Gov. Beverly Perdue should get an invitation soon.

Although the new governor said at her inaugural ball that the time for partying would soon end, she will get an invitation soon from the McClatchy Co. to the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1885, it is the oldest and most prestigious journalism group in the nation's capital, and the annual white-tie dinner has featured speeches by every U.S. president since then except Grover Cleveland.

The newspaper chain, which owns the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer, has also sent invitations to Bono, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and nine other notables.

Barack Obama has just a 7-point lead in North Carolina.

In a recent poll, the Democratic presidential candidate had 51 percent of the vote, followed by Hillary Clinton at 44 percent, 2 percent another candidate and 3 percent were undecided.

Among black voters, 88 percent supported Obama; 5 percent, Clinton; 3 percent, another candidate; and 4 percent undecided.

Among white voters, 66 percent supported Clinton; 30 percent, Obama; 2 percent, another candidate; and 2 percent were undecided.

The statewide poll of 500 likely Democratic voters was conducted April 29-30 in North Carolina by Research 2000 for McClatchy Newspapers and MSNBC.

The margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.