Speaking to students at a private school in Asheville Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler said Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not the evil boogeywoman some on the right like to make her out as.

"She's the most misunderstood person in Washington," said Shuler, who often breaks with the House leadership to maintain his status as a conservative Blue Dog Democrat.

According to the Asheville Citizen Times, Shuler told students about a meeting he had with Pelosi during his first term when he told her never to ask him to vote against his constituency.

"She’s held true to that promise," he said. Pelosi is a devout Catholic and Shuler advised against trying to "get in a Bible discussion with her." He also recalled a time when his daughter, Island, was a baby and started crying on the floor of the House.

"She [Pelosi] raced down, picked her up and took her to her mother Nikol," he told the students. "Her grandma instincts kicked in."

The National Republican Congressional Committee quickly — and figuratively — dogged on the former Redskins quarterback for speaking nice about the often maligned Democratic leader.

"Heath Shuler is the one who's 'misunderstood,'" NRCC spokesman Andy Seré said. "He may call himself a Blue Dog, but Shuler’s lavish Pelosi-praise has revealed him to be little more than a lap dog for the most liberal speaker in U.S. history. She may have let him off the leash this weekend in a vain attempt to salvage his re-election bid, but his political affair with Nancy Pelosi is destined to land him in the doghouse with Western North Carolinians."

Politico reports that Biden has become a key fundraising presence in House campaigns.

Two weeks ago, the vice president traveled across the Potomac to keynote a three-way fundraiser to boost Virginia Democratic freshmen Reps. Gerry Connolly, Glenn Nye and Thomas Perriello. First-term Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), a weak fundraiser, just got the Biden treatment, and the vice president is scheduled to appear at a $1,000-per-person luncheon for freshman Rep. Jim Hines (D-Conn.) in New York City on Monday.

Republicans see Kissell, a Biscoe Democrat as vulnerable next year, possibly in part because news reporters are on safe ground describing the Congressman as a "weak fundraiser." Just today, Republicans launched an attack on Kissell over comments he made about the war in Afghanistan.

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A day after saying his plans were “undetermined,” former U.S. Rep. Republican Robin Hayes said today he won’t run for congressional seat he lost last November.

“I’m going to do everything I can to help recruit and finance and give what experience and assistance I can to make sure that that person – and it’s not going to be me – is properly prepared,” Hayes told News 14.

Hayes’ announcement came a day after a top GOP official suggested Hayes would not challenge Democrat Larry Kissell, who beat him in 2008.

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican and top recruiter for the National Republican Congressional Committee, is in North Carolina checking out potential GOP candidates for several House seats held by Democrats, including the 8th District.

"I don’t believe Robin’s going to run again," McCarthy said Tuesday. "Robin’s been very helpful in helping us find somebody."

Hayes held the seat for five terms. In 2008, the wealthy textile heir spent $3.8 million on the race to Kissell’s $1.5 million.

"I believe the climate is going to be much different than the last two election cycles," McCarthy said. "You look at town hall meetings and others, there’s a frustration out there. People are looking for new faces, fresh ideas."

Outgoing Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, sometimes mentioned as a possible candidate for the seat, declined to fuel the speculation.

“Right now my total focus is on completing my term,” he said today.

U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell says he never asked to join the Blue Dog Coalition.

As part of an ongoing drive to fill reporters' inboxes with criticism of the freshman Democrat, the National Republican Congressional Committee e-mailed Dome this morning to breathlessly report that the fiscally conservative coalition had "rejected" Kissell.

But a spokeswoman for Kissell said that's backwards.

"Congressman Kissell pledged during the campaign that he would not join the Blue Dogs and therefore has not," responded Brianna Atkins by e-mail. 

She said he was asked to join by Rep. Heath Shuler, a whip for the coalition, but declined. Kissell has not joined any other coalitions in the House either, she added.

"As he says, he isn't much of a joiner," she wrote. 

* Democracy South, former Finnish ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter of Greensboro are among the North Carolina victims of financier Bernie Madoff.

* Blogger Gordon Smith points out that Sen. Steve Goss' blog libel bill casts a wide net over the Internet and would be retroactive to Dec. 9, 2008.

* U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx gets a suite named for her at the National Republican Congressional Committee for raising $250,000 more than expected last cycle by calling donors individually.

* Attorney General Roy Cooper presses Bank of America about last-minute bonuses for Merrill Lynch employees after receiving federal bailout funds.

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones has taken a lot of flak from Republican Party regulars mainly because he has questioned the wisdom of the war in Iraq.

But while the Farmville Republican has angered some party regulars, there are signs the GOP establishment is not ready to abandon him, Rob Christensen reports.

Jones raised more than $50,000 Tuesday night at a Washington fund raiser attended by Rep. Tom Cole, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Hosting the event was Jones' North Carolina colleague, Howard Coble of Greensboro.

Bill Graham has given $223,650 to Republican candidates and groups over the past decade.

But he's also given $6,000 to Democrats.

According to a quick review of campaign contributions listed on Open Secrets and Follow the Money, the Republican gubernatorial candidate has donated to a long list of candidates—including Gov. Mike Easley.

As with his primary rivals, the biggest beneficiary has been the GOP.

From 1999 to 2005, Graham gave $52,000 to the Republican National Committee. Between 1998 and 2007, he gave $46,700 to the N.C. Republican Party Executive Committee and $650 to the state Republican Party. And in 2003, he gave $17,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He also donated to two major political action committees: $15,000 for the Leadership Circle PAC run by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and $10,000 for the American Spirit PAC run by former Sen. Jesse Helms.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the party affiliation of a House candidate.

After the jump, the rest of the donations.

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Jim Neal

On Sept. 1 of that year, the Chapel Hill investment banker gave $300 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which handles races for the U.S. House of Representatives.

He said he gave the money in order to get on the group's mailing list.

"I want to stay in touch with what they're doing," said Neal, a lifelong Democrat. "I get all the blast e-mails from the Republican Party now, though they'll probably cut me off the list now."

He said he may have given to the National Republican Senatorial Committee as well.

The donation is a trickle compared to the $9,000 that Neal has given directly to Democrats, including U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Wesley Clark's presidential campaigns, Erskine Bowles' Senate campaign, and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller's campaigns.

He's also given $5,000 to Keeping America's Promise, a political action committee working to elect Democrats at the national level.

After the jump, a full list of his donations.

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Will Breazeale thinks the U.S. should draw down military forces in Iraq, but not leave entirely.

The Army reservist, who has served three tours in Iraq, said he thinks the Iraqi military is capable of taking over its own defenses soon, but he thinks a smaller American military presence of around 70,000 soldiers will still be necessary in the long run.

"The way we win is to get out of their way and let them fight their own fight," he said. "But we've got to leave some soldiers over there or we'll be back again."

Breazeale will kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre tomorrow. He said he'll make Iraq a central theme in his campaign.

A longtime Democrat, he said the party's stances on the Iraq war and illegal immigration led to his decision to switch party affiliation in 2005.

He said that he's spoken with the National Republican Congressional Committee about his campaign. He said the national group has "seen the light" and will give him financial support.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole wants women to win election.

Along with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Texas Rep. Kay Granger, the North Carolina senator has started Women Impacting the Nation, or WIN.

It's a joint fundraising committee between the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Dole previously chaired.

The group will hold meetings in cities around the country in order to encourage businesswomen to support female candidates and offer advice.

It held a kickoff Wednesday at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.