Paul Kirk, who was named Thursday as the late Ted Kennedy's replacement in the U.S. Senate, once defeated North Carolina's Terry Sanford in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman.

Kirk, a former Kennedy aide, was the frontrunner to become party chairman in 1985, when Sanford entered the race, reports Rob Christensen.

At the time, Sanford was nearing the end of his tenure as president of Duke University. But he was political veteran, having served as North Carolina governor (1961-65) and having run for president in 1972 and 1976.

Sanford tried to put together a coalition of Southern and western Democratic party chairs.

"A great many people in the South feel it is time for the Southern Democratic Party to exert greater national leadership," Sanford said. "The Democratic party cannot do without a strong base in the South."

More after the jump.

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NUMBERS GAME: Gov. Beverly Perdue didn't give any numbers in her big State of the State speech Monday, but she promised to cut spending just about everywhere but education. Her budget director said the state will end the year about $2.2 billion in the red, and Perdue then drained $787 million from reserves.

BRING 'EM DOWN: U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry got into some hot water this week when he told the National Journal that the GOP's goal is to "bring down approval numbers" for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats. Liberal bloggers piled on. But it's too soon to tell if McHenry brought down Pelosi's numbers or his own.

DISTRICT NUMBERS: How about these numbers: 5-4 and 18. The first was the split on the U.S. Supreme Court directing North Carolina to reconsider its legislative districts. The second is the House District the case centered on. The legislature drew the district to give minorities in the area more of a voice, but the court said it was too much of a stretch.

IN OTHER NEWS: Months after former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer closed his political consulting shop, he's joined the race for state Republican Party chair. Just when he thought he was out of politics. ... After 118 days, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler decided he wasn't going to run for Senate in 2010 after all. Who says quarterbacks make snap decisions?

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler has made an interesting enemy.

Washington-based newspaper The Politico writes that the Waynesville Democrat is No. 1 on the bad list of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Shuler got on her bad side by voting against both bank bailout bills and the stimulus package and telling a Raleigh audience that House leaders "failed." 

The thing that riles Pelosi most, according to several House aides, is that she believes Shuler's motives are as much political as they are ideological — and that he's picking a fight with her to position himself for a run against Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) next year.

As the paper notes, Shuler was portrayed as "a Pelosi acolyte" by his 2006 opponent, then Rep. Charles Taylor.

He beats out conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, Republican Rep. Eric Cantor and another Blue Dog Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper, for the top spot on Pelosi's list. 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims a stimulus package would create 132,350 jobs in North Carolina.

Pelosi and Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com and former adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, released an analysis of the package this afternoon.

Overall, their analysis claims that the stimulus package would create 4 million jobs and lower the unemployment rate by 2.2 percentage points. 

Its state-by-state figures includes projections of 132,350 new jobs in North Carolina and a reduction of the state's unemployment rate by 1.6 percentage points.

That is compared to what the number of jobs and the unemployment rate would be in 2010 without the stimulus package. 

Sen. Kay Hagan said that women have made progress, but not enough.

Speaking at a pro-choice women's luncheon in Washington Sunday, the Greensboro Democrat noted that she was taking the seat of former Sen. Jesse Helms, drawing brief boos from the audience.

She related that in 1999 Helms kicked now-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and nine other Congresswomen out of a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after they tried to present him with a petition to sign an international treaty against the discrimination of women.

"That's whose seat I am taking," she said. "Looking around this room today, I know that you would agree that a lot has changed in this country and a lot has changed in the great state of North Carolina."

Speaking at an event sponsored by EMILY's List, Hagan repeated her support for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would extend the time period for filing a discrimination claim. It is the first bill Hagan has cosponsored and was the subject of her first speech in the Senate.

She also noted a smaller, but still irritating, act of discrimination.

"Imagine my surprise when I tried to use the Senate members' gym recently and found out that there is a pool, but — guess what — it's only for the men," she said.

Sen. Kay Hagan and Gov. Beverly Perdue will join Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and a handful of other high-powered women at a Democratic pro-choice luncheon Sunday in Washington.

The EMILY's List luncheon is among dozens of events going on this holiday weekend to honor the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and a slate of women who favor abortion rights. Tickets for the luncheon, at the Hilton Washington, sold at a range of $150 to $5,000.

The luncheon also features Obama Cabinet nominees Janet Napolitano and Hilda Solis; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was just elected in New Hampshire.

The political organization works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

EMILY's List was Hagan's No. 2 contributor in her recent campaign, donating nearly $270,000 to her effort to defeat former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The group also supported Perdue, running an ad in last May’s primary campaign touting her record on child predators.

Should Harry and David pay taxes in North Carolina?

Right now, if you order a gourmet gift basket as a holiday present over the Internet or through a catalog from the Oregon-based retailer or other out-of-state companies, you don't pay North Carolina sales tax.

House Speaker Joe Hackney would like to change that.

Since the late 1990s, North Carolina and other states have worked to streamline their sales taxes — often a hodgepodge of different rules and confusing legal language — into a more uniform system.

(Dome readers may recall this was the reason for the 2003 soda tax hike.)

More uniform rules would make it easier for states to collect sales taxes from transactions handled in other states. But since the tax collection would go across state lines, it needs Congressional approval.

Hackney said he will talk to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this afternoon about granting states the rights to interstate sales tax collection. He said it would bring in an additional $400 to $500 million a year for North Carolina's state budget, especially helpful given the current budget crunch.

"It's a tax that is already on the books, so it is not a new tax," he said. "It's just collecting the one that's there."

Correction: Harry and David pay taxes in North Carolina after all. See a complete explanation here. 

Joe Hackney says federal stimulus would boost the North Carolina economy.

The speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives argued at a press conference in Washington, D.C., this morning that billions in spending on infrastructure projects, social welfare programs and renewable energy projects would keep the economic situation from worsening.

"We are doing the best we can to cope with our fiscal situation," he said. "Now it's time for Congress and our next administration to support our state efforts."

As current president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Hackney was also scheduled to speak with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by phone this afternoon. He sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama last month requesting more funding for states.

The National Governors Association has identified $136 billion in specific transportation projects it says could be ready to begin if funding is approved by Congress.

Hackney would not identify specific projects in North Carolina, though he said that replacing the Yadkin River Bridge, extending urban highway loops and improving mass transit systems would likely be included.

"I think every state has a list of ready-to-go projects, but it serves no useful purpose to run that out today," he said.

During this two-week battle for power on the Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Michigan has been more open than U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman of California.

Dingell has been more willing to give interviews on the matter. He publicly announced a long list of supporters and slammed Waxman as a "left-wing Democrat" who doesn't understand manufacturing, Barb Barrett reports.

Waxman has stayed fairly quiet. And while he is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another California representative, she didn't disclose publicly whom she supported either.

It was generally expected that Dingell would receive support from moderate and conservative Democrats, along with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Waxman was expected to win the backing of more liberal members.

Tough to say whether the differences in the candidates' style on transparency translates to caucus members' transparency on the vote itself, but let's review:

Reps. Mel Watt and Mike McIntyre both publicly supported Dingell. U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler was on his whip team. Both McIntyre and Shuler are conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield serves on Energy and Commerce under Dingell and was reportedly lobbying for him as well. Watt and Butterfield serve in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Reps. Brad Miller and David Price, along with Rep.-elect Larry Kissell, all declined to say who they supported.

(Butterfield, it should be said, also declined today to reveal his vote.)

The National Journal ranked Price in March as being more liberal than 90 percent of the House; it ranked Miller as being more liberal than 78 percent of House.

Rep. Bob Etheridge, a conservative Democrat who isn't a Blue Dog, hasn't yet responded to requests for comment on his vote.