Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean said North Carolina will not be ignored.

Speaking in front of a crowd of about 100 at the state Democratic headquarters in Raleigh this morning, the former Vermont governor said that the party will reach out "to a lot of people that we haven't reached out to in a long time."

"The Democratic Party has changed a lot in 30 years, and so has the South," he said. "There is no reason for us ever to pass over a state anywhere."

The 15-minute speech was part of a "Register for Change" tour to boost presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as well as gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue and Senate nominee Kay Hagan.

Touring the state in a biodiesel-fueled bus, Dean will also make stops in Greensboro and Charlotte today, aimed at signing up volunteers for voter registration efforts here.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee is expected to come in the next few weeks.

Dean, who has led a "50-state strategy" aimed at building the party around the country, told reporters afterward that the party will have a "significant effort" in North Carolina, but he would not give specifics.

"I think you'll see us play here heavily," he said.

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Jerry Meek has endorsed Barack Obama.

The Democratic Party chairman, a superdelegate, said this afternoon that he had decided to support Obama months ago but did not want to interfere with the state's primary.

"Over the past year, I've watched as Barack Obama has drawn countless new people to the political process," he said in a statement. "Although my position as State Chair has led me to remain neutral through the primary, I've quietly celebrated as Barack Obama offered new hope to millions of Americans who have lost faith in the American dream after years of disastrous Republican policies."

The announcement is balanced by U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler's decision to support the winner of his Congressional District, Hillary Clinton.

The two decisions leave North Carolina with three superdelegates for Clinton and eight for Obama.

U.S. Reps. Mike McIntyre, Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller; Buncombe County Commissioner Carol Peterson; Statesville attorney David Parker; Democratic National Committeewoman Muriel Offerman remain neutral. (Though Miller may be leaning towards Obama.)

Meek will also have the opportunity to sway two more delegates. As state party chairman, he will submit four names for two delegate slots to be filled at the state party convention on June 21.

It is not known whether Meek will choose to name Obama supporters for those positions.

After the jump, his full statement.

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More than 45,000 voters switched party registration this year.

According to figures provided by the State Board of Elections, 45,665 voters changed to or from Democratic, Republican or unaffiliated registration between Jan. 1 and the April 14 deadline. 

(Voters may still update their registration or register to vote during the one-stop voting period that ends on Saturday, but they cannot switch parties.)

Of them, 42 percent switched to the Democratic Party and 42.2 percent switched to unaffiliated. Just 15 percent became Republicans.

Unaffiliated voters in North Carolina can request either party's ballot or a nonpartisan ballot featuring local and judicial races.

The biggest jump this year was from Republican to unaffiliated, with 11,748, or more than a fourth of voters who changed their registration. The second biggest jump was from Republican to Democrat, with 8,704, or 19 percent of voters who changed.

The smallest group was unaffiliated voters who reregistered as Republicans, with just 3,300, or 7 percent of voters who changed. 

Still, the numbers are pretty small overall, representing less than 1 percent of the number of registered voters at that time.

The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner hasn't been this exciting in 20 years.

The Democratic Party's annual fundraiser has been going since 1930, attracting such notable guests as Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1963.

But it's not been as big a deal as it will be tomorrow since the last time North Carolina's presidential primary was meaningful in 1988.

That year, 2,000 Democrats gathered at the N.C. State Fairgrounds to hear from three of the five active presidential candidates: Al Gore, Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson. (Note to younger readers: The dinner is not named for him.)

Michael Dukakis and Dick Gephardt, the other two candidates that year, did not attend.

According to a New York Times account of the evening by Tar Heel native Tom Wicker, "Gore backers made the most noise, though the Senator's speech did not much rouse the audience."

Gore won North Carolina on that year's Super Tuesday, but lost the nomination to Dukakis.

The N.C. Democratic Party has canceled a proposed presidential debate.

The party had scheduled a debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Sunday, April 27, with CBS News anchor Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer to moderate and N.C. State University to cosponsor.

Clinton agreed, but Obama did not commit to the debate. Several top state Democrats pressured Obama to accept the debate and 10,000 people signed up for tickets at the party's Web site.

In a press release, party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton said that "time constraints and logistical issues" were partly to blame and alluded to a much-criticized debate in Pennsylvania last week.

"While there was great interest in the debate, there were also growing concerns about what another debate would do to party unity," she said in a statement.

She said both candidates have committed to attending the party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Raleigh on Friday, May 2.

The Hillary Clinton campaign sought Friday to pressure Barack Obama to accept the proposed debate in North Carolina.

"Unfortunately, all signs point to him trying to duck the debate," said Ace Smith, Clinton's state campaign director. "He basically wants to brush off the people of North Carolina."

Smith noted that such Democratic leaders as Gov. Mike Easley and former Gov. Jim Hunt have urged Obama to acccept a debate scheduled to be held at Raleigh's RBC Center on April 27, Rob Christensen reports. He noted the state Democratic Party, which is sponsoring the event along with CBS, has already received 20,000 requests for tickets.

"It's ironic that the campaign of hope has become: I hope I don't get any more tough questions. I hope I don't have any more debates," he said.

During a campaign appearance in Raleigh on Monday, Obama expressed disappointment with the tenor of a debate held this week in Philadelphia. Instead of focusing on issues that matter to people, Obama said the debate concentrated on peripheral campaign flaps.

Obama also said there would be little time to hold a debate in the state.

Jerry Meek says he is not siding with Hillary Clinton.

The head of the state Democratic Party said that Barack Obama first suggested April 19 for a debate. Meek said that "it just seemed obvious" that the first day of Passover was not an appropriate date, so CBS News made several suggestions and the state party selected a new date.

"We picked the 27th out of a range of dates that the CBS senior vice president gave to us after conferring with the Obama campaign," Meek said.

He said the network suggested the 25th, 26th and 27th, and the party went with the last because the prime time slot on the 27th is after "60 Minutes" and it's one of the more coveted time slots on network television.

The party then invited Clinton and Obama to participate, and Clinton agreed first.

"The suggestion in the Chris Kromm piece that Senator Clinton picked that date and we merely supported that date is false," he said.

Barack Obama declined to commit Friday to participating in a debate in North Carolina.

In a telephone interview with The Charlotte Observer to discuss his economic plan, Obama doubted whether a proposed April 27 debate at Raleigh's RBC Center would fit with his schedule

Hillary Clinton, his rival for the nomination, has agreed to the debate, and the N.C. Democratic Party has begun taking requests for tickets.

The two candidates have appeared together in 20 debates. A 21st is scheduled for April 16 in Pennsylvania.

"I am always open to debates," Obama said Friday, "but I think that obviously we've got to structure our campaign so that we're reaching as many voters as possible, and it's not clear that the April 27 debate will work for our schedule."

Asked whether he would commit to debating in North Carolina, Obama replied, "I think that we will examine what the schedule looks like.

"I will tell you, after the 21st debate — all of which have been nationally televised, and so North Carolinians have had ample opportunity to watch these debates — I don't know that they are ending up being more informative than the kinds of town hall meetings that we've scheduled.

"So that's something that we're going to have to take a look at."

Obama had previously agreed to an April 19 debate in North Carolina. Clinton did not agree. The Pennsylvania primary is three days later, April 22.