Paul Kirk, who was named Thursday as the late Ted Kennedy's replacement in the U.S. Senate, once defeated North Carolina's Terry Sanford in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman.

Kirk, a former Kennedy aide, was the frontrunner to become party chairman in 1985, when Sanford entered the race, reports Rob Christensen.

At the time, Sanford was nearing the end of his tenure as president of Duke University. But he was political veteran, having served as North Carolina governor (1961-65) and having run for president in 1972 and 1976.

Sanford tried to put together a coalition of Southern and western Democratic party chairs.

"A great many people in the South feel it is time for the Southern Democratic Party to exert greater national leadership," Sanford said. "The Democratic party cannot do without a strong base in the South."

More after the jump.

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The Commerce Secretary is one of the most important Cabinet positions.

As the head of the N.C. Department of Commerce, the appointee of the governor works to recruit and retain major employers, negotiate corporate incentives and boost state tourism.

As such, it's been a fairly high profile position. Past secretaries include some heavyweight political figures such as future U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill and longtime political insider (and one-time would-be gubernatorial candidate) Norris Tolson.

But it wasn't always this way.

The Commerce department was created in 1971 under the administration of Gov. Bob Scott mostly as an umbrella for pre-existing regulatory agencies on such pedestrian subjects as alcohol, banking, cemeteries and, of all things, milk.

Under Gov. Jim Hunt's administration in 1977, it was reconstituted to focus on expanding and recruiting new business and managing the state's economic development efforts as well as its energy resources.

Between 1989 and 1993, the state agency was even briefly named the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Previously: Five appointments to watch

A Gaston County strip club owner gave Pat McCrory's campaign $200.

Sammy Tillman, owner of the Paper Doll Lounge (NSFW) in Charlotte, made the donation on Feb. 2, according to the Republican gubernatorial nominee's first-quarter campaign finance report. 

Billed as an "upscale gentleman's club," the Paper Doll claims to be the "grand daddy" of Charlotte clubs on its Web site, while a theme song claims to serve "cowboy playboys."

Consultant Jack Hawke said that the campaign did not realize Tillman's occupation, noting that its accountants also referred to former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill as a state legislator.

"They don't always catch who everybody is," he said. "It's a $200 contribution. We've accepted it, and I think that's basically the end of the story."

Hawke also joked about the size of the donation.

"I can tell you this, Pat McCrory's not going to take his pants off for $200," he said. When asked if that meant he would do so for more, he demurred. 

"I don't know what the amount is," he said, laughing. 

It seems Pat McCrory is not the only politician handing out demotions.

As we noted yesterday, the Republican gubernatorial candidate demoted former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill to a state legislator on his campaign finance report.

Now Washington-based newspaper Roll Call reports that U.S. Rep. Mel Watt had a little trouble with two donors on his report: Fellow Congressmen Charlie Rangel and Jim Clyburn.

For employers, he listed: "Information requested."

Watt told Roll Call he was following Federal Election Commission protocol and requesting the information from the contributors.

"It does seem very funny, but we're just following protocol," he said. 

Apparently the FEC won't accept information readily available on Wikipedia. 

Someone gave Jim Broyhill a demotion.

In Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory's latest campaign finance report, the Winston-Salem resident is listed as "James Broyhill, Senator."

So far, so good. Though he's a former Republican senator, we'll let that slide.

Then it lists his employer: "North Carolina General Assembly."

That part, not so good. Broyhill, you'll recall, was a Congressman and then U.S. Senator in the 1980s.

Next time, just list politicians' employers as "The American People."

Incidentally, he and his wife, Louise, gave $12,000 to McCrory.

Pat McCrory received $2.2 million in donations by the end of June.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee raised $1.1 million from donors in the second quarter of 2008, according to a report filed with the State Board of Elections.

Major donors included Belk executive John Belk, former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill, Bojangles owner Joseph Drury, Nascar team owner Rick Hendrick, Raleigh real estate executive John Kane, CaptiveAire Systems owner Bob Luddy, Variety Wholesalers executive James Pope and Duke Energy president Ellen Ruff.

He received only $450 in the second quarter from political action committees. 

His campaign has received no loans.

He had cash on hand of $709,448 at the end of the second quarter. 

Bob Orr says he's a moderate on education.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the former Supreme Court justice said he fits in the mold of moderate Republican leaders like former Sen. Jim Broyhill and Gov. Jim Holshouser.

He does not support tax-funded private school vouchers, a favorite among conservatives, and cites his education-friendly decisions on the Supreme Court.

"When the public understands I'm not trying to undermine the public schools, then the question is, 'Can you give me the chance to improve the public schools?'" he said.

During a visit to a Charlotte charter school, he said the state needs to remove the 100-school limit on charter schools. But he also said that regular public schools need to borrow some of their ideas.

Four former secretaries of the state Department of Commerce have endorsed Gov. Mike Easley's alternative incentives plan.

In a letter today to the governor and the legislature, Lauch Faircloth, Jim Broyhill, Norris Tolson and Rick Carlisle write that they think the state should offer broader incentives to help companies invest in North Carolina.

The legislation had been targeted to help the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and other tire companies. But the four former secretaries backed Easley's complaint that it is too narrowly focused.

"We believe that while HB 1761 is addressed to a very real economic development issue, legislation to address this issue should encompass other companies in similar situations while establishing reasonable performance standards," they write.

In closing, they urge Easley and the legislature to "work together to craft alternative legislation."

Full text of the letter after the jump.

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