Sheriff Andy Taylor would vote for John McCain and Beverly Perdue.

According to a survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the fictional Mayberry sheriff played by Andy Griffith would split his ticket in state and federal races.

In the presidential race, 35 percent of likely voters said he would vote for McCain, followed by 25 percent for Barack Obama and five percent for Libertarian Bob Barr.

In the gubernatorial race, 34 percent said he would vote for Perdue, 23 percent for Republican nominee Pat McCrory and six percent for Libertarian Mike Munger.

"The good Sheriff always came across as a moderate Democrat, and the voting pattern respondents think he would adopt is one that explains why North Carolina votes Republican for President election after election while continuing by and large to elect Democratic Governors," writes pollster Tom Jensen.

On a separate question 56 percent of voters had a favorable impression of Griffith, nine percent an unfavorable opinion and 35 percent no opinion.

The automated survey of 648 likely voters was taken June 26-29. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Nineteen North Carolina sheriffs are backing John McCain.

The sheriffs of some of the largest counties — including Wake, Forsyth, Guilford and Johnston counties — are co-chairs and vice chairs of the N.C. Sheriffs for McCain group.

Retired Randolph County Sheriff Litchard Hurley, who heard McCain speak at the National Sheriffs Association meeting in Indianapolis today, said he was impressed by McCain's stance on crime and illegal immigration.  

"He pledged that he would do everything he could to keep people from coming to the United States to break the law," he said.

Hurley and sheriffs B.J. Barnes of Guilford County and Steve Bizzell of Johnston are co-chairmen of the group. Vice chairs include Donnie Harrison of Wake and Bill Schatzman of Forsyth.

The complete list after the jump.

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Four state Democrats want the legislature to honor John McCain.

But not that John McCain.

State Reps. Jean Farmer-Butterfield of Wilson, Joe Tolson of Pinetops, Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake and Martha Alexander of Charlotte filed a bill to honor Dr. John L. McCain, a Wilson County physician who died in 2005.

Dr. McCain has at least one thing in common with his namesake. Like the Republican presidential candidate, he served in the Navy, although it was during World War II, not the Vietnam War. 

Unlike the other McCain, he was once appointed to a national advisory board by President Jimmy Carter. 

John McCain continues to lead against Barack Obama.

In a survey by the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had 45 percent, while the Democrat had 41 percent and Libertarian Bob Barr had 5 percent. Nine percent were undecided.

The numbers mostly line up with previous polls by the conservative Civitas Institute and Rasmussen Reports, despite a patriotic-themed ad that began airing around the time of this survey.

"The race continues to be tight in North Carolina," said president Dean Debnam in a statement. "This may not be the year Democrats win the Presidential contest here, but the data showing Obama leading among non-natives is an indication that this state could become bluer as more and more people move here in the coming years."

The automated survey of 1,048 likely voters was done June 26-29. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says health care should be on the list.

The Winston-Salem Republican is one of a handful of first-term senators who are trying to make health care an issue in the November races without much luck, the National Journal reports.

"When was the last time you saw a Republican presidential candidate lead on health care?" said Burr, who has long been a supporter of presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

Polls show more voters trust presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama on the issue.

But Sen. John Ensign of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that the fall elections will be focused on the issue of energy, specifically offshore drilling and high gas prices. 

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, who is in Africa this week as part of an official Congressional trip, opined about his last trip to the continent in his blog recently.

Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, was criticizing GOP presidential candidate John McCain about what it takes to have some foreign relations savvy. Miller, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Nairobi, Kenya, and the Darfur region of Sudan last summer on another official tri.

He recalls his visit to a slum in Nairobi and says such understanding of a region's "music" is vital to understanding foreign relations, Barb Barrett reports.

Miller writes: "The more questions we asked, the more guarded the answers became. Then we walked through the slum. … As our delegation walked through Kibera, we all asked the same question: how can this be a stable society?"

How often have North Carolina's senators worked with John McCain?

A quick search of legislation filed in recent years shows a handful of bills which U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have cosponsored with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Burr signed on to four McCain-sponsored bills: Imposing sanctions on the Burmese junta, creating a federal gas-tax holiday this summer, requiring illegal immigrants to pay back taxes before becoming citizens and designating a National Mentoring Month.

Dole signed on to the Burmese sanctions and the mentoring month as well as an amendment to name a military spending bill for Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.

In addition, McCain signed on to two Dole bills: Recognizing the Lumbees as a tribe and awarding a Congressional Medal of Honor to Tony Blair.

He did not sign on to any Burr-sponsored bills. 

After the jump, the pool report on John McCain's visit with Billy Graham.

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John McCain met with Billy and Franklin Graham this weekend.

The Republican presidential candidate visited privately with the noted 89-year-old evangelist and his son at a mountaintop retreat on the grounds of Little Piney Cove in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"We had a very excellent conversation. I appreciated the opportunity to visit with them," McCain said after the 45-minute meeting.

Although McCain and Billy Graham are acquaintances, it was the first time that they had a sit-down meeting.

Franklin Graham said that his father told a story about meeting McCain's father, a Navy admiral, on a trip to Vietnam while McCain was held as a prisoner of war. The two prayed for John McCain during his captivity.

Franklin Graham said he was not endorsing anyone for president. (AP) Country singer Ricky Skaggs arrived about a half-hour after McCain. (NYT)

U.S. Sen. John McCain has not given much to North Carolina candidates.

The Republican presidential nominee's political action committee, Straight Talk America, has given just $3,500 in recent years to Tar Heel Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In 2000, the leadership PAC gave a $1,000 donation to U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, a Concord Republican, and in 2006 it gave $2,500 to U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican.

Previously: Barack Obama's PAC gave $10,000 to U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler.