Joel Craig Raupe says that BlueNC is actually a latecomer to blogging.

Raupe, an administrative assistant to House Republican Leader Paul Stam, says that conservative blogs at the national level took off much earlier than BlueNC's 2006 start.

That's one reason he thinks there is no statewide conservative equivalent, since North Carolina's Republicans already get their fill at sites like Townhall, Redstate and Free Republic.

He also said the state's Republican Party is more fractured — between old-school mountain Republicans and newer transplants in the Triangle and elsewhere — and holds fewer local offices. Both make it harder to create a statewide collective like BlueNC.

There are a few conservative blogs, however. Raupe contributes to N.C. Republican Roundtable and regularly reads Carter Wrenn's posts on Talking About Politics.

Raupe also said that influential Republican legislators read BlueNC to see what issues voters are interested in.

"If Republicans are going to win an election here, they have to get a sizable percentage of the Democratic vote," he said. "That vote isn’t necessarily reached on BlueNC, but the people who influence that vote read it."

Some Republicans say Rep. Thomas Wright should step down.

Longtime legislative assistant Joel Craig Raupe writes on the N.C. Republican Roundtable that holding a special session of the legislature to expel the Wilmington Democrat will be costly.

All this could be made instantly "moot" saving taxpayers $50,000 or so for the one day Extra Session by one simple action by one individual Member that would make the whole matter disappear until trial in a Wake County courtroom.

Five Wake County Republican candidates for state House are also calling for his Democratic colleagues to pressure him to resign. Duane Cutlip, Bryan Gossage, J.H. Ross, Paul Terrell and Eric Weaver issued a joint statement yesterday.

"For Democrats, this is another PR nightmare," said Gossage, owner of a small public relations firm in a statement. "Of course they want to keep a low profile and bring as little attention to this issue, and their dismal response, as possible."

Bloggers have a field day with the House budget's proposal to keep two "temporary taxes" from 2001 on the books for another two years.

On Red Clay Citizen, Max Borders says that lawmakers could pay for spending with existing revenue if they cut pork out of the budget:

It's time we returned the temporary taxes to the citizens of the state while spending revenues more wisely.

On the Fitzsimon File, Chris Fitzsimon argues that Democrats' focus on spending made it easy for "Republicans and anti-government think tanks" to discredit the plan:

The truth is that the Republican leaders and the out-of-touch think tankers are half right. The House budget does have a spending problem. It does not spend enough.

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