John Ross Hendrix of Cary, a longshot Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, has endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary.

"While Senator Clinton speaks of leadership, sentor Obama is busy inspiring the people of this country," Hendrix said. "The last thing we need at this point in history is to be led. What this nation does need is inspiration."

Democrats apparently don't have a clue who they want to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, according to the latest numbers released by Public Policy Polling.

The group's poll of 553 likely Democratic voters on Feb. 6 found that 21 percent prefer state Sen. Kay Hagan. Jim Neal was the choice of 7 percent, John Ross Hendrix was the choice of 6 percent and Duskin Lassiter was the choice of 5 percent. Howard Staley was the choice of 1 percent.

But 61 percent said they are still undecided.

The margin of error was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

A Moncure podiatrist will run for U.S. Senate.

Howard A. Staley, 52, announced yesterday that he would enter the Democratic primary against state Sen. Kay Hagan and Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal.

He said that he wants to add his experiences as a doctor, patient and employer to the upcoming debate over health care in Congress. In particular, he argued that insurance companies are charging excessive fees at unsustainable levels.

A native of Philadelphia, he moved to Chatham County 26 years ago to work as a podiatrist. Having never run for public office before, he said he knows he faces an uphill battle. Cary graphic artist John Ross Hendrix and Lexington trucker Duskin Lassiter are also running as longshot candidates.

"I know that it's a longshot," he told Dome, "but I wanted to offer myself up as a candidate." 

John Ross Hendrix would not vote to confirm Michael Mukasey as attorney general.

The Cary graphic artist, who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, said he would not support Mukasey because of the former judge's reluctance to characterize waterboarding as torture.

In a satirical e-mail to Dome, Hendrix said he will begin selling "custom built waterboards" on Craigslist.

There should be a good market, with potential sales to every police department in the country, and maybe even mall security companies. If the waterboarding procedure is ok for prisoners of war and international criminals, it should be ok for criminal suspects in the U.S., too.

Hendrix said that Mukasey's testimony will lead to "Americans being waterboarded by terrorist claiming to have the same respect for the Geneva Conventions as the United States."

Previously: Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal opposes Mukasey nomination, state Sen. Kay Hagan says she's not sure. 

The reviews are in: Senate candidates Web sites aren't good.

Greensboro blogger Ed Cone took a look at the sites for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and three potential challengers, state Sen. Kay Hagan, Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal and John Ross Hendrix.

He says Neal has the "early lead," Hagan's is "underfurnished," Dole has a "placeholder" and Hendrix "looks like he rolled his own."

Cone, something of a political technogeek, says candidates need to keep their sites fresh with regular updates, make videos shareable, use Facebook and MySpace and use the Web as an organizing tool.

"Don't trust traditional party/campaign operatives to really get this stuff; you need them, too, but be alert for turf wars and lip service," he writes.

State Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro announced today that she will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole next year. 

Hagan, a 54-year-old attorney, said she would bring a fresh voice and a new accountability to Washington, Rob Christensen reports. She said she would be a voice against continuing the war in Iraq.

"We need accountability to end the war in Iraq, so we can reinvest those resources here at home," Hagan said in a video announcement on her Web site. "How can Washingtion reject health care for 123,000 children while continuing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this mismanged war?"

Hagan had earlier this month announced she would not run for the U.S. Senate. But Democratic leaders in Raleigh and Washington had urged her to reconsider.

The Democrats have had difficulty recruiting a seasoned public official to challenge Dole. Numerous Democrats, including Gov. Mike Easley, Attorney General Roy Cooper, and state Rep. Grier Martin, had said they would not run.

Two Democrats have already announced their candidacy. Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, said he plans to run. Also in the race is John Ross Hendrix, a graphic artist from Cary.

Read more after the jump.

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State Sen. Kay Hagan is having second thoughts about her decision not to run for the U.S. Senate.

"I'm definitely thinking about getting back in," Hagan said this afternoon.

Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, said to expect her decision next week, reports Lynn Bonner.

Hagan initially passed on the chance to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008. She said earlier this month that she had considered a run, but said she decided that she could do more for the residents of Guilford County and North Carolina in the legislature, where she is co-chairwoman of the Senate appropriations committee.

Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, and John Ross Hendrix, a graphic artist from Cary, have also announced plans to challenge Dole.

John Ross Hendrix, a graphic artist from Cary and a Democrat, said he plans to run against Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole next year.

Hendrix, 58, was a Republican when he sought the nomination for the 13th Congressional district last year. He lost the GOP nomination, finishing third with 12 percent. Vernon Robinson won the nomination and then was defeated by Democrat Brad Miller, Rob Christensen reports.

After the primary, he left the Republican Party and became a Democrat.

Hendrix said he would run on such issues as protecting the Bill of Rights, private property rights, passing a so-called FairTax, and securing America's borders.

The FairTax proposal would replace all federal income and payroll based taxes with a national retail sales tax.

A veteran of the 82nd Airborne whose son has had two tours of duty in Iraq, Hendrix said he didn’t oppose the war in Iraq but thinks it has "been done stupidly and needs a lot of changes."

Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, is the only announced Democrat for the seat. But Democrats are courting state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro and Raleigh attorney David Kirby.

Correction: An earlier version of the post misstated the district.