Is Beverly Perdue a bad debater?

Democratic consultant Gary Pearce said allowing her to debate five times was "political malfeasance." Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts said Republican Pat McCrory is "more polished." WUNC reporter Laura Leslie said debates "aren't Perdue's strongest suit."

Dome's take: The format makes the difference.

McCrory has clearly outshined Perdue in sit-down debates that allowed more back-and-forth between the candidates, such as the recent debates on WRAL and WTVD.

But the two are more evenly matched in formal settings with podiums and timers, such as the recent debate at the SAS Institute. Perdue excelled in that type of setting during her primary debates against Richard Moore.

Their backgrounds may help explain that. As Betts noted, Perdue has presided over the Senate for eight years. It's a place where formality reigns. Parliamentary rules determine the course of the debate and legislators take turns giving short speeches.

City council meetings are much more informal. Mayors and council members typically sit, discussion is more freewheeling and thinking on your feet is a virtue. Typically, only the city attorney keeps careful track of Robert's Rules of Orders.

In addition, state legislators rarely debate during their campaigns, while McCrory has faced a number of televised debates in his biennial campaigns for mayor.

In short, the more the debate is like the Senate, the better Perdue does. But when it's more like a City Council meeting, McCrory tends to win the day.

If we're right, then Perdue's decision to skip the UNC-TV debate tonight — a formal debate that will be aired statewide — was a strategic mistake.

Gary Pearce says Pat Stith is the "best reporter there ever was."

In a post on Talking About Politics, the longtime Democratic consultant has high praise for the longtime investigative reporter, who will retire from the N&O next month.

Pat Stith is the best reporter there ever was. 

Not at The News & Observer. Not in North Carolina. The best. Ever. Anywhere.

I had the good luck to work with him at the N&O in the early 70s. We once worked together on a story about state government misusing federal jobs money. I learned more about journalism that month than I would have learned at journalism school.

He is absolutely honest. And the most competitive person I ever met.

He says the N&O has "lost its soul" with the departure of Stith. 

Say what you will about the power of the Web. Gary Pearce says television advertising still rules when it comes to politics.

As Exhibit A he offers the latest poll showing Democrat Kay Hagan ahead of incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole in the U.S. Senate race.

Pearce, on his Talking about Politics blog, says the poll numbers are largely a result of the television ad campaign by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

"The ads attacking Liddy Dole are brilliant," Pearce writes. "They have planted two numbers firmly in voters' minds: 93 (her rank in effectiveness in the Senate) and 92 (the percentage of the time she votes with Bush)."

Pearce says Hagan's own, more positive, ads have not been as effective.

Pearce says the race is wide open and that, in the end, "the best attack ads will probably win."

Gary Pearce says John Edwards "Nightline" interview was a failure.

In a post on the Talking About Politics blog, Edwards' former Senate campaign manager said that his admission of an affair on ABC News Friday was "breathtakingly cynical."

By comparison, Richard Nixon's Checkers speech was Churchillian in its dignity and honesty.

It's not clear who gets the gold medal for biggest phony Friday night: Edwards or the Chinese who organized the Olympics' opening ceremony.

Edwards' performance in the interview was a disaster from the start. Woodruff hit him head-on: Did you have an affair?

Instead of saying "yes," Edwards smiled and thanked Bob for coming by. He did everything but welcome Bob to his lovely home.

As the interview went on, the silver tongue that made Edwards what he was – multimillionaire, United States Senator and nearly Vice President and President – turned into Midas-in-Reverse.

Pearce said the National Enquirer now has "more credibility" than Edwards.

Another former advisor to John Edwards is speechless.

Gary Pearce, who advised Edwards' 1998 Senate campaign, had no comment when asked by Dome about revelations of an extramarital affair.

"I don't know what to say," he said. "I said something earlier this week, and I've decided that I'm not going to say anything else from now on."

Earlier this week, Pearce told the Charlotte Observer that Edwards had to address the affair story.

"If it's not true, he's got to stand up and say, 'This is not true. That is not my child and I'm going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies,'" he said then. "It's not enough to say, 'That's tabloid trash.'"

Several prominent Democrats say John Edwards needs to address claims that he fathered a child.

With two weeks before the national convention, some prominent party strategists say that the former North Carolina senator has to address a story in the National Enquirer to save his spot as a speaker.

As a former vice presidential nominee and a presidential candidate who won delegates this year, Edwards would normally be a shoo-in for a speaking slot. But some worry that lingering questions will be raised if Edwards speaks.

Edwards called the story "tabloid trash," but he has avoided talking with reporters at length.

"If it's not true, he's got to stand up and say, 'This is not true. That is not my child and I'm going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.' It's not enough to say, 'That's tabloid trash,' " said Gary Pearce, a strategist who ran Edwards' 1998 Senate race.

Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, said that Edwards has to give "an explanation that's satisfactory." (Char-O)

Gary Pearce is the go-to guy for the press corps.

The longtime Democratic consultant is knowledgeable, friendly and accessible as well as a reliable source of pithy quotes on the current state of political affairs.

It's no surprise, then, that he was quoted 47 times in the state's major papers over the past year.

"I like being quoted," he told Dome via e-mail. "I feel like I've gained some knowledge over the years, and I like sharing it with people — just as I like learning from people who know things I don't. The secret to life is to keep learning."

A former adviser to longtime Gov. Jim Hunt, former Sen. John Edwards, Senate candidate Erskine Bowles and Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, Pearce is the definitive Democratic insider. At the same time, he's not working for any current campaigns, so he's considered an independent voice.

"I'm willing to be more candid than are most partisans," he wrote. "I'm not spinning anybody anymore."

More after the jump.

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A respected blogger says North Carolina is not high on the list of swing states.

In a post on the Five Thirty Eight Web site, a Democratic analyst named Poblano reveals the results of a 5,000 simulations of the general election based on polling results in each state.

The simulations test Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's best and worst vote share in each state, then adds up the electoral votes until one reached enough to win. The state that puts the candidate over the top is the swing state for that simulation.

That sounds a bit complicated, but the point is to see which states are most likely to be the hard-fought battlegrounds that could decide the election.

In Obama's simulations, North Carolina was 10th on the list of likely swing states with 3.4 percent — below Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Colorado and Missouri.

(This would back up Gary Pearce's observation, since Virginia had 8.5 percent.) 

North Carolina was not on Clinton's list of swing states. 

The Boston Globe says North Carolina will not be in play.

In an analysis of six traditionally Republican states that Barack Obama has signaled he'll fight in, the newspaper finds that North Carolina is a longshot for the Democratic presidential nominee.

It notes that George Bush carried the state by 13 points in 2000 and 12 points in 2004, despite John Kerry's selection of John Edwards as his running mate and high turnout among African-Americans and young voters.

Indeed, Democratic candidates have long gotten their hopes up in North Carolina — Bill Clinton took one of his famous bus tours there in 1992 — only to have them dashed. The impediment, analysts said, is that the state is still 75 percent white. No matter how many African-Americans and young voters turn out for Obama, he would need a much stronger performance among white voters overall than any Democrat has managed since Jimmy Carter's win 32 years ago.

The paper quotes local Democratic strategist Gary Pearce, who says Democrats need strong African-American turnout and 42 percent of the white vote to win a statewide election — something they've been able to do in state contests but not national elections.

"I'd say spend your time and money in Virginia," he says.