GOING CHILLY: Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin didn't appreciate having to share a campaign bus with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr when she was stumping the state. Palin is scheduled to appear at Ft. Bragg next week to promote her book, which could make for an awkward moment if Burr shows to get a book signed.

POLITICAL PRENUP: Presidential candidate John Edwards offered to quit his campaign and endorse President Barack Obama in exchange for a guaranteed spot on the ticket. Hillary Clinton got the same offer. This reminds us of a time when Edwards' political value meant more than a cheap joke, such as this one.

LIGHTWEIGHT GOVERNOR: At a women's health conference, Gov. Bev Perdue shared stories about her days as a lawmaker when she would scarf a whole bag of Doritos. On a stage in front of a crowd, Perdue challenged her transportation secretary, Gene Conti, to slim down. Woe to any Perdue cabinet members who still smoke.

IN OTHER NEWS: Former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign manager appeared before a federal grand jury this week. Members of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are heavy political contributors. An African American artist unveiled a portrait of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Ahead of the South Carolina primary last year, a high-level aide to then-candidate John Edwards made an offer to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

He would quit the race and back whoever agreed to add him to the ticket, Obama's campaign manager writes in a new book. Talking Points Memo calls the revelation a "shocker," but is anyone really surprised? David Plouffe's book has also revealed that Plouffe was the source of the tip that led to coverage of Edwards' $400 haircuts.

But then right at the end of the conversation, the Edwards rep added a new wrinkle: "Just to be clear, we're going to talk to the Clinton people too. That's not where John's heart is, but he is at a point of maximum leverage now. We want to see what each of you is thinking."

My initial reaction was that this was a nonstarter. Of course we wanted Edwards's support and his message was certainly closer in spirit to ours than it was to Hillary's. But political deals like this rarely work: people see right through them.

Plus I couldn't imagine Obama agreeing this far out to lock in his running mate without going through any process or even being certain that we would be the ones making a selection.

Obama's answer was quick and firm: he would cut no deals. If he won, he did not want to be locked in to any personnel matters, and he had little interest in deciding on a vice presidential pick in the heat of the primary campaign.

The Edwards aide later said that Clinton's campaign seemed to want it more, an assertion Plouffe didn't believe. Edwards eventually endorsed Obama.

Hat tip: RTB

What if former North Carolina Senator John Edwards had captured the Democratic nomination last year, and then the sex scandal broke?

So speculates Christopher Beam in Slate, the online political blog. Beam says an Edwards victory in the Democratic primary was more plausible than many people might think, especially if Barack Obama had listened to those who said he was too inexperienced to run, Rob Christensen reports. Beam assumes that Edwards could not have kept the sex scandal covererd up for ever.

“It's safe to assume that if Edwards had won the nomination, (John) McCain would be president,” Beam said. “It's hard to overstate the ripple effect on American politics, especially the Democratic Party. Democrats would have blown their best shot at the presidency in a generation.”

More after the jump.

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President Barack Obama is trying to re-assemble his old campaign team to help build grass roots support for the overhaul of the health care proposal as well as for his major initiatives.

About 75 Obama backers gathered Monday night at the Church of the Reconciliation in Chapel Hill to discuss how to build support in Congress for Obama’s health care proposals through telephone calls, phone banks, petition signing, door-to-door canvassing, round table discussions, Rob Christensen reports.

"There is a sense of urgency and there needs to be a sense of urgency," Lindsay Siler, the state director of the Obama organization.

"The message is we need to stand up and demand you pass health care reform," she said.

Similar meetings are being held across the state. Tonight there are phone banks planned at St. Matthew AME Church in Raleigh and First Baptist Church West in Charlotte.

The organizing is being done under the auspices of the Democratic National Committee, which has set up an off shoot group called Organizing for America. The campaign team, which will rely much more on volunteers, has only been on the ground in North Carolina for three weeks.

Obama is trying to get the House and the Senate to pass version of the health care plan before Congress recesses in August with passage some time this fall.

Siler, the former Iowa deputy field director for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign, who was previously with Planned Parenthood in North Carolina and surrounding states. The state field director is Greg Jackson Jr., who headed D.C. for Obama, a grassroots effort.

In response to a question, Siler asked the Obama supporters not to pressure North Carolina Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan to support the public health option part of the Obama plan. Obama has sought not to put public pressure on centrist Democrats who may be undecided about portions of the plan.

Correction: Post updated to correct prior affiliations of Jackson and Siler.

A national political group built on President Barack Obama’s campaign is coming to North Carolina.

Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee, is expected to announce Tuesday the hire of two staffers in Raleigh, Barb Barrett reports. The group will conduct what it calls "listening tours" around the state in coming weeks, focusing on education, energy and health care. The group hopes to build support for Obama’s agenda.

The group’s inaugural N.C. state director, Lindsay Siler, is a former field director and public policy director for Planned Parenthood in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. She also worked for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Iowa.

The new field director, Gregory Jackson, led the group D.C. for Obama, which sent volunteers to key states during the presidential campaign.

Former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole may want to rethink her new diet.

At a lecture in Kansas Sunday, the former North Carolina senator said that she and her husband Bob would be starting the NutriSystem diet.

Until recently, at least, the diet planners have leaned Democratic, according to a search of data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The company's top officers have donated $10,650 to Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry as well as Pennsylvania Congressmen Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy.

Between 2006 and 2008, former chief executive officer Mike Hagan, former vice president Bryan Janeczko and former chief financial officer James Brown gave between $250 and $2,300. Hagan also donated $1,000 to the International Franchise Association, an industry group.

Current CFO David Clark, meantime, gave $500 to the Republican National Committee.

No donations could be found for the other current executives.

Former House Speaker Dan Blue of Raleigh has been named to a 37-member commission that will examine the Democratic Party's rules for the 2012 presidential nominating and delegate selection process.

Blue, a state lawmaker and attorney, was appointed to the commission by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the national Democratic party chairman, Rob Christensen reports.

Kaine wants the commission to examine three issues: changing the window of time during which primaries and caucuses can be held, reducing the number of super delegates, and improving the caucus system.

The Democrats last year survived a prolonged primary fight between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The long competition resulted in an intense courtship for the support of the super delegates — the elected and party leaders — who potentially could have decided a close contest at the national convention.

The co-chairs of the Democratic Change Commission are South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

North Carolina has played an important role in the past in helping shape the presidential primary system. In the early 1980s, Gov. Jim Hunt headed a commission that created the super delegates. The chief staff person on the committee was Congressman David Price.

Price also co-chaired the Democrats' 2008 presidential nominating commission. Raleigh attorney Ed Turlington served on the commission.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wouldn't mind watching basketball with Barack Obama.

The Winston-Salem Republican was on Charlotte sports talk show "Primetime with the Packman" this afternoon.

Repeating a question from the Democratic primary last year, host Mark Packer asked if he would rather have dinner with Hillary Clinton or Obama.

"Hillary Clinton in a heartbeat," Burr said. "I've had an opportunity in the last week to have dinner with Barack Obama. I passed on that one."

Obama held a bipartisan "timeout dinner" at the White House last Wednesday with about 180 guests from Congress and his Cabinet as well as staffers and spouses.

Burr said the president is a "straight-up guy," a "tremendous athlete" and "a very disciplined individual," but he disagrees with him on the issues.

"I think what we've seen from the first 60 days is he has an agenda as to where he wants to take America," he said. "I'm not interested in going there."

Packer followed up. What about at the Final Four?

"Sporting event — I'm sitting beside Barack," he said. "No question."

Bill Clinton returns to North Carolina today.

The former president was last seen here standing in the back of a Ford pickup, wrapping up an 11-city barnstorm on behalf of his wife's campaign.

North Carolina turned out to be Hillary's Waterloo. Chastened by Barack Obama's primary wins, Clinton retracted his criticism and promoted Obama.

Now, he returns for a speech at N.C. State University's Millennium Seminar Series.

His address at Reynolds Coliseum today is titled "The Way Forward," and in it, he will "chart the course of America's future after the 2008 election and delve into the effects of new presidential leadership on the nation's important issues," N.C. State's Web site explains.

No tickets are available for the 10:30 a.m. speech, but it will be shown online here. (N&O)

Sen. Kay Hagan and Gov. Beverly Perdue will join Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and a handful of other high-powered women at a Democratic pro-choice luncheon Sunday in Washington.

The EMILY's List luncheon is among dozens of events going on this holiday weekend to honor the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and a slate of women who favor abortion rights. Tickets for the luncheon, at the Hilton Washington, sold at a range of $150 to $5,000.

The luncheon also features Obama Cabinet nominees Janet Napolitano and Hilda Solis; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was just elected in New Hampshire.

The political organization works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

EMILY's List was Hagan's No. 2 contributor in her recent campaign, donating nearly $270,000 to her effort to defeat former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The group also supported Perdue, running an ad in last May’s primary campaign touting her record on child predators.