 

On the women's side, she picked UNC to beat Stanford, 64 to 57. Rutgers and Duke were also in her FInal Four.

What do the NCAA brackets tell us about the U.S. Senate candidates?

Dome invited the major candidates for Senate to share with us their NCAA brackets. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and potential Democratic challengers, Jim Neal and Kay Hagan, participated.

Here's our analysis:

MORE BRACKET PANDERING: Neal and Hagan both picked UNC-Chapel Hill to go all the way. But both ESPN and CBS Sports say that more than a third of bracketeers have picked the Tar Heels. Pandering, or just a good bet? You decide.

DUKE BLUE: Dole, a Duke alum, goes against the grain and picks her alma mater to beat UNC, noting they’re “playing very well right now.” She also picked Davidson College, near Charlotte, to make the Final Four, as well as University of Texas, whose coach hails from Hickory.

"In the end, I think the Duke Blue Devils are going to win the tournament and add a fourth national championship banner to the rafters at Cameron Indoor,” she said in an e-mail to Dome.

SORRY BOB: Dole also picked Davidson to beat the University of Kansas along the way. Her husband, Bob Dole, went to school there and represented Kansas in the Senate for years. "Sorry, Bob!" she wrote.

RUNNING AGAINST WASHINGTON? Meantime, Hagan had UNC beating Georgetown University in the Final Four. Was this a dig at Dole, who has spent a lot of time in Washington, D.C. "I think Kay would agree that Carolina could show Georgetown (and Washington in general) a thing or two," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

See Dole's picks here, Neal's here and Hagan's here. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has turned in her bracket.

The Salisbury Republican, who is an alumna of Duke University, picked her alma mater to beat UNC-Chapel Hill's men's team, 85 to 82.

Also in her Final Four, North Carolina's own Davidson College and Texas.

Dole also sent Dome an explanation of her picks:

UNC has been consistently strong all year, and after all, we are the Tar Heel State.  Davidson, another North Carolina school, is my Cinderella team and will defeat Kansas along the way (Sorry, Bob!).  My alma mater Duke is playing very well right now, and I choose them to play Texas, which will make it to San Antonio because they have a great coach who hails from Hickory, North Carolina. 

Full text of the e-mail after the jump.

Hampton Dellinger has turned in his bracket.

The candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor picked UNC-Chapel Hill's men's team to beat Duke University, 79 to 78.

Texas and Davidson College near Charlotte are also in his Final Four.

On the women's side, he picked Duke to beat Maryland, 79 to 78.

UNC and the University of Connecticut are also in his Final Four.

"Some out-of-state fans may question final fours featuring North Carolina teams, but that’s why its called the NCAA tournament," he said in an e-mail to Dome.

The deadline to turn in your bracket is 11 a.m.

Former Davidson College President Robert F. Vagt will become president of The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh in mid-January, the foundation announced today.

Vagt, 60, will lead the distribution of more than $80 million annually from the foundation, which began in 1941 as the Howard Heinz Endowment, reports Jane Stancill.

A $1.6 billion philanthropy, the foundation's money comes from the fortune of the ketchup company founder H.J. Heinz.

Vagt was president of Davidson from 1997 until earlier this year, when he was succeeded by Thomas Ross. Ross left the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to accept the Davidson presidency.

The switch in roles for the two men was noted by Vagt, who joked in the Davidson news release, "I guess I'm just a Tom Ross wanna-be!"