Is President Barack Obama planning a town hall meeting on health care at Broughton High School next week?

That's the word, unconfirmed. Obama's schedules don't say and White House officials said only that he would be in Raleigh on Wednesday.

Dome's official device for separating truth from rumor, the Magic Eight Ball, hasn't had a workout in a while. So we put the question to our cheap plastic toy from China. Its answer: "Better not tell you now."

Well that settles it, then. 

Is Roy Cooper ready to announce a Senate bid?

Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza recently speculated on The Fix that the state attorney general may be ready to throw his hat into the ring against Sen. Richard Burr:

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) will make a decision about whether to run for the Senate by the end of the month, according to sources familiar with his decision, even as a new poll shows him leading Sen. Richard Burr (R). 

You all know how Dome feels about unnamed sources, especially in D.C. So we turned to our own unnamed source, whom we'll describe only as small, rotund and bald.

Will Cooper announce by the end of the month? "Outlook not so good."

Stay tuned. 

N.C. Spin has seconded the Dome's gossip.

As we noted, one of the names potentially being discussed for state secretary of transportation is Sen. Clark Jenkins.

Now the weekly e-newsletter has made the same call:

The Tarboro Senator has served on the DOT board, has headed the Senate committee on Transportation, and has been a vocal critic of the way the department has been run. Jenkins would be a maverick at DOT and would surely shake things up in this department that often appears arrogant and incompetent. He is highly independent; however he does have very close connections with Senate leadership. Maybe the right man at the right time.

We asked the Magic Eight Ball if Jenkins would be appointed. It's response: Yes.

The Magic Eight Ball has been gathering dust on our desk of late. 

But with a spate of predictions on the blog already, it's time to put the cheap plastic toy made in China up against the punditocracy.

First up: Will John McCain win North Carolina?

It's answer: Most likely. 

Next: Will Beverly Perdue win the governor's race?

Eight Ball says: My reply is no.

Finally: Will Elizabeth Dole win re-election?

It says: My sources say no.

Tomorrow, we'll see how it did against these folks. 

Is Tom Campbell going to be arrested?

In what may one day be seen as the most bizarre Magic Eight Ball question that we will ever post on this blog, we turn first to the recent edition of N.C. Spin.

The "In The Soup" column, which we assume is written by executive producer Tom Campbell — if only because of the name, Campbell's soup ... get it? — ends on this rather odd note:

More than one source has reported that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of NC SPIN’s Executive Producer and moderator Tom Campbell. Further details are sketchy at this time but we promise to tell all next week.

We've often noted N.C. Spin's rumor-based "heard on the street" approach to the news, but we did not know it applied to their own lives.

So, Eight Ball, has a warrant been issued for Tom Campbell? Ask again later. Then: Signs point to yes.

Tom, call your attorney. 

It's time to pit the Huffington Post against everyone's favorite fortune-telling desk toy.

An item on the Huffington Post is predicting that John Edwards will endorse Barack Obama tonight in Michigan.

The Obama campaign has announced a "major national endorsement" for a rally tonight at 7pm in Michigan, and the rumor mill is swirling that it is none other than Sen. John Edwards.

The Magic Eight Ball's take: "Yes Definitely."

Tom Campbell says Richard Moore will be back.

The N.C. Spin columnist says that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has not run his last campaign.

Richard Moore isn’t through. Even though he was defeated by a wide margin Tuesday most observers believe they will see him on a ballot again. In two years Senator Richard Burr will stand for re-election. You can expect his Democratic opponent to be Moore.

Moore previously lost a Congressional race in 1994 and bounced back to run successfully for state treasurer, thanks in part to Gov. Jim Hunt, who appointed him secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety.

The next question is: What would Moore do between now and 2010?

Though it may be a while before we find out the answer, we've asked the Magic Eight Ball: Will Moore run for U.S. Senate in 2010? It's answer: Without a doubt.

Will state Rep. Thomas Wright resign?

The usually speculative e-mail newsletter N.C. Spin declined to take a stab, preferring the useful dodge of raising the question without answering it. (See first sentence, above.) But Cash Michaels, a regular panelist on the N.C. Spin TV show, went ahead.

Our NC SPIN panel discusses this very subject in this week’s show, but most believe that if Wright hasn’t resigned by now he likely will stick it out. In fact, Cash Michaels, widely respected journalist who has followed Wright’s career, speculates that Wright will enjoy the show and being the focus of attention. Be sure to tune in.

Sounds like a question for the Magic Eight Ball. Will Wright resign? The answer: Yes.

We'll check back later to see whether Michaels beat the plastic toy. 

The Magic Eight Ball is ready to weigh in on the national scene.

After much talk recently about Gov. Mike Easley's return to the High Campaign Mode of speechmaking, Democratic political consulant Gary Pearce writes that governors in his position usually run for vice president or Senate.

The buzz around Raleigh is that Easley will endorse Hillary Clinton. She could use a moderate Southerner on the ticket. So could Obama.

Pearce doesn't even mention the recent pronoun slip that seemed to pull the curtain back on his subconscious. So, magical plastic toy from across the waters, will Easley endorse Clinton?

Its answer: Very doubtful.  

Post-Script: This would be a good time to point out that the Eight Ball tied with Charlotte blogger Jeff Taylor in the last go-round. Nice work, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Toy.

For good measure, the Eight Ball will take on Rob Christensen's predictions as well.

There were quite a few, and some in several parts, which the Eight Ball does not have the technological capacity to handle. Here's a quick rundown of the toy's picks, which were mostly in agreement:

* Clinton wins nomination: Yes.

* Clinton chooses Bayh as running mate: My sources say no.

* Huckabee named veep pick: Better not tell you now, followed by Yes.

* Clinton loses general election: Outlook good.

* North Carolina favors GOP for prez: Yes.

* Hagan defeats Neal: Without a doubt.

* Dole defeats Hagan: Signs point to yes.

* Perdue wins nomination: You may rely on it.

* Smith wins nomination: It is decidedly so.

* Perdue bests Smith: Yes.

* Shuler wins reelection: Signs point to yes.

* Hayes wins reelection: As I see it yes.

* Jones wins reelection: Outlook not so good.

A note on the rules: There's no double jeopardy. For multipart predictions, we will disregard those that were made moot by an earlier one that did not come true.