* By percent, how much N.C. likes recent presidents in a poll: Reagan (44), Obama (29), Clinton (18), W. Bush (6), H.W. Bush (3).

* Liberal commentator Chris Fitzsimon, among others, takes issue with N&O/Char-O story about a "liberal shift" in the state legislature.

* Greensboro News-Record columnist Doug Clark argues that George Holding should be allowed to stay on the Easley, Edwards cases.

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr finds "being the minority is liberating" because the majority sets the agenda and he can "delve into policy." 

Sen. Elizabeth Dole gave her farewell address on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

The North Carolina Republican used her final floor speech to pay tribute to many mentors, beginning with several family members such as her grandmother, whom she called Mom Cathey, her parents, siblings and nephews, Lisa Zagaroli reports.

Dole thanked several presidents as well: Richard Nixon for her years on the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Reagan for her appointment as secretary of transportation, and George H.W. Bush for her job as secretary of labor.

"We've worked hard," she said in thanking her Senate staff. "We had some fun along the way too. And we made a positive difference for North Carolina and America."

Of her husband, Bob, the former senator from Kansas, she said he was a constant example that "a leader should have not only a strong backbone, but also a funny bone."

"I could never have dreamed of the people I've been privileged to meet, the jobs I've been privileged to hold or the issues I've been privileged to influence," said Dole, who lost her re-election bid to Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat.

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt about working hard at "work worth doing," Dole said, "While I don't know what awaits me in life's journey, what will come next, I pray that I'll find a way to continue to work hard at work worth doing."

The Eastern District U.S. attorney usually has a strong political patron.

For most of the last 20 years, the federal prosecutor in Raleigh appointed by the president has been closely tied to Sen. Jesse Helms, except during Democratic administrations.

Here is a list of former U.S. attorneys and their patrons:

George Anderson: (1977-1980) Backed by Democratic Sen. Robert Morgan; appointed by President Jimmy Carter.

Sam Currin: (1981-1987) Former Helms aide. Backed by Helms; appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

Margaret Currin: (1988-1993) The wife of the previous U.S. attorney. Backed by Helms; appointed by Reagan.

Janice McKenzie Cole: (1994-2001) Backed by Democratic U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton; appointed by President Bill Clinton. (No Democratic senator at that time.)

Frank Whitney: (2002-2005) Former Helms legislative counsel. Backed by Republican lawyer Tom Ellis, Helms' longtime political strategist; appointed by President George W. Bush.

George Holding: (2005-present) Former Helms aide and Whitney's No. 2 at U.S. attorney's office. Backed by Ellis; appointed by Bush.

The 2008 elections in North Carolina can be summed up as an analogy.

With Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both competitive in the state's presidential race, it could turn out that 2008 is like...

* 1932: When Democrat Franklin Roosevelt won the state, presaging a long period of Democratic dominance of North Carolina's electoral votes.

* 1976: When post-Watergate anger helped Democrat Jimmy Carter buck the trend of the Southern Strategy, though the win turned out to be an exception to Republican rule.

* 1992: When Democrat Bill Clinton fought hard for the state and made it competitive, but the underlying Republican tendency handed the win to George H.W. Bush.

There is a fourth possibility, however. Regardless of who wins, this could be the year that kicks off a long period of competitive elections, with both parties trading the state back and forth.

That would be the most unusual possibility in a state that went — with one exception each — for the Democratic candidate every cycle between 1876 and 1964, and for the Republican every cycle between 1968 and 2004.

The CBS Evening News focused on the Senate race Friday.

In interviews with Katie Couric, Democratic candidate Kay Hagan argues that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has been ineffective, while Dole says she's helped promote jobs.

Couric also asks Dole why President Bush has not campaign for her, according to a transcript:

COURIC: But Dole's biggest negative may be the R next to her name, which in this traditionally Republican state has almost become a scarlet letter.

President Bush campaigned for you tirelessly in 2002 when you first ran, but he hasn't really shown up in North Carolina this go-'round. Why is that?

Sen. DOLE: Well, his father has been here, and Laura Bush has been in the state a couple of times.

Dole also says she thought the "rocking chair" ad was designed to be a snarky attack on her age.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the day it aired. 

President Bush may not be campaigning for Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, but members of his family are.

On Saturday night, former President George H.W. Bush attended a fundraiser for Dole at the home of Keith and Lydia Vaughan of Winston-Salem, reports Rob Christensen.

This summer, First Lady Laura Bush attended a fundraiser in the Asheville area for Dole.

The current President Bush campaigned numerous times for Dole when she won in 2002, but since then his polling numbers have gone in the tank.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has been among the most admired women in an annual poll.

Between 1996 and 2003, Dole was among the top 10 women named by Americans based on random phone surveys done by Gallup each December since 1946. She was also in the top 10 in 1987, 1990 and 2005.

She first landed in the top 10 as Transportation secretary under President Reagan and again while serving as Labor secretary under the first President Bush.

Her highest ratings were in the 1990s, when she headed the American Red Cross, particularly in 1996 when her husband Bob ran for president and in 1998 and 1999 when she ran for president. Her lowest ratings were in the early 1990s and after she became a U.S. senator in 2003.

In 2004 and 2006, Dole received one percent, but she was not in the top 10. In 2007, Dole received less than half a percent, her lowest score since 1994.

In recent years, the list has also grown, with women such as Condoleezza Rice, Angelina Jolie and Nancy Pelosi joining such longtime stalwarts as Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Thatcher. That has pushed Dole farther down the list.

The top 10 list does not include respondents who answered "None or No Opinion," "Other" or "Friend or Relative." Those responses would typically receive a substantial percentage.

Dole's rankings since 1987 after the jump.

Correction: Some numbers have been changed based on new information.

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A recent TV ad by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee questions U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's effectiveness and support for President Bush.

What it says: Two men are sitting on rocking chairs in front of an old country store. "I'm telling you, Liddy Dole is 93." "93?" "Yep, she ranks 93rd in effectiveness." "After 40 years in Washington?" "After 40 years in Washington, Dole is 93rd in effectiveness, right near the bottom." "I've read she's 92." "Didn't I just tell you she's 93?" "No, 92 percent of the time she votes with Bush." "What's happened to the Liddy Dole I knew?" "She's just not a go-getter, like you and me." A narrator then adds: "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."

The background: Dole has worked in Washington in the late 1960s, serving on the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Secretrary of Transportation under President Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. Bush.

In 2002, she was elected U.S. senator from North Carolina.

In her first year in office, Dole voted with President Bush 98 percent of the time, according to an annual study of Senate votes tied to a clear presidential position done by Washington-based news service Congressional Quarterly.

Over the next four years, Dole's support of Bush declined to 85 percent, but her five-year average of support is 91.6 percent.

An annual study conducted since 2005 by the Congressional data service Knowlegis ranks members of Congress on their effectiveness.

After scoring in the middle of the pack the first two years, Dole's rating plummeted to 93rd when Republicans became the minority in the Senate in 2007.

Her rating was also low due to fewer mentions in the news media and service on less powerful committees on banking and armed services.

Dole's campaign notes that those committees are important to North Carolina, home to a number of banks and military bases.

"I've seen hundreds of senators come and go," argued her husband Bob at a recent event. "In both parties, I've seen good senators and I know how they work. You have a work horse and a show horse, and Elizabeth's in the work horse category."

As a side note, the ad subtly implies that Dole is in her 90s. She is actually 72.

Is the ad accurate? Yes, except for the implication about her age. 

There have been five presidential spoilers in N.C. in the last century.

Since 1908, third-party candidates in the presidential race have earned enough votes to affect the race between the Republican and the Democrat on the ballot in 1912, 1968, 1980, 1992 and 1996.

In the first two cases, the third-party candidate came in second.

George Wallace was the most successful, earning 31.3 percent of the state vote in the 1968 race as the nominee of the segregationist American Independent Party. The winner, Republican Richard Nixon, won 39.5 percent, while Democrat Hubert Humphrey came in third with 29.2 percent.

The next most successful was former president Teddy Roosevelt, who ran on the Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party in 1912, earning 28.4 percent. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the state with 59.2 percent, while Republican incumbent William Howard Taft came in third with 12 percent.

In the other races, the third-party candidates came in third, but got more votes than the margin of difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates.

In 1992, Texas businessman Ross Perot earned 13.7 percent of the vote, far more than the 0.79 percent margin that incumbent George H.W. Bush beat Bill Clinton by in North Carolina, despite losing the national race.

Four years later, Perot was roughly half as popular — picking up just 6.7 percent — but he still drew more votes than the 4.7 percent difference between winner Bob Dole and Clinton.

And in 1980, Independent candidate John Anderson won 2.9 percent, slightly more than the 2.1 percent difference between winner Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.