Kay Hagan, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, has a TV ad saying she wants to "level the playing field" for North Carolina families.

What it says: "We need to level the playing field for families around here. Washington stopped working because the special interests just have too much power - oil companies getting tax breaks while we get record gas prices, local jobs shipped overseas and the big corporations and CEOs keep getting rewarded while North Carolina gets left behind. I'm Kay Hagan, and no one can promise they'll change things overnight, but I approve this message with a pledge to begin leveling the playing field - because it's time we got started."

The average national price of unleaded gasoline reached a record high of $4.11 a gallon on July 17, according to AAA. The picture becomes more complex when inflation, disposable income levels and other factors are taken into account.

The loss of large parts of North Carolina's manufacturing sector - particularly furniture and textiles - to overseas plants is well-documented. Recent years have also seen unusually large corporate profits and executive compensation packages.

It's an individual judgement as to whether special interests have "too much power."

Is it accurate? Yes.

- David Ingram

Pat McCrory took another swipe at Beverly Perdue over offshore oil drilling.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee used a lunch speech before a commercial real estate and construction group in Cary to drum his message that Perdue, the Democratic nominee, has flip-flopped on offshore drilling, Mark Johnson reports.

Perdue in June said she was "100 percent opposed" to drilling off North Carolina's coast but last week said she would appoint an independent panel of scientists and engineers to help decide.

McCrory quipped that he doesn’t know where she stands.

"I guess I’ll find out tonight," he said referring to a planned debate to be broadcast at 8 p.m. on WTVD-TV in the Raleigh-Durham market.

McCrory addressed the Raleigh area chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and the Triangle Community Coalition.

How much have U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and John McCain gotten from oil companies?

A new TV ad attacks the Republican Senate and presidential candidates for receiving contributions from oil and gas companies. 

The numbers in the ad are accurate, though it understates Dole's support by about $11,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

McCain's presidential campaign has received $1,332,033 from people who work in the oil and gas industry.

The ad understates Dole's figures, though. 

Dole's Senate campaign has received $277,756 since 2002, of which $110,527 came in during the current two-year election cycle.

That's a little more than the $266,000 figure cited in the ad.

A new ad from the liberal group MoveOn.org attacks U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Republican presidential candidate John McCain's ties to oil companies.

Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan's latest ad focuses on high gas prices, corporate tax breaks and outsourcing of jobs.

Americans for Prosperity is going to run its ad for another week.

The limited government group plans to spend another $150,000 on an ad praising U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole for her stance on offshore drilling.  

"We got a good response from the ad this week," he said.

A royalty relief provision from 2005 has not cost the federal government anything so far.

A recent TV ad attacked U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole for voting for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which included a provision to allow oil companies to avoid paying royalties for deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

As noted previously, the ad's citation of a "$7 billion" cost estimate for that bill was inaccurate, as the editorial it quoted was referring to royalty relief given in the late 1990s.

But today, the U.S. Department of the Interior told Dome that the royalty relief provisions in the 2005 bill have not cost anything so far because unlike the earlier measures they included price thresholds that kicked in when oil prices rise.

The threshold for 2008 will be around $37 a barrel, but oil is currently selling for around $112.

Walter Cruickshank, the deputy director of the Minerals Management Service, said that the 2005 royalty relief will not really affect the federal budget or oil companies.

"As a practical matter, (it will cost) probably nothing," he said.

Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue has been shifting her position on oil and gas drilling off the North Carolina coast.

Perdue, the lieutenant governor, had said she was "100 percent opposed" to drilling off the North Carolina coast, Rob Christensen reports.

But in a statement Wednesday, Perdue says if the federal ban on offshore driling is lifted, she would create a team of independent engineers and scientists "to analyze and make clear all the relevant evidence on drilling off our coast."

"North Carolina's policy should be based on science, not politics and polls," said Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley. "Bev Perdue supports efforts in Congrss to find common ground as part of a sensibile and comprehensive energy policy for our nation."

Perdue's Republican opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, has strongly supported drilling and criticized Perdue for opposing it. He began running a TV commercial on Wednesday criticizing Perdue on the issue.

Statewide polls have suggested that public opinion has moved in favor of supporting offshore drilling as gas prices have risen to record levels.

The campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Wednesday it was making a major effort in North Carolina because of the alignment of the issues and because of an unprecedented get-out the vote effort.

"The people want out of this war and they want some changes in the econony," Democratic Gov. Mike Easley said during an Obama campaign teleconference. "It's going to be very difficult for the people of North Carolina to vote for the status quo rather than change, which is where we are right now."

The Obama campaign said they have so far opened 16 offices across the state, spent more than $2 million in TV ads, and registered thousands of new voters, Rob Christensen reports.

"We are in striking distance," said Patrick Gaspard, the Obama national political director said of North Carolina.

The Obama campaign seemed to be reaching out to blue collar workers, who tended to vote for Hillary Clinton in the May primary.

The Obama campaign said it would emphasize rising gas prices, manufacuring jobs lost through unfavorable trade deals and John McCain's opposition to the Farm Bill.

The Obama campaign said it planned to organize every precinct in the state. The campaign said it would focus on voter registration between now and the Oct. 10 deadline.

They noted that since January, Democrats had picked up 169,635 new voters, while Republicans had gained over 51,542.

Barack Obama is still courting those Hillary Clinton voters.

A campaign blueprint for North Carolina released today indicates that Obama is working to expand his base of supporters here to include many of the blue-collar white voters he didn't win in the primary.

On the issues, the presentation leans heavily on effects of the poor economy on the textile industry and farming, attacking John McCain over a farm bill and support for free trade. 

Rising gas prices, the other major issue listed, are a more generic Obama issue that amplifies the economic attack.

Free trade has been a major theme for Democratic challenger Larry Kissell, although it hasn't gotten traction in other parts of the state in large part because of the largely Republican makeup of other textile-heavy districts.