U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry has called for conservatives to unite around John McCain.

On Monday, the Cherryville Republican accused former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee of staying in the presidential race too long and being "in there for himself."

But the Washington Post reports that McHenry wasn't always a fan of McCain's:

At a private meeting of conservatives in the House of Representatives last month, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (N.C.) ridiculed Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), asking why his fellow right-wing activists "shouldn't be physically ill at the prospects of a President McCain."

In December, McHenry told the Washington Post that he had met with Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. He also said that who would win the nomination process was "about as clear as mud."

In early January, he told the Charlotte Observer that he was uncommitted and would let the "party faithful" decide the nominee.

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble is endorsing Mitt Romney.

The Greensboro Republican said today that the former Massachussetts governor has a better background than U.S. Sen. John McCain for handling the economic problems facing the United States.

The Greensboro News & Record reports Coble made the endorsement outside his office.

"By his own admission it's (Romney's) strong suit," he said. "And by Sen. McCain's admission it's not his own strong suit."

Previously, Coble said he liked Romney but would not make an actual endorsement.

Among the state's Republicans, Rep. Virginia Foxx has also endorsed Romney, while Sen. Richard Burr is backing McCain. Rep. Sue Myrick backed Fred Thompson, who has since dropped out.

On the sidelines: U.S. Reps. Patrick McHenry, Robin Hayes and Walter Jones and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Jon Ham points out an error in yesterday's Dome (and today's print edition).

We wrote that Mitt Romney was attacking Mike Huckabee for "channeling" John Edwards, then said that Huckabee and Edwards are the only two Southerners left in the race.

"Fred! would beg to differ," Ham writes on his Right Angles blog.

We stand corrected. Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee is indeed still running for the Republican presidential nomination.

In our defense, he is currently polling in fourth place in South Carolina, fifth place in Florida, sixth place in Michigan, sixth place in California, fifth place in New York, and fifth place nationally.

And, in our hearts, he's still the district attorney of New York City.

John McCain is on the rise in North Carolina.

So say the results of Public Policy Polling's latest tracking poll on the Republican presidential race. The latest numbers show that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and McCain, the Arizona senator, are neck-and-neck in a survey of 978 likely Republican primary voters on Jan. 9.

That's a big leap for McCain, who was the choice of just 8 percent of those in PPP's December tracking poll.

The latest numbers:

Huckabee - 27 percent

McCain - 26 percent

Mitt Romney - 15 percent

Fred Thompson - 11 percent

Rudy Giuliani - 9 percent

Ron Paul - 4 percent

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Fred Thompson is skipping New Hampshire.

The Republican presidential candidate decided instead to campaign in South Carolina as part of an 11-day bus tour, the Associated Press reports:

"This is where we make our stand — this is where I have chosen to make my stand," Thompson told a crowd at a barbecue restaurant. He later told reporters he needs to do well in South Carolina, which votes Jan. 19.

"There's no question about it. It could prove at the end of the day that South Carolina is determinative as far as I’m concerned, but we're not there yet," he said.

Obama: 31, Edwards: 27, Clinton: 24.

Those were the results of a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released today. Both Barack Obama and John Edwards gained overnight in the tracking poll, while Clinton fell to third place.

No other Democrat was in the double digits.

"Under any circumstance, a 31-27-24 spread is still very close," said pollster John Zogby. "Edwards is right in the mix and he has made gains too."

On the Republican race, Mike Huckabee was at 31 percent, Mitt Romney at 25, and Fred Thompson, John McCain and Ron Paul around 10 percent. 

A former communications and research guru from the Republican National Committee and Sen. Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign has joined Sen. Richard Burr’s staff as its top press officer.

Chris Walker, 30, began work Monday as press secretary for the Winston-Salem Republican, reports Barb Barrett. He replaces Laura Caudell, who left in the spring for a job in Birmingham, Ala.

Walker spent the summer working in research communications for Thompson’s budding presidential campaign. Before that, he spent about six months as deputy director of research at the RNC. In 2006, he worked as a political appointee in communications for the Department of Defense and the Department of the Treasury.

Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani led their parties in a recent poll.

The Civitas Institute's monthly DecisionMaker poll showed Clinton widening her lead in the Democratic presidential primary in North Carolina.

The New York senator had 31 percent, followed by a tie at 18 percent between Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former senator John Edwards. Nineteen percent were not sure.

Among Republicans, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee ceded the top spot to the former mayor of New York City. Giuliani led with 21 percent, followed by Thompson at 19 percent and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 16 percent.

Twenty four percent were not sure.

The poll of 800 likely voters was taken by Tel Opinion Research between Oct. 9 through 14. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton is leading in North Carolina fundraising.

According to the third quarter reports from presidential candidates, Clinton raised $288,000 from Tar Heels since July 1, for a total of more than $500,000 since the campaign began.

She was followed by former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who raised $265,831 in the same period.

"We are overwhelmed by the strong support for Senator Clinton from every walk of life and every part of North Carolina," Clinton's campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, said in a statement.

In third place was former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, the top Republican with $106,025. But he was closely followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at $105,849.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama came in fifth, with $98,751, followed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, with $96,815.

The complete list, after the jump.

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Fred Thompson is neck-and-neck with Rudy Giuliani in the race for money from North Carolina.

Thompson's campaign finance report for the third quarter shows that he has raised just over $106,000 from North Carolina contributors for his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Giuliani raised just over $96,000 for the same period.

But Thompson's totals come with an asterisk - his report includes money raised in June. Giuliani's report only includes money raised in July, August and September.

Thompson's report lacks the star power of Giuliani's report, which included contributions from some NASCAR notables.

Check out some of Thompson's N.C. contributors after the jump.

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