The National Republican Senatorial Committee is doing a little victory dance over former state Sen. Cal Cunningham's decision not to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr next year.

By the GOP's count (which looks an awful lot like a list compiled by Dome), Cunningham is the 10th Democrat who has looked at the Senate race and decided to take a pass, Rob Christensen reports. Here is the Republican's list: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Rep. Heath Shuler, Rep. Mike McIntyre, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, state Rep. Grier Martin, state Rep. Tricia Cotham, former state Treasurer Richard Moore, and state Sen. Malcolm Graham.

"Once again," said Republican spokesman Colin Reed, "the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and national Democrats have suffered a serious setback in their efforts to land a top-tier candidate in North Carolina."

Likely disagreeing with that sentiment are the two announced Democrats, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis. U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge and Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy are looking at the race.

Update: Also disagreeing with Reed was DSCC communications director Eric Schultz.

"Aside from Senator John Ensign, Senator Burr has the lowest approval rating of any Republican in the United States Senate. That’s because he’s beholden to the special interests in Washington. He will face a formidable opponent next November."

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has been busy raising money of late.

Burr held his annual Krispy Kreme breakfast this morning in Washington, D.C., and he was honored at a fundraising dinner the night before by the financial services industry, reports Barb Barrett.

Burr, a Republican, hails from Winston-Salem, home of the gooey sweet concoctions known for their Hot Now! signs. The fundraiser was held at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, about a block away from Burr’s Senate office.

Political action committees who served as hosts paid $1,000 to attend, while other PACs received entrance for $500. Individuals, according to the invitation posted on Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time blog, could pay what they could afford.

The doughnut breakfast followed a dinner the night before hosted by the financial services industry in Burr’s honor. That fundraiser, at a Washington seafood restaurant, cost up to $2,500 for PACs and $1,000 for individuals.

Update: Burr campaign consultant Paul Shumaker says the senator’s campaign raised between $25,000 and $30,000 at the Krispy Kreme breakfast this morning, with about 40-45 guests attending. About 20-25 guests attended Wednesday night’s dinner, he said, which raised $20,000 for Burr’s re-election effort.

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy traveled to Washington last week to meet with members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others familiar with U.S. Senate campaigns, Foy said while waiting for a plane back to North Carolina.

"I'm just trying to get a clear idea of what the possibilities are," he said. "I'm trying to consult a whole lot of people. ... It's got to be best for North Carolina."

So far, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis have announced their campaigns to unseat Republican Sen. Richard Burr, reports Jesse DeConto.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, another Democrat, is also mulling a run. Etheridge says the DSSC has been courting him to run, and former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker also said he has been in touch with the committee. Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington is also looking at the race.

DSSC spokesman Eric Schultz said Burr holds one of two incumbent Republican seats the committee is targeting in 2010.

"We believe Sen. Burr's especially vulnerable," Schultz said. "He's been very explicit that he doesn't want to lift a finger on healthcare or the economy."

Update: "It speaks to the lack of depth of the Democrat bench in North Carolina that more than half a dozen potential Senate candidates – including one who was personally lobbied by President Obama in the White House – have passed on a bid in 2010,” said Colin Reed, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh said the organization will not say who attended Monday night’s health care roundtable and dinner at Washington, D.C., steakhouse, where U.S. Sen. Richard Burr was a featured speaker.

"We don’t release names of those who attend private events," Walsh said, adding that the NRSC will disclose its contributors as required under federal campaign law.

"This policy is no different than countless fund-raisers by President Obama," Walsh said.

Burr, who sits on the Senate health committee, was one of three GOP senators who spoke on behalf of the NRSC fund-raiser Monday night, Barb Barrett reports.

For checks of $2,000 per political action committee, up to 35 attendees were offered seats at a "Roundtable on Healthcare Issues" at Charlie Palmer’s steakhouse. A more exclusive group of 20 could stay for dinner at a cost of $5,000, according to the invitation posted by the Sunlight Foundation.

Also speaking were Republican U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Mike Enzi of Wyoming, who sits on both committees.

Burr’s campaign consultant earlier said the Burr campaign had no details about who attended the NRSC event.

A blogger at Huffington Post tried to crash the event but was prevented access. He did, however, chat with a representative of the American Staffing Association and a hospital CEO from Texas. 

Sen. Richard Burr is scheduled to appear tonight at a roundtable on health care. Admission is $2,000 a seat.

The event, which has a maximum of 35 seats, is to benefit the National Republican Senatorial Committee, reports the Sunlight Foundation's Party Blog, which tracks parties that feature members of Congress.

A more exclusive seat is available for $5,000 (limit 20).

Also attending the fundraiser are Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Mike Enzi (Wyoming).

Dome has asked Burr’s campaign office if the senator will release a list of attendees.

The Party Time blog notes that Burr's biggest donors come from the pharmaceutical and health products industry.

Update: A Burr campaign spokesman said he did not have a list of attendees handy since the event was run by the NRSC. He said he would try to get more information.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr might hail from the Piedmont town of Winston-Salem, but any voters wondering where he stands on the important political issue of ‘cue might wonder no more.

Burr will stand up for Eastern N.C. barbecue at a fund-raiser for himself scheduled Wednesday in Washington, reports Barb Barrett.

The "Burr-B-Q Showdown" also will feature Sens. John Cornyn of the Texas beef brisket; Kit Bond of the Kansas City style; and Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander bringing on the Memphis.

Tickets are $2,000 per political action committee and $500 per individual to help host the party; $1,000 per political action committee and $100 per individual to attend. Burr held a similar event last year.

The barbecue dinner, at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is one of several fund-raisers this month in Burr’s honor, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan government watchdog group.

Last week included a breakfast and a dinner, and next month there is a golf tournament for Burr scheduled at the five-diamond Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

Burr is running for his second term in 2010.

Raleigh political consultant Mark Stephens is stepping down from his role at the Republican National Committee's chief fundraiser.

Stephens was on RNC chairman Michael Steele's transition team and then headed fund raising from February through May. Steele announced this morning that Rob Bickhart would being as the party's finance chair, Rob Christensen reports.

"I want to thank Mark for coming to Washington and working hard to help put the RNC on a strong financial foundation — raising $23 million during the transition," Steele said in a statement. "He also led our search team to find the RNC a first-class finance director."

Stephens, who learned his politics as part of the late Sen. Jesse Helms' political organization, has been involved in GOP politics for decades.

He played major roles in former Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaigns and Dole brought him in to serve as executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2006 election cycle.

Brian Nick, who was chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, will open the Washington office for Hollywood-based Republican political consultant Fred Davis.

Davis was the media consultant for both Dole, a Republican, and GOP presidential candidate John McCain last year. He has a reputation for non-traditional television ads. Nick will be opening a new office for his firm, Strategic Perception, in the nation's capital.

"Fred is the most creative mind in the business," Nick said, acknowledging that Republicans likely face another difficult election year in 2010. "He offers the kind of out-of-the-box approach that's needed in this kind of environment."

Nick, an Indiana native, came to North Carolina in 2001 to gear up Dole's successful Senate run, leading a team of young aides who quickly gained a reputation for their uniform navy blazers. He served as Dole's communications director in both her Senate office and, in 2005 and 2006, when she was chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which coordinates Senate campaigns across the country. He was her chief of staff until her defeat in last year's election.

Davis has collected a healthy list of successful candidates, but he may be best known in North Carolina for a puzzling ad for Patrick Ballantine, the 2004 Republican candidate for governor, that resembled a scene from the movie "Firestarter."

It's the equinox of the fall Silly Season.

Your Dome correspondents have sifted through a number of ridiculous claims and counter-claims since this election began, but we haven't posted some because, well, we had slightly better things to do.

That said, we had a few quiet moments this morning and wanted to share them with you:

POTTYMOUTH PAT? The Perdue campaign would like you to hear the clip below of Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory — they say — swearing in a WPTF interview Wednesday. We honestly can't tell if he's saying what they say he said.

SATANIC CONTRIBUTION? The National Republican Senatorial Committee would like you to know that Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan received a donation for $666 around the time of the fundraiser hosted by the founder of the Godless Americans PAC.

LICENSE TO DRIVE? The campaign of Hagan would like you to know that Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "ElizaBus" touring the state right now has a Tennessee license plate, though we're here in North Carolina.

Should we have devoted the waning minutes of the campaign season to digging deeper into these stories or were we right to move on? Let us know in the comments.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's latest ad criticizes U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole for her her work promoting Senate candidates in 2006.

What the ad says: Dole is shown flying in a cartoon biplane with President Bush over a map of the country. Narrator: "Where's Elizabeth Dole been? Campaigning for George Bush's policies. In 2006, she traveled to Pennsylvania, Washington, New Jersey, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia. Twelve states for Bush, while records show Dole spent only 13 days in North Carolina. The year before: Only 20 days. No wonder she's ranked 93rd in effectiveness. Elizabeth Dole. She'll travel the country for George Bush ... but she's not getting the job done for us. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."

The background: In 2006, Dole served as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a Washington-based group that helps Republican Senate candidates get elected.

On behalf of the group, Dole visited the 12 states mentioned in the ad, according to contemporary newspaper accounts and an official e-mail from Dole.

There are no formal ties between the group and Bush, although the president would have benefited from Republican control of the Senate.

The Winston-Salem Journal recently analyzed tax-paid travel records, news releases and media coverage to determine how many days Dole spent 13 days in North Carolina in 2006 and 20 days in 2005.

Dole said the newspaper didn't count all the time's she's been to the state at her own expense, although she could not provide documentation of those visits.

The Congressional data service Knowlegis ranked Dole 93rd in the Senate in 2007 in its annual study of effectiveness.

Is the ad accurate? Mostly. The descriptions of Dole's effectiveness, the states she visited in 2006 and the days she spent in North Carolina are accurate. But it is misleading to say that Dole traveled the country for President Bush.