The head of the Republican Party is coming to Raleigh tomorrow.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan will host a roundtable discussion with local Republican leaders at the state GOP headquarters at 2:30 p.m.

Rich Beeson, the RNC's political director, and Bill Stepien, deputy political director for the John McCain campaign, will also be at the event.

The visit is part of the "Victory 2008 Tour" to various states to promote voter registration, microtargeting, get-out-the-vote and fundraising efforts.

It follows a similar visit by Democratic Party head Howard Dean by 12 days.

If this is Friday, this must be ... Colorado?

Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean's tour of Southern states must be wearing him out a little, since he made a brief slip this morning.

"We want not just Barack Obama to be president of the United States, we want Bev Perdue as the next governor of the state of Colorado," he said.

Dome missed the slip at the time, as did most of the cheering crowd.

Hat Tip: Matt Willoughby

A handful of Hillary Clinton supporters showed up at a Barack Obama event today.

Members of the "Just Say No Deal" coalition traveled from Durham and Fayetteville to hold up anti-Obama signs at a speech by Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean outside the state party headquarters in Raleigh.

Their handmade signs said "No-bama," "18 Million Voices — Hear Us Now," and "May 31, 2008, The Day the Donkey Died" — the last being a reference to the day the party rules committee decided seat only some of the Michigan and Florida delegates.

Early childhood educator Stuart Asbel, 39, of Durham, said the decision, which favored Obama, amounted to a "fascist coup" that disregarded the votes of Clinton supporters in a state where neither campaigned and one where only Clinton's name was on the ballot.

"He's not my candidate," he said of Obama.

Retiree Vivian Bailey, 69, of Fayetteville, said she did not think Obama is qualified to be commander in chief and worried about things she's read about him on the Internet.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Dean said he thinks the party will be unified in November.

"I think the party's starting to unify, and I think we'll be unified by the time we get to the convention," he said.

Asked if Clinton's name should be put to a roll-call vote at the convention — one of the demands of her supporters — Dean declined to take a position.

"That's up to her," he said.

Bonus: Dean noted that one of the Clinton supporters at the rally headed his campaign in North Carolina.

Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean said North Carolina will not be ignored.

Speaking in front of a crowd of about 100 at the state Democratic headquarters in Raleigh this morning, the former Vermont governor said that the party will reach out "to a lot of people that we haven't reached out to in a long time."

"The Democratic Party has changed a lot in 30 years, and so has the South," he said. "There is no reason for us ever to pass over a state anywhere."

The 15-minute speech was part of a "Register for Change" tour to boost presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as well as gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue and Senate nominee Kay Hagan.

Touring the state in a biodiesel-fueled bus, Dean will also make stops in Greensboro and Charlotte today, aimed at signing up volunteers for voter registration efforts here.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee is expected to come in the next few weeks.

Dean, who has led a "50-state strategy" aimed at building the party around the country, told reporters afterward that the party will have a "significant effort" in North Carolina, but he would not give specifics.

"I think you'll see us play here heavily," he said.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee is coming to North Carolina.

Robert M. "Mike" Duncan is on a three-week "Victory 2008 Tour" to meet with state Republican leaders and talk about presumptive presidential nominee John McCain.

"I am excited to meet with the grassroots activists, state leaders, and enthusiastic volunteers who are devoting their time and energy to elect John McCain and Republicans nationwide this November," he said in a statement.

Duncan will be traveling with McCain deputy campaign manager Mike DuHaime, Republican National Committee political director Rich Beeson and strategy director Bill Steiner.

The group will also visit battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida. 

The announcement comes on the cusp of a visit Friday by Democratic national chairman Howard Dean on behalf of Barack Obama.

Democratic national chairman Howard Dean will be in North Carolina next Friday as part of a national voter registration drive.

Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate, began the 50-state tour this week in President Bush’s home town of Crawford, Texas, reports Rob Christensen.

Dean is traveling in a bio-diesel bus in an effort to mobiize voters for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates.

Dean will be in Raleigh at 9 a.m. on Friday, then in Greensboro at noon, and in Charlotte at 3:30. Details of locations are still being worked out.

Jerry Meek is backing the national popular vote.

The N.C. Democratic Party chairman has endorsed the idea of electing the president by popular vote by essentially abolishing the Electoral College, according to an e-mail from the National Popular Vote group.

Meek said a national popular vote would increase grassroots involvement, boost voter registration and improve voter turnout — three trends North Carolina witnessed during the recent Democratic primary — and that would be a good thing for the political process regardless of which party you support.

The e-mail also notes that Meek said the National Popular Vote bill in the legislature would be consistent with national party chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy" and make every state a battleground state.

The bill is currently on hold in a committee, so Meek's statement could be a signal that state Democrats are seriously considering it even though there are signs that North Carolina may be a battleground state this year.

The legislation would enter North Carolina into a compact to pledge its electors to the popular vote winner. It would only take effect once enough states signed to award the presidency.

North Carolina is uniquely positioned to pass the bill. Though it's gone for the Republican presidential candidate every year since 1976, the majority of both chambers and the governor are Democrats.

Last August, legislators considered divvying up the state's electors by Congressional districts.

National Democratic Chairman Howard Dean took a swing through North Carolina Tuesday, holding fundraisers and meeting with his old presidential rival, John Edwards.

Dean held a luncheon in Charlotte and then attended a reception at the home of David Kirby, a Raleigh trial attorney and former Edwards law partner, reports Rob Christensen.

“He was just an incredibly nice, kind-spirited person,” Kirby said. “Howard Dean up-close-and personal is a gentler, kinder Howard Dean than what some of us have seen on television.”

Among the 30 people attending the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Raleigh were Attorney General Roy Cooper and state Senate candidate Josh Stein. The cost of the event ranged from $500 to $5,000 per person.

Later, Dean had dinner with Edwards at Crook’s Corner Restaurant in Chapel Hill. Edwards and Dean were rival for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

National Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean says John McCain should lead his party in protesting the N.C. GOP's latest ad.

In an e-mail to supporters, Dean said if McCain is serious about making sure the ad never runs, he should have no problem making it happen.

"This is a test of leadership for John McCain," Dean said. "If he can't pick up the phone and make members of his own party stop airing a television ad he claims to oppose, how can he lead our country through an economic crisis or the war in Iraq?"

He said McCain should discipline state GOP chairwoman Linda Daves for producing the ad, which links Democratic gubernatorial candidates Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

McCain has called on North Carolina Republicans to pull the ad, but Daves has said she will not bow to national pressure.