With the Democrats' annual Vance-Aycock fundraising dinner in Asheville a little over a week away, there is still no scheduled speaker.

Democratic leaders are sending out fundraising e-mails boasting about what big speakers they had last year, reports Rob Christensen. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen was the keynoter, but Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama made a surprise visit. Obama was nearby prepping for a debate with his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

This year's event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3.

North Carolina Democrats are probably holding out for some big-name Democrat from Washington. They landed Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman, for their Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner dinner in Raleigh in the spring.

Given the emphasis that the Obama administration has put on North Carolina, which Obama carried by the slimmest of margins last year, a big name seems possible.

Gov. Beverly Perdue told her Cabinet Monday morning to be aggressive in searching for federal money for the state.

She urged them to become familiar with all the federal rules, to get to know leading federal officials, Rob Christensen reports.

She said she was reaching out to neighboring governors Tim Kaine of Virginia and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, in searching for federal money for joint projects that would benefit North Carolina.

"It's important to be as aggressive as we can be," Perdue said.

And where possible and legal, Perdue said, make sure that contracts from the stimulus package go to Tar Heel companies.

"Make sure North Carolina people get the work," Perdue said.

Acting on a campaign promise to make state government more transparent, Perdue opened up her Cabinet meeting to the news media for the first time on Monday.

"This is what happens when you open the doors to sunshine," Perdue told her Cabinet when noting the presence of a reporter.

N.C. Democratic leaders pitched to get either U.S. Sen. Barack Obama or U.S. Sen. Joe Biden to speak at their annual Vance-Aycock dinner on Saturday in Asheville but apparently gave up on snaring their party's nominee for president or vice president.

They settled on Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. Party officials announced the speaker on Tuesday. Obama and Biden haven't neglected the state, though. They appeared together in Greensboro last Saturday. Both have visited in recent weeks, and the campaign is pumping money and people into the state.

An appearance by Obama, the first black presidential nominee by a major party, would have been notable at a dinner named for Gov. Charles Brantley Aycock, a leading voice for the white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900.

Who didn't play hooky to see Barack Obama?

As noted previously, three governors in town for a training session at the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership showed up at an Obama event Monday: Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado.

Though they were on the guest list, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley did not show.

They had a good reason, of course. The Hunt Institute had scheduled discussions on education all day Monday in Chapel Hill, and seeing Obama meant making a 40-minute drive to Raleigh and missing a healthy chunk of the three-day session.

But it's worth noting who else didn't make the drive: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Guam Gov. Felix Perez Camacho.

Camacho and Pawlenty have a good excuse: They're Republicans.

For their part, Sebelius, Napolitano and Kaine may not have wanted to fuel further speculation that they'll be picked as Obama's vice president (though that didn't stop Schweitzer from glad-handing.) And Doyle and Sebelius have already done their duties here.

Update: Sebelius and Napolitano were at an Obama fundraiser in Chapel Hill.