Will Cal Cunningham officially become a candidate for Senate?

N.C. Spin is reporting in its weekly e-mail blast that their sources say Cunningham "has been buoyed by reports that Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is having some difficulty in securing commitments to her campaign" and that Cunningham intends to announce his campaign to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr?

That's not enough for Dome to call it a done deal, so we now turn to our prognosticator of all things politics, our official tool for separating truth from rumor, our cheap plastic toy — the Magic Eight Ball.

The toy's take:

"Cannot Predict Now."

Well that clears it up.

After last week's last minute budget deal collapse, Dome is gun shy about saying this week's slightly altered version is a lock. So we turn to the Magic 8-ball.

House and Senate leaders agreed on the package of tax hikes Thursday, but Gov. Beverly Perdue hadn't signed off and about a dozen House Democrats met privately about their unhappiness with the deal.

Legislative leaders are aiming to vote on the budget next week.

Like parka-wrapped Discovery Channel addicts awaiting the groundhog in February, we asked the 8-ball whether the near-complete budget deal would pop out of the hole?

Answer: "As I see it, yes."

Is President Barack Obama planning a town hall meeting on health care at Broughton High School next week?

That's the word, unconfirmed. Obama's schedules don't say and White House officials said only that he would be in Raleigh on Wednesday.

Dome's official device for separating truth from rumor, the Magic Eight Ball, hasn't had a workout in a while. So we put the question to our cheap plastic toy from China. Its answer: "Better not tell you now."

Well that settles it, then. 

Chris Fitzsimon says Dempsey Benton may not be leaving after all.

In a column on the N.C. Policy Watch Web site, the liberal commentator says the current secretary of Health and Human Services' retirement announcement may have come too soon.

Even things that seem to be decided may not be. Perdue announced two weeks ago that current Health and Human Services Secretary Dempsey Benton would not be staying on the job, but now there are reports that she is rethinking that decision and considering asking Benton to stay.  The sticking point may be Benton's willingness to commit to serving in the job for the length of Perdue's first term.

Longtime Dome readers know what's next: The Magic Eight Ball.

We asked the cheap toy if Benton would stay. It's response: "Outlook good." 

It's time to pit the Huffington Post against everyone's favorite fortune-telling desk toy.

An item on the Huffington Post is predicting that John Edwards will endorse Barack Obama tonight in Michigan.

The Obama campaign has announced a "major national endorsement" for a rally tonight at 7pm in Michigan, and the rumor mill is swirling that it is none other than Sen. John Edwards.

The Magic Eight Ball's take: "Yes Definitely."