What bipartisan efforts has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole worked on?

At Dome's request, the Salisbury Republican's staffers sent a list of bipartisan efforts that she is most proud of from the past six years:

* Climate Change: Dole co-sponsored a "cap and trade" bill to reduce carbon emissions by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner this session.

* Military Family Leave: Dole co-sponsored a bill by Sen. Hillary Clinton to allow some workers 12-month leaves to care for family members wounded in action.

* Lumbee Recognition: Dole worked with Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, among others, on legislation to recognize the Lumbee tribe.

* Tobacco Quota Buyout: Dole worked with U.S. Reps. McIntyre and Bob Etheridge on a tobacco quota buyout program included in a 2004 jobs bill.

* Catching Fugitives: Dole co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Richard Durbin to give law enforcement agencies help capturing fugitives from the U.S. Marshals.

Dole's staffers also cited her work on 211 expansion with Clinton, creating infrastructure bonds with Sen. Ron Wyden, requiring a White House conference on nutrition with Sen. John Kerry, demanding Iraq fund a greater share of its reconstruction with Sen. Ben Nelson, and amending trade adjustment laws and calling for an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force with Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Previously: Dole's Democratic cosponsors 2003-08.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was fairly bipartisan in the 2003-04 session.

With the candidates for Senate touting their records of bipartisanship, Dome has been taking a closer look at the number of Democrats who signed on to legislation Dole sponsored.

In the 2003-04 session, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 16 bills. Of them, eight had no cosponsors and eight had Democratic cosponsors.

A bill to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair had 48 Republican cosponsors and 30 Democrats, including Sens. Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman and Chuck Schumer.

Overall, that boosted her Democratic cosponsors to 48, compared to 66 Republican cosponsors, or about a three-to-two ratio.

Her most frequent Democratic cosponsor was fellow North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who signed on to the Blair honors, a bill to recognize the Lumbee tribe, an amendment on a Medicare bill and another amendment.

Previously: Dole's cosponsors in 2005-06 and 2007-08.

Jim Hunt thinks Hillary Clinton would be a good vice president.

The former North Carolina governor told Dome in a recent interview that he did not endorse either Clinton or Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, though he's close to Clinton and admires Obama.

"The folks who've been my biggest leaders and supporters through the years were evenly split, and I could see a great case to be made for each," he said.

Now that the primary is over, Hunt said he's among those thinking of a "dream ticket" — even though that number has dwindled in recent days.

"I'd love to see them on the ticket together," he said. "Each of them would serve in a very strong effective way for America." 

Jim Hunt says North Carolina could be in play.

The former governor told Dome that he believes the state could go for the Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1976, though he stressed it's too early to know for sure.

"There's a real chance it will stay in play all the way through," said Hunt, who did not endorse Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the state primary. 

North Carolina has been thought to be up for grabs before, notably in 1992 when Bill Clinton contested the state and early in the 2004 race when John Edwards was on the ticket. But Hunt said this year's election is different.

"I think it's the fact that so many things are messed up in the country," he said. "I think there's just tremendous enthusiasm for Barack Obama, particularly among young people and African-Americans, but also in an awful lot of other people."

Though he said he'll work to get Obama elected, Hunt said he isn't looking for a job in his administration.

"I think those days are gone," he said. "I'm not interested in leaving North Carolina. I want to see big changes in education made across the country, but there are a lot of good people who can make that happen. I'd rather support them."

To be clear: Barack Obama is not going to pick Mike Easley as a running mate.

There are a number of reasons: Easley's low national profile, his endorsement of Hillary Clinton in the primary, his dislike of the ceremonial duties that the veep job pretty much entails.

Still, the results of a recent poll by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling on the effects of a vice presidential candidate on North Carolina voters are intriguing.

Twenty-two percent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for an Obama-Easley ticket, while only 11 percent said they would be more likely.

By contrast, 15 percent said they'd be less likely if John Edwards were picked, while 19 percent said they would be more likely; and 13 percent said they'd be less likely if Clinton were picked, while 18 percent said they would be more likely.

Perhaps voters were wary of seeing another Easley-Obama fist-bump?

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is not ready to get on the Barack Obama train.

In a piece in Politico today, a spokesman for the Waynesville Democrat says he hasn't made a decision on what to do now that the Democratic primary is over:

Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from right-leaning North Carolina, has also been too busy to endorse. After Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried his district in the North Carolina primary, Shuler said he would cast his superdelegate vote for her at the Democratic convention.

Now that Clinton is out of the race? "We've gone back to his work up there in the House," said Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen. "We're not really too focused on the presidential [race]."

Politico says Gov. Mike Easley lost in the presidential primary.

In a list of winners and losers from the tortuous Democratic race, the political Web site ranked Easley poorly for the outcome of his endorsement of Hillary Clinton:

No one thought he'd deliver his state to Clinton, but his endorsement seemed to have almost no effect. And his comment about Clinton's making "Rocky Balboa look like a pansy" didn’t win him many friends in the gay community, either.

Stateline says Barack Obama may affect down-ballot races here.

In a story today, the legislative Web site writes that the presumptive Democratic nominee has an "outside possibility" of winning North Carolina in November, but he may have more of an effect on down-ballot races by boosting turnout.

With an open race for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator, legislative and Congressional seats and eight other statewide posts, North Carolina has the most races of any Southern state on the ballot.

Even though only three out of four Democratic primary voters also voted in down-ballot races as well, the Democratic turnout was three times as high as in the Republican primary.

"Obama's impact down-ballot will be huge for Democrats, if he is able to sustain his momentum," John Davis, president of the North Carolina Forum for Research and Economic Education, told Stateline.

The site argues that the biggest effect will be in the gubernatorial race between Beverly Perdue and Pat McCrory and the Senate race between Kay Hagan and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Still, it says that Obama could also hurt Democrats in Western Carolina and other predominantly white areas where he did poorly against Hillary Clinton.

Hat Tip: Chris Kromm

Hillary Clinton's campaign really ended in North Carolina.

The post-mortems of the former Democratic presidential candidate's campaign pretty much agree on this point, saying that her last chance to turn the primary around were on May 6.

The New York Times adds some details about divisions between Clinton adviser Mark Penn and pollster Geoff Garin about how winnable the state was:

North Carolina was the question mark. Mr. Clinton, unwilling to give up on his native South, believed they could whittle down her double-digit deficit and insisted on spending more time there. Mr. Garin took polls and reported back in an April 25 e-mail message that “we are on track to narrow this to single digits.” Mr. Penn argued it was not possible and took his own shadow poll to prove his point.

The paper says Clinton aides essentially realized the race was over when they saw Tim Russert on MSNBC say that she did not get a "game-changer" that she wanted.

The New York Times seconds the "Let It Bleed" theory.

In an article today on Hillary Clinton's concession, the Times notes that Barack Obama will kick off a tour on the economy in North Carolina, which hasn't gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence.

Republican strategists in the article say that Obama has also inquired about ad rates in 25 states, including North Carolina. (By contrast, George W. Bush advertised in 17 states in 2004.)

Still, the newspaper quotes unnamed sources seconding Dome's theory that North Carolina may be a feint:

Mr. Obama's aides said some states where they intend to campaign — like Georgia, Missouri, Montana and North Carolina — might ultimately be too red to turn blue. But the result of his making an effort there could force Mr. McCain to spend money or send him to campaign in what should be safe ground, rather than using the resources in states like Ohio.

It also quotes Obama campaign manager David Plouffe saying that the primary campaign left them with stronger get-out-the-vote operations in smaller Republican states where turnout could make a difference, such as Alaska.

That would presumably not include North Carolina.