The Democrats for decades have had their annual Jefferson-Jackson fund raising dinner in Raleigh.

But on Saturday, some 400 to 500 Democrats are expected to gather at the Durham Marriott Convention Center, Rob Christensen reports.

David Young, the state Democratic chairman, said he wanted to see the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner moved around periodically and he said Durham was a good place to start because of its strong Democratic showing in last year’s election.

The featured speaker at the $100-per plate dinner is national Democratic chairman Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue invited Kaine, and she will be on hand to play host.

The appearance by Kaine is another indication that the Obama administration is paying a lot of attention to North Carolina. Both President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have visited the state.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

Vice President Joe Biden is coming to North Carolina on Wednesday.

Biden and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will visit the towns of Faison and Pikeville to highlight how stimulus spending is helping rural areas.

In Faison, the two will visit the Goshen Medical Center, a rural clinic that serves several counties in Eastern North Carolina. In Pikeville, they'll visit a rural fire station that will be replaced by a newer facility.

A White House press release said the two will also make "a major announcement" about funding for rural housing during the trip.

The trip is yet another sign of North Carolina's new status as a swing state. Biden and President Obama made several trips here during the campaign.

Since the inauguration, Obama, his wife Michelle and now Biden have visited.

* The parent company of the Winston-Salem Journal is closing its Washington bureau, which wrote, among many other things, this article last year.

* Asheville Citizen-Times Jordan Schrader reports that Gov. Beverly Perdue left a message Speaker Joe Hackney after seizing the rainy day funds. 

* Greensboro News-Record's Mark Binker finally gets a long-awaited ethics opinion on donations to the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.

* First Lady Michelle Obama visits Fort Bragg, meets with city council members, local civics and business leaders at a Fayetteville event. 

Michelle Obama is coming to Fayetteville.

The White House press office just sent over this brief description of her upcoming visit, which was something of an open secret:

On Thursday, March 12th, Mrs. Obama will tour Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, meet with military spouses, and speak to community organizations that provide support to the soldiers and their families.

Obama was a frequent visitor to North Carolina during the presidential primary and general election.

Michelle Obama may be headed to North Carolina.

The first lady is expected to be in town to visit with military families at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, according to a story in the Fayetteville Observer.

The article quotes an unnamed source within the Cumberland County Democratic Party who works with city and military affairs.

The visit would be next Thursday.

An East Chapel Hill High School graduate will be among two dozen guests sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama at tonight's speech before a joint session of Congress.

Marine Sgt. John E. Rice, who was born in Bethesda, Md., and lived part of his childhood in Chapel Hill, graduated from high school there in 2003, Barb Barrett reports.

He went on to attend the University of Maryland and join the Marines, training at both Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He deployed to Iraq in April 2008 and was injured last July when a landmine exploded while he was on foot patrol.

Rice now resides in Bethesda, where he is being treated for his injuries.

Here's a mostly complete list of Barack Obama's surrogates in North Carolina for the general election:

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill; Michelle Obama; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, former Govs. Jim Hunt and Ray Mabus; former Sen. Bill Bradley; former Sen. Jean Carnahan; U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge, David Price, Brad Miller, G.K. Butterfield and Jim Cooper; Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; Secretary of State Elaine Marshall; former Agriculture Commissioner Britt Cobb; state Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand; state Rep. Dan Blue; retired Gen. Wesley Clark; Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Lambert; Maj. Gen. Scott Gration; professor Sarah Sewall; veterans Paul Bucha, John McCary and Jon Kuniholm; musicians James Taylor, Jay-Z and Tift Merritt; actresses Alfre Woodard, Jurnee Smollett, Tatyana Ali, Ellen Pompeo, Danielle Panabaker and Edie Falco; members of the cast of "The Wire"; actors Kal Penn and Harold Perrineau; comedian Chris Rock, and Nascar driver Junior Johnson. The daughter of Jackie Robinson was scheduled to come but did not make it.

Previously: Obama's surrogates in the primary.

JACKSONVILLE — Michelle Obama dove deep into eastern North Carolina and the home of Camp Lejeune today to persuade a crowd that her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, offered the best options for the military and their families.

Speaking to a crowd that police estimated at 1,500, Michelle Obama said her husband and Republican candidate John McCain offered “two different visions of the lives servicemen and women should return to.”

Three-quarters of the crowd responded when she asked past and present members of the military to stand, reports Lynn Bonner.

“We share the vision of a system that does more to support military families, both when loved ones are deployed and after they return,” she said.

M. Andy Fiel of Jacksonville, commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, was one of those in the crowd. Fiel, 76, said he was a registered Republican, but will vote for Obama.

For most of the last eight years, the country has had a Republican president and a Republican Congress, Fiel said, and “look where we are now. We need change.”

Fiel said he had more confidence in Obama than McCain.

“They’re going to support veterans when they come back,” he said. “The VA is underfunded.”

Barack Obama is calling for improved medical care by the Veterans Administration, improved mental health treatment, job protection for military spouses who need time away from work to prepare their families for deployment, and making education benefits under the G.I. Bill transferable to spouses or children.

Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama are coming to Eastern N.C.

The Republican vice presidential candidate will be in Greenville Tuesday afternoon for a 4 p.m. rally at the Williams Arena at East Carolina University.

It will be Palin's first visit to North Carolina since she was selected as John McCain's running mate.

Obama, meantime, will appear at the Jacksonville Commons Recreation Centerin Jacksonville to talk about the problems military families face when loved ones are deployed.

The program starts at 1:30 p.m.

Tickets for both events are available on the campaign Web sites. (N&O) 

Two top Democratic candidates have moved closer to Barack Obama.

Gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue and Senate candidate Kay Hagan both attended an Obama rally in Charlotte Sunday, getting a brief shoutout before he spoke.

Hagan also recently introduced Michelle Obama at an event in Greensboro last week. 

Traditionally, North Carolina Democrats have gone out of their way to avoid their party's presidential nominee, with Republican candidate Richard Vinroot famously offering $500 for a snapshot of Mike Easley with Al Gore in 2000. 

Perdue got her own picture taken with Obama during the primary and included it on a mailer sent to black voters, while Hagan has echoed many themes of Obama in her Senate run.

Still, the two did not join Obama on the stage at Sunday's event.

Previously: North Carolina is one of only 11 states that hold gubernatorial and presidential elections in the same year.